Narayan Manepally’s Journey of Building Geist Brewing Co. |From Ex-Intel Engineer to Craft Beer Icon in India

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13d ago 46:05

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What happens when a techie starts brewing in his garage and ends up building one of India’s most iconic craft beer brands?
Just as refreshing as Geist’s beer, this episode has Narayan Manepally, CEO & Co-founder of Geist Brewing Co., chatting with Sanjay Swamy. It has all the flavours and ingredients - from sharing his journey as an Intel engineer in the U.S. to innovating and succeeding as a beer entrepreneur.
What you’ll learn:
🍺 How one batch of California Golden Ale changed everything
📜 Why Narayan brewed in Belgium and brought it back to India
📦 The science of building a cold chain for beer
🌳 How Geist Brewing Co. turned adversity into an open-air beer garden
📈 From 0 to 450+ locations without compromising on quality
Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction

03:27 – Tech at Intel → Garage Brewing

08:09 – First Brew = The Big Idea

10:08 – “Now They Say: We Love Geist!”

12:42 – What Makes a Beer ‘Craft’?

15:00 – Brewing Abroad When India Said No

18:04 – The 600K Month & Scaling B2B

20:33 – COVID Pivot: Sell to Myself

23:47 – Cold Chain & the Science of Fresh Beer

34:03 – Advice for Founders
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Chapters

1. Introduction to Geist Brewery (00:00:00)

2. Early Engineering Career at Intel (00:02:14)

3. Discovery of Home Brewing Passion (00:07:28)

4. Returning to India to Start Brewing (00:15:54)

5. Creating a Distribution Craft Brewery (00:21:58)

6. Tech Innovation in Beer Production (00:27:15)

7. Team Structure and Factory Layout (00:36:44)

8. Bangalore's Craft Beer Evolution (00:39:40)

9. The Three P's of Entrepreneurship (00:42:57)

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