Slow Flow 1.0 Launch Party, Mumbai

A games-and-beer party at Woodside Inn with Bombay Duck Brewing and their limited-edition heirloom rice beers.
Photo courtesy of Woodside Inn.

Imagine an evening of drinking beer, art, and games that allow you to appreciate and support native Indian rice varieties. Sounds impossible and—let’s be honest—a little unusual? Well, that’s exactly what The Locavore and Bombay Duck Brewing brought to Mumbai, in Woodside Inn, Bandra.

 

The Slow Flow Sunday launch party, a celebration of slow food production and consumption, marked the beginning of the partnership between Bombay Duck Brewing and The Locavore. Born of both organisations’ fervour to showcase the abundant range of rice in India, this event with The Locavore was only the beginning. The Slow Flow by Bombay Duck Brewing is a larger series of projects and limited edition beers that creatively challenge and enrich the brewery.

 

A reflection of their growth as individuals and craftspeople, the series serves as the beverage counterpart to the ‘slow food’ movement. At the heart of the project is the principle that food and drinks must be consciously produced and consumed. The beers within this series are also produced in limited quantities, as a dismissal of the otherwise mass-production orientation of the industry. All in all, it’s everything The Locavore champions in the food we eat, and the ventures we like to be a part of.

 

Our partnership for Slow Flow 1.0 began with an acknowledgement of how under-represented heirloom rice varieties are on our plates (and in our glasses), and how craft beer can do its bit in promoting India’s culinary diversity.

 

So, for this first iteration, we knew we had to celebrate this diversity with a bang. For the first beers in the series, we decided to focus our attention on rices of Maharashtra sourced directly from farmers through The Locavore’s partner producer, OOO Farms.

The event featured beer brewed with rice varieties from western India, sourced from our TL partner producer OOO Farms. The delicious First Edition Beers included:

• 50 Days from Red Rice Poha 

Bombay Duck Brewing’s take on a classic Bavarian style, this experimental Marzen was a clean, rich amber beer lagered slowly over 50 days with crisp drinkability and a pillowy mouthfeel.

 

• RoyALEty from Ajara Ghansal

The cream ale-style RoyALEty was an easy-drinking American ale inspired by German lagers traditionally brewed with corn. This beer style is brewed with Ajara Ghansal—a rice varietal once favoured by royal families.

EACH BEER SERVED AT THE EVENT, POURED FROM CLASSIC BOMBAY DUCK BREWERY CROWLERS, WAS MADE FROM A DIFFERENT RICE VARIETY INDIGENOUS TO INDIA. PHOTOS COURTESY OF WOODSIDE INN.

 • Viva La Vida from Black Rock Rice 

This amber ale was a medium-bodied beer with bold flavours of caramel and toffee, punctuated by notes of stone fruit and raisins

 

• Paint it Black from Krishna Black

This interpretive full-bodied stout was deliciously malty, with notes of coffee, baked chocolate, toasted bread and caramel.

 

Each beer was conceptualised and named keeping the idiosyncrasies of contributing rice varieties in mind. The Viva La Vida attests to the strength of the hardy and resilient black rock rice, while Paint it Black drew attention to the fitting relationship between the rare Krishna black and the first black rice stout beer in the country.

 

THE PUB QUIZ BROUGHT ALL THE ATTENDEES TOGETHER AND FILLED THEM WITH A COMPETITIVE SPIRIT. THE QUIZ MASTERS WERE CHEFTZAC AND HARSH FROM NO FOOTPRINTS. PHOTOS COURTESY OF WOODSIDE INN.

As people enjoyed the four delicious new beers, we kicked off the activities we had organised for the evening, full with games and competition. Led by quizmasters ChefTZac from The Locavore and Harshvardhan Tanwar from No Footprints, the evening began with a fun pub quiz on topics ranging from Mumbai city to beer. The highlight of the evening, however, was the label-making station with Maleka Shah Patel from The Wander Ink, where guests could design their own custom crowlers stickers!

AT THE DIY CROWLER STATION, ARTIST MALEKA SHAH PATEL (@WANDERINK) MADE CUSTOMISED LABELS FOR ATTENDEES, AND THEY WERE FREE TO MAKE THEIR OWN. PHOTOS BY THE LOCAVORE.

ONE OF THE QUESTIONS ON THE PUB QUIZ WAS, ‘DO YOU KNOW WHAT NEIPA STANDS FOR?’ WELL, DO YOU? PHOTOS COURTESY OF WOODSIDE INN.

Anushree Trivedi wrote to us saying, “Rather than the mundane get-togethers that most brands have, this was a fun, interactive, yet competitive afternoon—a smashing success. I particularly enjoyed the pub quiz and the customised stickers sketched by Maleka. Needless to say, the countless glasses of beer I consumed and took home were fantastic!”

 

While Tanya George’s succinct statement was, “It was da bomb! Quote that!”

 

While people enjoyed a nice crisp Sunday beer, they also absorbed knowledge about the grains and rice that make their treats. As our attendees went home after an evening of games and laughter, with full bellies, we hope we also left them with a niggling thought, ‘But where does all that I eat and drink really come from?’


At The Locavore, we really enjoy finding ways to make indigenous ingredients and learning about them fun, accessible, and exciting through such collaborations and events. Make sure you’re at the next one!

 

At The Locavore, we love planning and executing events that highlight India’s diverse local foods, celebrating community, sustainability, and cultural heritage. Our events feature engaging workshops, discussions, immersive experiences and other formats that connect you to India’s rich food culture. Interested in collaborating or having us organise an event? Reach out at connect@thelocavore.in.