The first legal brewery in the Persian Gulf has opened in the UAE, sending a powerful signal for the potential growth in the region’s beer industry.

The brewery is a partnership between Craft By Side Hustle, which launched in 2019 and brewed in the United States for import into the UAE, and Balmaghie Beverage Group and other investors.

Asia Brewers Network had previously reported on the alcohol law changes in the UAE, which decriminalised alcohol at a federal level and allowed individual emirates to introduce more liberal policies on regulation of beer, wine and spirits.

“As founders of the local craft movement, we acknowledge the responsibility presented to us and are both humbled and thrilled to open Abu Dhabi’s first craft microbrewery,” Side Hustle Brews and Spirits co-founder Chad McGehee shared.

The taproom can only sell draft beer brewed at its on-site brewery as Abu Dhabi doesn’t allow in-country packaging.

The production capacity of the brewery,  which took 10 million AED (2.7 million USD) to build, is 25,000 pints (around 118 hl) per month.

“Regardless of the size of the market, we legitimately made this beer for us to drink, and then it just kept growing. We commit to delivering innovative and authentic experiences worthy of the UAE’s high standards,” added Mr McGhee.

The Middle East is no stranger to breweries, with both large scale commercial and craft beer production taking place in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria & several other countries.

However, countries around Persian Gulf have maintained much strict rules around alcohol production and distribution in recent decades, with only Iraq maintaining a relatively consistent track record of active local brewing.

As the taps finally flow with locally produced craft beer in Abu Dhabi – and with new breweries opening in Pakistan and revised alcohol laws in Bangladesh – we may be on the cusp of a period of growth in West Asia’s beer industry.