Ironhill India’s microbrewery, which opened on March 27 in Marathahalli, is among the world’s largest
Ironhill India founder Teja Chekuri had envisioned a grand opening for his company’s latest microbrewery in Marathahalli, Bengaluru. The company claims it is the world’s largest. The construction had begun in early 2019; the place was set for inauguration in August 2020. The pandemic, however, threw a spanner in the works. Then, on March 27, the microbrewery, measuring 1.3 lakh sq ft, was inaugurated with COVID protocols in place.
Despite the delay, Teja is happy about setting up the microbrewery in Bengaluru. “If you are a brewery, you have to be in Bengaluru. It is the beer capital of India,” he says. Bengaluru, however, is not new territory for Teja. He started the Prost Brew Pub in Koramangala. Ironhill then started outlets in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Hyderabad.
The 2.9-acre microbrewery will serve eight varieties of beer and can accommodate over 1500 people at a time. The place is designed to resemble a resort with a bridge spanning an artificial pond, Art Deco pieces, art installations, water fountains among other things.
Despite the luxurious ambience, Teja believes the microbrewery will appeal to a wide range of people. “We have a wide variety of seating arrangements,” he says, “People can sit near the sunken pool immersing their legs in the water. There are also cabanas and other indoor seating, for those who prefer a different ambience. We have also fixed the prices to draw a wide section of people.”
The food and beverages menu for such a huge place is expectedly exhaustive. There are wines, champagnes, whiskeys, cocktails, shots, mocktails and more. On the food menu, you find the usual platters, international dishes and also local flavours like ghee sambar rice with an omelette.
Teja, due to another wave of COVID cases in Bengaluru, expects the footfall to be less in the first few weeks. “We didn’t foresee this second wave. With the vaccines out, we thought things would drastically improve,” he says. “We will be operating with less than 50% occupancy, as per the protocols. We hope the situation gets better soon.”
