What ales Vir Das

Since this is Vir Das letrsquos start with a joke ldquoI donrsquot have a joke about beer Letrsquos hope my beer isnrsquot onerdquo The comedianmusician is on a video interview to talk about his new collaboration with a craft brewerymdashGreat State Aleworksmdashto bring out his own craft beer Called FaaaakitThe name raised a red flag for us it has the potential to stir up controversy ldquoWhatrsquos wrong with itrdquo he asks wearing his trademark trilby indoors ldquoItrsquos just a random word with four lsquoAsrsquo in itrdquoDas is emphatic about being involved with the process ldquoOf course I know whatrsquos in the press note duderdquo he says when we say ldquoI donrsquot know if yoursquove read the press noterdquo ldquoThis is not just merchandise I lent my name tordquoThe seed of crafting a beer that was high on taste and took into account the preference of women came to him in the first few months of 2021 Then came the pandemic and the project had to wait till the final months of the year Then came the crafting experimenting with ingredients and testing ldquoThat was the most difficult part of the process for merdquo he says ldquoI am a lightweight and donrsquot drink hard liquor I will unwind with a beer after touring for two weeks I donrsquot have the stamina to go through nine sampleshelliprdquoDasrsquos first beer was at 2021 years of age at a bar called Pebble Street in Delhi ldquoI was with a girl whom I wanted to ask to be my girlfriend but never mustered the courage tordquo he remembers Like many before him realised it did not live up to the imaginationldquoMen like drinking beer that is more bitter there is an alpha culture surrounding the drinkrdquo he says ldquoWomen tend to like more fruity flavours I didnrsquot want to do cider because that left out a lot of people I wanted a happy nicetasting beer that all sexes could enjoy When we did the tasting with beer snobs who used words such as ldquohoppierrdquo I told them lsquoWe are going for the exact opposite of who you arersquo Itrsquos for chilled happy people who are not trying too hard They donrsquot manage their lsquoperceptionrsquordquo In the process he discovered that women were underserviced by the beer industry though they are more open to experimenting with flavours than men An oversight he hopes to amendAnother learning was that the more agencies one goes to the more confused one gets ldquoI think people on social media can smell out lsquomachineryrsquo a mile away they want authenticityrdquo he says ldquoso eventually we decided to do everything on our own I recorded the promotional video on my iPhone just before I went on stage in Hyderabad and edited and pieced it myself too My bandmate Alien Chutney Kaizad Gherda made up the jingle There are zero production agencies involved in the projectrdquoAlong the way he learnt the difference between ale and lager ldquoItrsquos the temperature they are fermented atrdquo and developed a respect for the craftsmanship behind the froth ldquoI learnt to respect the artistery behind the process Nakul Bhonsale of the Punebased craft brewery and the other brewers pay as much attention to the flavours the carbonation process as I do to the structure of a joke We both learnt to appreciate and respect the artistry of each otherrsquos craftrdquoThere were three rounds of tasting seven versions of the beer until Das settled for a flavour that reminded him of cider but wasnrsquot ldquoawfully sweetrdquo and didnrsquot have too much carbonation ldquoI didnrsquot want people to wait until sundown to start drinking it But also if you started drinking it on a Sunday afternoon you wouldnrsquot be drunk by the eveninghelliprdquo