The good ol' ale

An organic brewery is reviving interest in non-alcoholic ginger ale and ciders, by dipping into recipes of an East Indian family

At the Azavedo family home in the Thane West village of Uthalsar, Christmas was incomplete without home-made ginger, rice and grape wines. Romel Dias remembers how every member of his maternal East Indian Catholic family, would be invested in the preparation of these brews—from mixing to distilling and bottling. Because the children were too young to drink wine, Dias's grandmother Bertha Azavedo made a special ginger ale, just for them. The golden-hued sweet, carbonated drink, which had a sharp flavour to it, was Dias's favourite.

Three years ago, memories of those elaborate feasts helmed by mumma Bertha came back to Dias, when his Punjabi girlfriend Nidhi Arya, fascinated by her partner's East Indian culture, convinced him to start an enterprise that celebrated his roots.

A recent batch of ginger ale brewed by Dias at home

The ginger ale, the customary celebratory drink, was among his first experiments. "I am not a big drinker. If I do [drink], it's only socially and that too, once or twice a year," says 40-year-old Dias, who runs a creative agency that works in the social media space. "So, I thought that something non-alcoholic like the ale was perfect to start with." His late grandmum never left a recipe behind. "But all of us in the family had made it so often, that we knew it by rote," he shares. His first five-litre batch of ale was distributed among friends and family, and became the launchpad for The Good Catlick, a home brewery that he started in 2017.

With a name that puns on Dias's Catholic upbringing as well as his love for cats, the organic home brewery has come a long way since the ale. Today, it offers a more varied menu, with everything from apple cinnamon, pineapple mint, pear and four-fruit ciders to coconut fresh kefir. While his grandmum's recipes have been the inspiration behind the brews, Dias, who is a self-proclaimed health nut, has made his own additions, opting only for organic or healthy produce. In the ale, for instance, he uses jaggery, instead of refined sugar, giving his drink a distinct earthy taste. "Fermentation involves microrganisms consuming the sugars, and converting it into alcohol. What you get in the end are traces of that sweet, sharp flavour. When you use jaggery, that sweetness is delicate."

Romel Dias

He also chooses to buy organic ginger. "I love subtle flavours, which is why I add cinnamon and vanilla beans to my ginger ale. Also, unlike the ales that you get in the market, which often use soda for the fizz, this one gets it from its elaborate brewing and fermenting process." The base of the ginger ale, which Dias calls the mother, takes around a week to brew. Once that is ready, the mix is prepared and the mother is added to it. It takes another week, before the batch is finally ready. "Once ready, the ale is best consumed within seven days, or else, it starts tasting a lot like alcohol," he says.

Though Dias started selling his produce at farmers' markets across the city, carrying his brew in huge bottled jars, became a tedious exercise. He has now shifted the enterprise to his home. He and Arya keep their followers updated about fresh brews on their Instagram handle. "Every time, we are ready with a new brew, we announce it on social media, and open up for deliveries," says Dias.

His brewery, like many other food and drinks businesses, has also taken a hit during the lockdown. "Since we are an organic and eco-friendly brewery, we only deliver in glass bottles. But we haven't been able to do so, because we've not been able to get our supply of bottles. Organic produce has also been difficult to procure." Dias is, however, using the time to try new experiments. "Because my girlfriend and I don't drink soft drinks, we recently made a batch of ale at home, to have with our meals," he says.

7
Number of days the ginger ale base (also called 'mother') takes to brew

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