The good ol' ale

At the Azavedo family home in the Thane West village of Uthalsar Christmas was incomplete without homemade 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 brewsmdashfrom mixing to distilling and bottling Because the children were too young to drink wine Diass grandmother Bertha Azavedo made a special ginger ale just for them The goldenhued sweet carbonated drink which had a sharp flavour to it was Diass favouriteThree years ago memories of those elaborate feasts helmed by mumma Bertha came back to Dias when his Punjabi girlfriend Nidhi Arya fascinated by her partners East Indian culture convinced him to start an enterprise that celebrated his rootsA recent batch of ginger ale brewed by Dias at homeThe ginger ale the customary celebratory drink was among his first experiments I am not a big drinker If I do drink its only socially and that too once or twice a year says 40yearold Dias who runs a creative agency that works in the social media space So I thought that something nonalcoholic 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 fivelitre batch of ale was distributed among friends and family and became the launchpad for The Good Catlick a home brewery that he started in 2017With a name that puns on Diass 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 fourfruit ciders to coconut fresh kefir While his grandmums recipes have been the inspiration behind the brews Dias who is a selfproclaimed 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 delicateRomel DiasHe 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 saysThough 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 DiasHis brewery like many other food and drinks businesses has also taken a hit during the lockdown Since we are an organic and ecofriendly brewery we only deliver in glass bottles But we havent been able to do so because weve 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 dont drink soft drinks we recently made a batch of ale at home to have with our meals he says7Number of days the ginger ale base also called mother takes to brewFollow thegoodcatlickCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news