United Arab Emirates: First commercial brewery to open in Abu Dhabi this month

A commercial beer brewery will open in Abu Dhabi later this month, in what will make it the first company allowed to legally sell alcohol made in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as the Gulf country loosens socially conservative laws to diversify its economy away from oil.

US-based Craft by Side Hustle will open the brewery and restaurant later this month, Bloomberg reported on December 11, being the first company to take advantage of a rule change Abu Dhabi published in 2021 that allows license holders to ferment alcoholic drinks for consumption on-site.

Previously, the only way a vendor or business could sell beer in the UAE would be if it was manufactured overseas.

Craft by Side Hustle will serve its own beer on tap, brewed on its premises, for around 45 dirhams ($12.25) each, Bloomberg reported. The brewery, which will seat up to 250 people, will also serve Cajun-inspired food. There will be a soft opening of the venue later this month and a grand opening will follow in February.

E-malt.com, la fuente de información global para los profesionales de la industria cervecera y de malteado. Los boletines quincenales de E-malt.com incluyen las últimas noticias de la industria, estadísticas en gráficos y tablas, precios mundiales de cebada y malta, y otra información relevante. Haga clic aquí para obtener acceso completo a E-malt.com. Si usted es un cliente de Castle Malting, puede obtener acceso gratuito al sitio web y publicaciones de E-malt.com. Contáctenos para obtener más información en marketing@castlemalting.com.