Bira 91’s Double Pleasure for Beer Lovers In India

More than two years after it launched its beer in India, Bira    91    the    much-loved crafted beer brand launched two more variants — Bira 91 Light and Bira 91 Strong.

Even though the brand itself went viral amongst consumers in India, this is the first time since its introduction, in early 2015, that Bira 91 has added beers to its portfolio.

Bira 91 Light is one of the first low- calorie  beers  to be introduced in the Indian market. At about 90 calories for a 330 ml bottle, Bira 91 Light is one of the lowest calorie beers, and has a little over half the calories of standard lagers.

The  beer  finally  gives  health  and fitness conscious consumers a choice on  the  beer  list.  Company  founder Ankur Jain said: “Bira 91 Light is the calorie   option any      alcoholic age in the bar. It wer than a glass ampagne,  much rs, or cocktails. It’s even lower than a glass of milk or orange juice!”

The beer is positioned as a “lunchtime lager” — quick refreshment that you can have with a light meal any time of the day. What makes Bira 91 Light unique is the taste: A super Bira 91 Light will be available in 330 ml bottles, and on tap. Bira 91 Light is priced at INR 100 for 330ml bottle, Ex-Delhi.

Bira 91 Strong will be available in 500 ml cans and 650 ml bottles. Bira 91 Strong will cost about 20% more than the best-selling strong light   body,   clean   appearance   and crisp taste, the beer is filled with exotic hops from Europe giving it a pleasant, natural finish and making it eminently sessionable.

Added Ankur: “Most things that are healthy have a reputation of tasting awful. As a brand, our main promise to consumers is the taste, and we wanted to make a beer that was not just healthy, but also delicious!”

The Indian beer market is dominated by strong beers — over 85 percent of the beer consumed in India are high alcohol. In that context, the launch of a Light beer, which is low calorie, is unusual. Explaining the rationale, Jain said, “Our estimates are that India has about  200  mn  consumers  of  alcohol and only about 100 mn consumers of beer. Bira 91 Light will hopefully give non-beer drinkers another reason to consider beers when they are looking for a refreshment.”

The launch will be in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Goa and Bangalore this quarter and will be expanded to other cities later in the year. The beer will be available in 330 ml bottles and on tap through Bira 91’s draught network, which is now the country’s largest.

Another launch is that of Bira  91  Strong.  Described by the company as a “High Intensity  Wheat  Beer,”  this is the first strong beer based on wheat. This beer is a top fermented ale giving the beer a unique and rich taste, that is low on bitterness, high on honey and caramel notes.

At   about   7%   abv,   the beer is designed to usher a revolution of taste to the mass market and aims to disrupt the mainstream beer market. Ankur boasted: “This is a big beer. High on flavour, high on taste, high in alcohol content. We want the mainstream consumer to consider and discover taste when they make a choice at the retail shelf. With the introduction of Bira 91

Strong, the difference to the consumer will be obvious and we expect that the consumer will quickly trade up to Bira 91 Strong from whatever they have been drinking thus far!”

Priced aggressively, Bira 91 Strong charges only 20 percent premium over the largest selling strong beers in the market — with the bet that Bira 91 can be the gateway to great tasting beers to every Indian consumer.

Bira 91 Strong will be available in 500 ml cans and 650 ml bottles. The launch will be across 15 cities in this quarter —covering every active market for Bira 91.