These Microbreweries Across India Are Well Worth Your Time

If your microbrewery circuit still revolves around the same three or four names, maybe it's time to get out of that loop. India’s craft beer movement may have been popularised by Doolally, Effingut, and Toit, but it has long outgrown them. Now come on, we agree that those breweries are bad; it's just that they have become default choices, and default choices rarely lead to discovery.

Across cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, Pune, Goa, and Mumbai, a different layer of breweries has been doing the slower, less visible work. They are not always the loudest rooms or the easiest to find, and they do not rely on familiarity to fill tables. But these are places refining technique, experimenting with local grains and ingredients, and building identity.

This list is for the drinker who wants to move past recognition and into curiosity. The one willing to try something unfamiliar, ask questions, and pay attention to what is in the glass. Read on.

Arbor Brewing Company, Bengaluru

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Arbor Brewing Company came to India from Michigan, when founders Matt and Rene Greff chose Bengaluru over safer, established beer markets. Opening in 2012, they introduced the American IPA to a country that had never encountered that level of bitterness. You won’t be wrong to say that Arbor shaped how India learned to drink craft beer.
What to order: Beach Shack IPA

Geist Brewing Co., Bengaluru

zomato

Geist Brewing Co. was founded by Narayan Manepally and Paul Chaudhary, who started out with experimenting with small test batches out of a basement, later becoming South India's first distribution craft brewery. At its core is the idea of developing a process so meticulous that every sip delivers the same experience as a freshly brewed batch at the brewery, regardless of which Geist branch you visit.
What to order: Seasonal tap

Sidecar, New Delhi

world's 50 best

Sidecar is run by Yangdup Lama and Minakshi Singh, better known for putting Delhi on the global cocktail map. That reputation overshadows their brewing, which is exactly why it remains underrated. Their approach carries over from cocktails; precise, ingredient-led, and quietly experimental.
What to order: Seasonal craft beer on tap

Great State Aleworks, Pune

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Great State Aleworks began with a group of friends brewing in Brooklyn before moving operations to Pune in 2017. That cross-continental start led them to adopt global techniques while using local Indian ingredients. Their 100 per cent millet beer shifted the scene away from its overdependence on barley.
What to order: Millet Ale, Sunny Afternoon NEIPA

Moonshine Meadery, Pune

moonshine meadery

Moonshine Meadery was founded by Nitin Girish and Rohan Apte, who chose to work with honey instead of barley. Mead is older than beer, but is almost absent in modern India. Their decision to revive it, using local ingredients like jamun, chilli, and spices, expanded the definition of craft fermentation in the country.
What to order: Seasonal mead, traditional honey mead

Susegado Microbrewery, Goa

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Susegado captures what Goa was meant to be: relaxed, unhurried, entirely its own thing. The name derives from the Portuguese "sossegado," meaning "peaceful", and the brewery's entire philosophy flows from that single word. Susegado was officially the first Indian brewery to bottle-condition its beers, and offers five variants: English Ale, Vanilla Porter, American IPA, Dortmund Lager, and Kokum Gose.

What to order: Kokum Gose

Goa Brewing Co., Goa

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With nearly 3,000 ratings, Goa Brewing Co. ranks among the most-reviewed and highest-rated breweries in India. Their Eight Finger Eddie IPA has a devoted following built entirely on merit: it is genuinely bitter, genuinely hoppy, and makes no effort to flatter the palate of someone who wandered in expecting a shandy.

What to order: Eight Finger Eddie IPA; Dortmund Lager

Seven Rivers Brewing Co., Goa

zomato

A collaboration between AB InBev and IHCL, Seven Rivers is nestled within a remodelled Portuguese Villa at the Taj Holiday Village, offering beers brewed with locally sourced ingredients to cater to the Indian palate. The brewpub is an ideal retreat for a sunny Goan evening, easily combined with a visit to the nearby Aguada Fort. Come for the experience and the surroundings; the beer will not disappoint.

What to order: Wheat beer; outdoor seating at sunset

Gateway Brewing Co., Mumbai

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Gateway Brewing Co. grew out of Navin Mittal’s homebrewing blog, where he documented experiments long before craft beer had an audience in India. This, over time, turned into one of Mumbai’s first serious production breweries, supplying kegs across the city when no one else had logistics figured out.
What to order: White Zen; seasonal Explorer Series