As Bhopal’s craft-beer scene finds its footing, House No. 230 – The Gourmet Kitchen & Bar / Lilasons Brewhouse has started to lay the groundwork for the culture, one brew at a time.
Not only does the venue house a lounge as well as a restaurant serving vegetarian food, it also boasts Madhya Pradesh’s first microbrewery.
I was privileged to be hosted by Suresh, its brewer, who walked me through their beer line-up and gave me a tour of the brewing set-up.
Lilasons has a pretty interesting selection on offer: watermelon and mango ales, Belgian and German wheat beers, an Irish red ale and an American lager.
They also had a Basmati lager on the menu but, unfortunately, they had run out of it when I visited.
This was a pity; I’ve had a Japanese rice lager before but not a Basmati rice one so I was excited to try something with ingredients closer to home, even though I’m not a fan of Pilsners or lagers.
Of course, I had to ask if they had IPAs – my favourite beer style – but Suresh said he hadn’t included it on the menu as the Bhopal community prefers sweeter, more floral beers over bitter ones.
I thought that made a lot of business sense; F&B outlets must cater to their community’s palate as the people closest to them are going to be the repeat customers that will ultimately be supporting their business.
In that vein, what I liked was the use of locally sourced additions and flavourings in the beers.
My three favourites: the mango and watermelon ales as well as the Belgian wheat, all of which are brewed using fruit or spices from India.
The fruit ales were deceptively strong. Fruit is added during both primary and secondary fermentation, so the tropical character emerges clearly while masking the taste of alcohol to some degree.
The Belgian wheat was another highlight. I felt it had a bit of an Asian touch to it given the spice blend used. The traditional coriander and orange peel aromas came out strongly and I think there may have been clove and pepper in the mix too.
The German wheat was the only beer I felt needed a bit more refinement. I struggled to pin down its flavour profile and I shared that feedback with Suresh, who took it in his stride.
We also got to talking about the history of the craft-beer movement in Singapore.
I shared how the third wave of the craft-beer movement in the Lion City (circa mid 2010s) was when local breweries began producing their own beers.
It took around a decade for the scene to mature to a point where local offerings could hold their own against international benchmarks.
Building a culture and effecting change takes time. Likewise, Bhopal and the wider region will take a while to develop its own scene and it’s great that Suresh is a pioneer of the scene in the state.
I also encouraged him to experiment further with distinctly Indian ingredients such as jaggery and coconut so as to distinguish Indian craft beers from their international counterparts.
So if you’re in Bhopal, do make time to drop by House No. 230 – The Gourmet Kitchen & Bar / Lilasons Brewhouse to check them out and support their craft 🍻
House No. 230 – The Gourmet Kitchen & Bar / Lilasons Brewhouse
230 Kerwa Dam Road
Opposite Bull Mother Farm, near N.L.I.U, National Law Institute University
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462044
https://www.instagram.com/houseno.230/
