Curry Smugglers Alcohol-Free Beers

Curry Smugglers is a Margate brand that sells Desi snacks, such as Bombay mix, in beer cans. In August 2026 it launched its own beer, the DESI Beer Project, including Mango Mirchi, an alcohol-free lager with Alphonso mango and habanero chilli, 0.5% according to the shops.

Who are Curry Smugglers?

“Curry Smugglers was founded by us, Steve and Ruby Dass”, the brand says, “based in Margate, Kent”; the company was incorporated in May 2024. It sells Desi snacks, Bombay mix, chakli, pakora and masala corn, in cans: “Snacks in cans, not boring bags”. They come “packed in the most unexpected way—beer cans!”, it says, because craft beer is “our second love”, and “We’ve always said Bombay Mix is the ultimate pub snack”.

The brand gives two stories for the name: “that cheeky family feeling of bringing flavour with you wherever you go”, and a homage to “our fun family holidays or the old spice trade”. Its snacks have been picked up by independent shops and then “places like Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason”, it says; that’s the snacks, and we found nothing to say the beer is sold there. Companies House shows the company is privately owned, with one person holding 75% or more; we found no drinks group involved, so we list it as independent.

Steve Dass and alcohol-free beer

Steve Dass has worked in alcohol-free beer before. The Brewers Journal calls him the “original Nirvana Brewery co-founder”, and Londonist named him “co-founder of Nirvana Brewing”, the east London company making non-alcoholic beer (see our page on Nirvana). Food and Drink Technology says he worked “with brands such as Karma and Nirvana”, and several launch articles say he worked with an organic Belgian brewery and was a leading voice in “the UK’s early alcohol-free craft beer movement”.

The DESI Beer Project

The beer is pitched on India’s brewing before IPA: “Long before IPA (India Pale Ale) sailed in and stole the headline, beer was already being brewed across India”, “using local ingredients such as rice”, the brand says, and the project “brings it forward with a modern British Asian voice”. Steve Dass told the trade press: “For decades, ‘goes well with curry’ seems to have been the entire lazy conversation around Indian beer,” and “We don’t want to splash a few random elephants and palaces on a label.” “It’s about asking what a modern Desi beer can be today,” he told Wholesale Manager.

There are two beers, covered by the trade press from 11 August 2026. DESI Lager, a 4.2% basmati rice lager according to the press, is “Brewed with basmati rice for a clean, crisp and refreshing finish”, with lime zest and a “soft green chilli warmth”, the brand says. The other is Mango Mirchi, the alcohol-free one.

Who brews Curry Smugglers beer?

Wholesale Manager calls Steve Dass “Curry Smugglers founder and brewer”, and the brand’s Our Story page speaks of “the irresistibly delicious beers that our awesome passionate brewers now brew”. But neither the brand, the shops nor the press names a brewery or says where the beer is brewed, so we don’t either.

Curry Smugglers’ alcohol-free beer

Mango Mirchi, sold by the brand as Mango Mirchi Lager, is “Juicy mango with a slow habanero kick”: “A clean pilsner base meets ripe Alphonso mango on the nose”, and “The palate is crisp and dry, with a slow-building habanero warmth that lingers without ever overwhelming”, the brand says. The Alcohol Free Co says it “starts juicy and refreshing before developing a gentle warmth at the back of the throat”, and that “The mango is aromatic rather than syrupy”.

Curry Smugglers’ own pages give no ABV. The Alcohol Free Co and alcoholfreedrinks.co.uk both say 0.5%, and no source gives a lower figure. It comes in 440ml cans. Nobody says how it’s made, and the full ingredients and allergens aren’t published. The Alcohol Free Co calls it vegan-friendly; the brand doesn’t say it’s gluten-free. One shop gives 17 kcal per 100ml, but the brand publishes no figure, so we don’t use it in our calorie tools.

It launched alongside DESI Lager in August 2026, and no source calls it seasonal or limited. We found no awards for it, and no Untappd page.

How Mango Mirchi compares

Flavoured alcohol-free lagers from UK brands in our directory. Calories as published; checked 31 October 2026. Scores are Unhopped ratings out of 10.

The Curry Smugglers beer in our directory

Checked October 2026. Scores are Unhopped ratings out of 10.

Where to buy Mango Mirchi

On 29 October 2026 The Alcohol Free Co had six for £28.06, or £4.91 for a single can (an affiliate link). Curry Smugglers’ own shop lists it at £3.99 a can, but on 31 October 2026 its product page showed every option as sold out, so check before you order. alcoholfreedrinks.co.uk listed it at £3.95 a can on 29 October. Dry Drinker and Wise Bartender don’t list it, and we found no supermarket or pub stocking it. For more ideas, see our guide to alcohol-free beer for a curry night.

Facts checked against Curry Smugglers’ own website, Companies House, Wholesale Manager, The Brewers Journal, Food and Drink Technology, Scottish Grocer, SLR, Londonist, Faire, The Alcohol Free Co and alcoholfreedrinks.co.uk, 31 October 2026.