Aishwarya Jayan Menon ( Intern@imaws.org)
A wise man once said, “On victory, you deserve beer, in defeat, you need it.”
Any beer enthusiast wouldn’t agree more. They would also agree that fermentation is one of the best discoveries that man has made. Beer has been in existence for roughly 7000 years now, making it such a versatile drink. The art of beer brewing is a skillful task that is caressed with loads of patience and intense attention to detail. Today, we have around 64 million microbreweries In India, constantly working to provide quality beer and a space for people to unwind and relax, or even celebrate although some would agree that for Beer, there is no occasion needed!
One such microbrewery that is constantly innovating and restlessly working to provide their absolute best for their clientele is “Gold Rush brews” From Bangalore. Offering genuine and authentic beers with laid-back style of life in the American West, Gold Rush is striving to mix traditional tastes with contemporary styles. The specialty of the microbrewery is the cowboy theme that they have creatively come up with. Amused with the theme of the microbrewery, with curiosity stirring, we had Arnab Halder, Executive Chef of Gold Rush Brews, to tell us the story of the place.
“In the middle of the city’s bustle is a hangout for urban cowboys. This outdoor brewpub was started by a businessman who was inspired by the site of a previous wild-west tavern. He liked the sense of freedom that came with no constraints. He felt required to create a space that is sufficiently unconstrained for people to feel free to express themselves, let their hair down, and let themselves go altogether because of this sense of openness…”
Keeping clientele satisfaction and authenticity as their topmost priorities, as one walks into the premise, they would be truly amazed by the vast greenery in the middle of the city. There are several types of settings to entertain all groups of clienteles. When it comes to the food, starting from the appetizers to desserts, everything will satisfy all the human elements like smell taste and vision. The goal of the Gold Rush is to correctly capture the mood of those happy times and the delicious meals that went along with it. A place where one can feel confident enough to be oneself and let their guard down.
Their specialties are their prawns ghee roast is similar to authentic places serving the same but here, they enhance the flavors of ghee with the use “Ghee Dust” Which is very unique to them alone. Just as versatile as their ambience at Gold Rush, the food is also very versatile in terms of flavors and presentations. They also serve Elaneer Payasam, which is very rustic and common in households, but here have elevated the same to a fine dining platform with the use of coconut foam, coconut tuile, served in a coconut shell. “It will change your idea of Elaneer Payasam forever” says Chef Arnab.
Innovatively, the menu has been designed, keeping in mind the authentic flavors, yet giving it twists in the way we present the food. Few molecular gastronomy components have been used in the menu, which is very unlikely to a brewery.
On asking about what exactly it is, that makes Gold rush stand out in the field, Chef Arnab comments that “When we speak about the food scene here at Gold Rush Brews, it’s vivid, vivacious, still relaxed and calm, just like our ambience. Unlike other breweries in the city, we just don’t focus on simple bar snacks, rather we have taken up dishes from global streets and gave it our own twists. It has more of a fine dining touch with tinge of local food and delicacies around India. A lot of dishes have been designed to satisfy global palates and is being inspired from Mexican food and cowboy food habits. Here at Gold Rush, we are not scared of innovating and doing things in a contemporary fashion. It’s not easy to present eye appealing plates of food in a high-volume microbrewery but we do put in extra efforts to consistently wow our patrons.”
Their wide variety of craft beer includes Hefeweizen, Belgian Tripel, APA (American pale ale) and Irish red ale, all brewed with tedious attention and love.
While the growth in the beer market appears to be driven by young consumers and professionals who consider beer a trendy drink, as compared with traditional spirits, it is still a super competitive field, which races for authenticity. Keeping the same in mind, Gold Rush too, plans on chasing their expansion plans further. Commenting on the same, Chef Arnab says that the company is always on the progression mode by paying more attention to accommodate the future needs of the microbrewery.
“The will to brew great craft beers is tenacious in our team and we strive to keep it going. Will redefine the concept of microbrewery and highly focused on customer satisfaction. Now that our patrons are well aware of our craft beers, they are our quality control inspectors, and they certainly point out if we slack at our work. We intend to install our taps across a large number of outlets in the city in the near future by spreading our wings.”
Gold Rush has also paid keen attention to their website, which is creatively put together where customers have everything they need, right at their fingertips, making their social presence also an easily accessible one that can wow anybody.
So next time you’re in town, you’ve got to pay a visit to Gold rush because, it’s pretty much agreeable that beauty is in the eye of the ‘beer’ holder!
