Special summery BrewTail recipes as Pune's own Kimaya turns 5

Brewmaster Sameer Patwardhan (Kimaya Co-founder) by profession is a Mathematician graduated from A & M University, Texas and also has worked at GM delta Detroit for 3 years before moving to Pune in Chakan for the same company. His journey with brewing started as a home brewer in Detroit.

Saurabh Patwardhan (elder brother and co-founder of Kimaya) graduated from University DePaul, Chicago & he also started his journey with brewing as a home brewer in Chicago.

That’s how they started learning about craft brewing. At that time they had no idea that they would start their own brewery, as they were just intrigued by the fact that craft beer exists and were passionate about it. On 8th April 2017 they started Kimaya with a dream of introducing craft beer to the masses by highlighting indigenous products and ingredients such as buckwheat, kokum, devgad hapus and ram-tulas.

Here’s an excerpt of the discussion I had with Sameer Patwardhan, one of the founders of Kimaya Craft Brewery.

Do you look at craft brewing as science or an art?

Sameer: It’s a mixture of both. If you are a home brewer you don’t feel bad about wasting small batches but while brewing on a bigger scale you need to be consistent. And for that we need science and the right recipes.

It’s hard to have the same ingredients because we use a lot of natural products yet we try to keep the same flavour profile every time.

Coming up with a new recipe is art. Because you come up with an idea, you have a flavour wheel in your mind that you want to go for and you try & create something brand new out of it.

How do you keep the balance between experimentation and maintaining authenticity?

Sameer: There is nothing wrong with experimenting. When we made buckwheat ale no one had done it before us. But you have to have a clear idea where you want to reach. You can’t just start hoping that you’ll get there.

What struggles of starting a new brewery did you face while starting Kimaya?

Sameer: Everyone was like why ‘kimaya’. In 2017 in India, all microbrewery names were Americanised or English. Having a Marathi brand name was our first criticism.

Second criticism: starting a beer business in an area like Kothrud in Pune. It was a lot of struggle but it was definitely worth it.

And that there’s a scope for a Marathi microbrewery to exist. Nothing wrong to be proud about your tradition. We are proud of our legacy, that’s why people support us. They identify with the brand and the beers that we make.

You and Saurabh, who likes what?

Sameer: Dada (Saurabh) loves Hefeweizen, Lager and honey basil ale, light refreshing beer styles. I like weirder funkier styles, maybe American IPA, Belgian pale ale & Hefe always because Pune weather calls for that. Between us we cover all the beer styles.

How does it feel that Kimaya has turned 5! Future plans?

Sameer: The first 5 years were a struggle. We are very excited for the next 5 years. We both, Saurabh and I, believe that craft beer needs to reach the masses, AS BEER IS FOR THE MASSES!!!

Better quality ingredients with a wider and better taste for the same selling price as your commercial macro beers. I’m very excited to reach Maharashtra’s tier two cities like Kolhapur, Nashik, Sangli, Satara, etc.

Some of their brews include following;

– Hefeweizen : A pale refreshing German wheat beer.
– Munich lager : A traditional crisp, smooth and sessionable German lager
– Belgian Witbier: ASmooth, light Belgian style wheat beer
– Kokum Cider: A refreshing cider with a hint of spice, bordered by kokum saltiness and a magical sweet finish.
-Vanilla Porter: Inspired by London’s traditional creamy ale
– K- IPA (Kimayagaar India Pale Ale): Our take on the IPA that has tropical aromas and bitter finish

Address: Kimaya Growling Station,Kimaya Hotel on Karve Road 58, Jhala Co-Op Housing Society, Sheela Vihar Colony, Pune.
Contact: +918975757849