Yardhouse mulls entry into bottled beer

Company to set up a Rs 100-crore project to make cider, wheat and stout varieties of the beverage

Microbrewery startup Yardhouse Brewery Private Limited, which had set up its first microbrewery Prost Pub in Bengaluru in 2012, has announced the soft launch of its second pub in Hyderabad on Friday.

This 340-seater Prost Pub was set up in a 11,000 square feet space at an investment of over Rs 10 crore, according to Yardhouse director Teja Chekuri, The company's immediate plans include a second pub in Bengaluru and one in Delhi, he said.

The IT city of Bengaluru has more than 20 microbreweries while Prost Pub is a second such micro beer brewery to come up in Hyderabad city. Telangana government had granted licenses to microbreweries last year.

However, Yardhouse Brewery's growth ambitions go much beyond these four pubs wants: "After this launch we will start working on a Rs 100-crore good size brewery project that would make bottled beer essentially of cider, wheat and stout types of beer," Chekuri told Business Standard.

The new microbreweries will add to the valuation of the company to bargain for a better deal to raise investment for the proposed project in future, according to Chekuri. He said their Prost Pub in Bengaluru has a valuation of Rs 40 crore. Started by five young entrepreneurs, Yardhouse has been funding the ongoing expansion with its own investments, Chekuri said.