With summer fast approaching, if not already here, most of us if given the chance, would like to head for the mountains! And why not too? There’s something magical about being in the hills, and that charm never fades. For some beer and spirits entrepreneurs, their love for the hills also led them to name their brands after mountains that they loved or that inspired them. Here are 3 such tales.

Sierra Nevada Brewing

Ken Grossman bought his first home brewing kit in 1969 and in 1976 began a home brewing shop, wherein he also taught brewing to first timers. In 1978 home brewing was legalized and while on hiking trips in the famed Sierra Nevada mountains, his idea to set up his own brewery took shape. The name came easily! In 1980 his first batch of beer was brewed, 5 barrels of stout.

Later on, in 1980 he took a crack at the beer style that would really make Sierra Nevada brewing famous, the Pale Ale, one of the beers that helped spark the American craft beer revolution. The Cascade Hops in the Pale Ale give it intense aromas of pine and citrus. Till date, Sierra Nevada Brewing, remains 100% family owned and operated. The mountains sure turned out lucky for Ken as in 2015, he became the 3^rd billionaire to emerge from the beer business.

And that’s not all, Ken also named his daughter as Sierra!

Kamet Whisky

 

The appropriately named Peak Spirits, recently launched Kamet, their first ever whisky in a joint venture with Piccadily Distilleries. The name derives from Mount Kamet, India’s third highest peak located in Uttarakhand, and it is distilled near Kurukshetra in Haryana. Mt. Kamet is located where India, Nepal and Tibet meet in the Chamoli district of Garhwal Himalayas. The Tibetans named Kamet “Kang Med” which means Burning Mountain because the sun rays falling on it makes it look extremely beautiful.

 

Peak Spirits was co-founded by Ansh Khanna who tells us that they owe the name Kamet to his partner Ken Fredrickson who has been a keen enthusiast of the Himalayas for years. He was very inspired by Mt Kamet and therefore the name.

Kamet is made using the famous six row barley, indigenous to India sourced from the foothills of the Himalayas, irrigated by melting glacier water.

The team is very passionate about their casks, and they use a combination of ex-Bourbon American Oak, ex-Wine French Oak and historic ex-Sherry casks. The wine and sherry casks give the single malt a vinous touch, something very close to the hearts of the founders.

Kamet is made in custom Indian-made copper pot stills, with the skills of two legendary master blenders – Surrinder Kumar, the father of Indian Single Malt and Nancy Fraley – Director of Education of the American Distilling Institute.

Pumori Gin

If we’re talking about Gin, then there’s a high chance that Goa will be mentioned in the same breath. Pumori Gin comes from Fullarton Distilleries in Goa. It’s a small batch gin, made in batches of only 200 litres each. The botanicals used include Himalayan Juniper, orange peel, lemon peel, cardamom, coriander seeds, liquorice, nutmeg, rosemary, aniseed, cinnamon, almond and vanilla.

Pumori comes in an eye catching bottle, whose shape is inspired by school water flasks of old. It derives its name from Mt. Pumori in the Himalayan range.

Mt Pumori in the Himalayas is known as the daughter of the Everest. The juniper which is the hero of  Pumori comes from the Himalayan region and we consider this juniper to be to our gin, what Mt Pumori is to the Everest.