Name: Tundra
Clarity: Natural and unfiltered
Origin: India
Bitterness: Medium-high
Grid’s serving temperature: 4-6 degrees Celsius 
Food pairing: Dry Chilli Prawn, Tokyo Chickpeas, fried dishes, fruity desserts and pizzas. “When you are pairing a food, one or two components or ingredients of the dish should match with those in the beer to create a balance,” said Koushika. 
Pocket pinch: Rs 330 and 
Rs 490 for half and full pint respectively.

Tombolo, Caldera, Eskar, Estuary and Piedmont have found a new friend at The Grid. What?! The microbrewery in Topsia that has five craft beers flowing from the taps has got a sixth addition — Tundra. This pale ale named after a geographic landform, served in a pint glass or beer mug, is orangish-amber in colour, and has initial floral notes that change into fruity tones when warmed up. Hops and gondhoraj lemon zest lend a citric aroma to it. A sip of the beer gives a lemony bittersweet mouthfeel that lingers. 

“This is the first beer we brewed that finds its origin in India. We tried using a local ingredient like gondhoraj lemon to make it fruity and Bengal-specific. Taste-wise, a fruity beer also goes well with the hot and humid weather here. Tundra is being loved mostly by expats in the age bracket of 25 to 35 years,” said head brewmaster Koushika Viswanath.
So what else is brewing at the party spot? “We are expanding our production capacity so that we can offer our signature beers in a new way to our patrons. The idea is to have five taps flowing with the most loved brews and one flavour that we keep experimenting with,” he added.

Text: Pramita Ghosh
Pictures: Rashbehari Das