Brewery provides a taste of Indian brewing and living proof of hard work paying off

Breweries have been a part of the region for centuries, providing the welcoming aroma of hops and yeast in the air across the region and many different types of beer loved by thousands.

In the wake of the news of the planned closure of Banks's Brewery in Wolverhampton, the Express & Star wants to support our local breweries and show that there are still many out there producing quality beers to be enjoyed in pubs across the region.

As part of our Backing Our Breweries campaign, we are going to look at what different breweries do, how they grew and built up their reputation, what their products are, how they continue to run in what are difficult financial times and what makes them special.

For many people, failing your GCSEs would be a disaster and something which would leave you with limited opportunities for work going forward.

For Jaspal Purewal, it was an event which put in motion his journey to being the managing director of a popular and successful brewery in Birmingham, but which has products being ordered from across the country.

Indian Brewery is set in the centre of Birmingham, with a large and vibrant taproom alongside the brewery, and has been brewing and selling beer since 2014.

The brewery name pays tribute to Mr Purewal's heritage as a Punjabi Indian Sikh, as well as being a name with more brand recognition.

He said that it had all stemmed from a conversation with his father in the aftermath of his GCSE results failure when he was signed up to a business course and was scrambling around for an idea.

He said: "I failed all my GCSEs and didn't have a game plan of what I was going to do with my life, but my mum managed to get me onto a business course sponsored by Peter Jones from Dragon's Den.

"I had no GCSEs, but they were willing to accept me based on the way I spoke, even though I needed to have a business plan and didn't have one at the time.

"However, that night, I mentioned that and my dad said I should make beer so that he didn't have to pay for it, sort of as a joke, but I took that to my lecturers and that turned into a reality of learning the world of brewing, visiting different breweries and doing all the hands-on stuff to learn about it."

After taking over a struggling brewery in 2014, Indian Brewery was born and, to date, has 70 people working there, using recipes which see homegrown malt used in the beer and a range of different fruits and flavourings included.

The Indian inspiration doesn't just stop with the beer as the taproom and bar on Snow Hill in Birmingham also provide Indian food and decor inside, while Mr Purewal said the beers were very popular in Birmingham, as well as further afield.

He said: "We have people calling us up left, right and centre from as far as away as Canterbury, which is a four hour drive away, and we do a lot of deliveries for our wholesaler and out to other locations.

"Our biggest customer at the moment is Aston Villa Football Club, who sell our Juicy Mango beer in the stadium, and we're also in with Wetherspoons across the craft beer sector."

Mr Purewal said he was always eternally grateful for the success of Indian Brewery and the opportunities it had afforded him and his family.

He said: "It means everything to me and when you consider, to this day, I have zero GCSEs, I am thankful to have this place.

"It's a family business, with all my family involved, and to be 10 years in doing what we're doing, it's great, but we're only just getting started.

"This is the most important year for us with the opening of the new taproom location, so we're very excited for the future."

Indian Brewery's most popular beers:

Juicy Mango Pale Ale 5.5%

A supreme golden beer infused with mango which provides a delicious taste and is perfectly balanced and refreshing.

Bombay Honey 5%

Contains blasts of fresh tasty honey with aromas and is a deeply golden blonde honey, with seasonal blossoms