Bottled craft beer is certainly the trend of the season. Bengaluru has suddenly opened up to both international and Indian beer brands this year. Another one joining the ranks is the White Owl microbrewery that will now offer its beers in cans and bottles in the city. The fun and quirky vibe of the brand sets its apart from the rest and they also offer the first bottled cider in the country. We speak to the founder and managing director, Javed Murad, about the history of brand and what we can expect.
Tell us about how it all began.
I stumbled upon great beer when I was in college in Boston back in 2007, which is when craft beer really started picking up in the US. It was so easily available everywhere and so well priced that whenever I visited Mumbai for a holiday, it became glaringly apparent that we needed better beer. I decided to actually do something about it and moved back to put together a detailed business plan that has culminated in White Owl.
How did you come up with the name and logo?
An owl is a unique, quirky-looking creature, it’s also a bird that everyone is very familiar with. This is what we want to represent as a brand. While brainstorming in our early days, we saw a white owl perched on a nearby tree, casually mentioned it to our design team and fell in love with the brand imagery that they subsequently came up with.
Tell us a little about the beers on offer.
We offer three styles of beer in Bengaluru. Spark is our refreshing Belgian Wit with summery orange-citrus notes; Diablo, is crisp Irish Red Ale with hints of caramel, and Ace, our bubbly Apple Cider Ale, with a bold sweet-apple finish. We also offer cans of Spark and Diablo.
What do you think of the craft beer market in India currently?
On the one hand, our consumer has many options for low-cost, mass-produced beer that will always form the bulk of every market. In contrast, there are very few options in the premium beer segment. This phenomenon mismatches the trajectory of our young, urban population that earns well, has its finger on the pulse at all times and is continuously making more evolved consumption choices. This is the gap that White Owl is addressing.
And what about the Bengaluru market specifically?
The culture of microbreweries in Bengaluru has exposed people to all sorts of craft beer, which made our job easier. Armed with a good product, supported by referrals and word-of-mouth marketing, we were ready to introduce the city to White Owl.
Rs.100 upwards. Available at outlets across the city
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