Meet Gagan Deep, the brewmaster behind Hops n Grains

Brewmaster at Hops n Grains

Hops n Grains was founded by Amritanshu Agrawal and Dr Priyanka Gupta, who have grown it into three brewpubs across the Tricity. Gagan Deep is their in-house brewmaster, the person who brews the beers on every tap.

That is how the best Indian brewpubs work. The owners bring the vision, the hospitality and the food. The brewmaster owns the beer. When the two trust each other, guests taste it in every glass. Gagan's long partnership with the Hops n Grains founders is a good example of that model at its best. It is also a useful one for anyone thinking about brewing as a career.

Hops n Grains in brief

By the founders' own account, Hops n Grains opened in Sector 9, Panchkula, in 2010 as the first microbrewery in the Tricity. The group has since added The Great Bear in Chandigarh and a second Hops n Grains in Mohali, opened during the Covid years.

Panchkula is a three-floor brewpub with the vessels on show behind glass. The brewery's website now lists six seasonal beers on tap at any time, alongside the regulars. In a recent interview the founders called Gagan Deep their in-house brewmaster, with Dr S Cariappa, the Bengaluru brewer who commissioned the plant, as their mentor.

The brewmaster and the consultant

That pairing is common in Indian brewpubs. A senior consultant sets up the brewhouse, writes the first recipes and trains the team. A resident brewmaster then brews every day, keeps the cellar healthy and develops new beers. Our guide on when to hire a consultant brewmaster covers how the split usually works.

The resident brewer's job is the one that never stops. Yeast has to be pitched on time, tanks have to be cleaned and every beer has to taste the same on a Tuesday as it did on Saturday. A consultant can visit. Only the brewmaster is there when a fermenter runs warm at midnight.

What a brewmaster's day involves

The job behind a brewpub's taps is mostly routine, done precisely. A typical brew day starts early with milling and mashing in, then lautering, the boil and cooling the wort into a fermenter. Around that sit the daily checks: gravity and temperature readings on every fermenting tank, tasting each beer in the cellar, cleaning whatever was used and keeping the yeast healthy for the next pitch.

In the Tricity the weather adds its own work. Panchkula summers regularly pass 40 °C (104 °F), so the glycol chiller that holds fermenters at temperature works hardest exactly when the taproom is busiest. A brewmaster in North India learns to watch that chiller as closely as any tank. Ordering malt and hops, keeping excise records and training junior brewers fill the rest of the week.

In his own words

In 2018 Gagan told The Tribune that the team had "been experimenting with seasonal beers and food that goes with it." At the time that meant a Belgian Dubbel with caramel and toffee notes, brewed for the cricket season with a matching menu.

Looking back on the early years of building the brewery, he added: "Thankfully, now the microbrewery industry has grown by leaps and bounds." Gagan started brewing when craft beer in North India was brand new. He has been part of its growth ever since.

What his career shows a new brewer

You do not need to own a brewery to build a reputation. You need to stay with one long enough for its beer to become yours. Hops n Grains has kept its core beers on tap for well over a decade while adding seasonal and fruit beers. That takes a brewer who can hold consistency and still experiment. Gagan's steady hand is a large part of why the Hops n Grains name has lasted in the Tricity for more than a decade.

It also takes a willingness to learn from a mentor. Working beside an experienced consultant is the fastest education a young brewer in India can get. The other route is structured training first, then a brewpub job. Our guide to becoming a brewer in India sets out both paths.