Yankee Brew News Archive

Indian Influence Creeping into New England Craft Brewing

Originally Published: 08/97

By: Gregg Glaser

There's a small - and I mean small - bit of influence from India in at least one New England craft brewery. This one's a bit of a stretch, so bear with me ...

The New Haven Brewing Company, a micro in New Haven, Connecticut, contract brews its bottled beers at the North Country Brewery in Saratoga Springs, New York. North Country is part of United Craft Brewers, Inc. (UCB), an alliance of U.S. craft brewers that also includes Nor'Wester Brewing of Portland, Oregon, Aviator Ales of Woodinville, Washington, Bayhawk Ales of Irvine, California, and Mendocino Brewing of Hopland, California. United Craft Brewers, in turn, is 40% owned by the Indian brewing alliance, the UB Group.

According to New Haven Brewing's General Manager, Jeff Hook, "As far as we're concerned, we're a part of the United Craft Brewers alliance." However, as of June, when this story was written, UCB and New Haven Brewing had not formed a legal or financial alliance. This may come later, as both Hook and UCB president, Jim Bernau, said discussions of an alliance had been held.

Further north in New England, Alan Newman of Magic Hat Brewing in Burlington, Vermont, reports that Magic Hat held discussions for months about joining the UCB alliance, but that the deal won't occur.

Chairman and CEO of UCB is Vijay Mallya, Chairman of the UB Group of Bangalore, India, a union of twelve Indian breweries. For its 40% equity, the UB Group will invest $5.5 million in UCB. Mallya's goal is to "build a world class brewing organization committed to the heritage and preservation of community based, hand crafted beers" ...and ... "to provide some of America's best small breweries valuable economies of scale in production, distribution and marketing."

At a May 16 press conference to announce the formation of UCB, Mallya said, "The craft beer industry has been growing dramatically, as evidenced by both the steady increase in microbreweries nationwide and by the introduction by large industrial brewers of new brands that are positioned to compete with natural hand crafted beers. In the face of this competition from large, well financed industrial brewers, the key to success is achieving critical mass. There is strength in numbers and with an increase in sales and market share, we expect that our regional breweries will compete more effectively while maintaining the quality and product excellence that make each of them unique. Our goal now is to enhance the operating strength of those brewers, while bringing like-minded small breweries into our network."

Page 3 UNITED CRAFT BREWERIES