The bottle:Bira 91 beer, $10-12 per six pack.

The back story: India is often celebrated for its cuisine, but what about its drink? Since we’re coming up on Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights that’s one of the country’s major holidays, we went in search of a way to toast it. And we may have found such a sip in Bira 91, a relatively new line of craft beer.

Yes, craft beer — as in beer that’s produced in smaller quantities and that typically has more character and flavor than what Bira 91 founder Ankur Jain calls “industrial lager” — has made its way from America to the other side of the world. Actually, there are growing craft-beer movements in a number of places, from Brazil to Italy to Japan. In the case of Bira 91, Jain, an entrepreneur who splits his time between India and the U.S., took inspiration from the fact his New York office was once “right down the street” from the Brooklyn Brewery, one of the country’s most prominent craft brands. As he worked his way through Brooklyn’s product line, the thought occurred to him that India, with its increasingly prominent population of young professionals, was ripe to join the better-beer revolution.

So, in 2009, Jain started importing beer to India. By last year, he launched Bira 91, giving the beer a colorful, contemporary logo with a rendering of a monkey. He notes that “bira,” which obviously sounds like beer, has special meaning in India, since it’s a term commonly used in conversation in much the same manner as the American “dude.” (As for 91, it’s India’s country code.) Says Jain: “If I described the brand in one word, it would be ‘playful.’”

So far, all signs point to success for Bira 91, which is produced in both India and Belgium. Jain says he has raised $12 million in investment for the upstart brand; he also says sales have grown from 150,000 cases in 2015 to an anticipated 600,000 to 700,000 cases this year. He recently introduced Bira 91 to New York and has plans to take it national starting in 2017.

Weekend sip: An Indian craft beer to celebrate Diwali

What we think about it: Jain says his goal was to make beer that would appeal to the Indian consumer — that is, he wanted something refreshing and “sessionable” (meaning a drink that begs you to have more than one) and he wanted to avoid extreme flavors and styles (think sour beer). But we’d say those same attributes make Bira 91 good for the American consumer, particularly one who likes craft beer on the milder side. Bira 91 comes in two varieties — White (a wheat beer) and Blonde (a lager). We’re particularly high on White, with its citrus-y notes and what the brand rightly describes as a “soft finish.” In short, while the craft marketplace is plenty crowded in America, we think Bira 91 could make some inroads.

How to enjoy it: Naturally, Bira 91 pairs well with a variety of Indian foods — its refreshing nature helps it cut through some of the country’s spicier dishes. But Jain encourages consumers to try it with American favorites. For example, he says the Blonde goes well with barbecue.