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There's an iconic brewery in Pakistan that's been operating for generations, even though it's illegal for the country's Muslim majority to drink. It's called Murree Brewery. And this year, the brewery got the green light to export its beer for the first time in decades. Betsy Joles tells us more from Rawalpindi.
BETSY JOLES, BYLINE: Outside the Murree Brewery factory in the city of Rawalpindi, forklifts carry cardboard boxes of beer ready for distribution.
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JOLES: The industrial buildings here are made from red brick, and there's a sign on one of them with the date of the brewery's founding, 1860. Historian Ali Akbar Khan says the Brewery's longevity has made it a household name in Pakistan, even among nondrinkers.
ALI AKBAR KHAN: Murree Brewery, it's a landmark.
JOLES: The business started before Pakistan even existed, when the British ruled the Indian subcontinent and started brewing beer in the Murree Hills. After partition in 1947, the brewery continued operating under the leadership of the Bhandara family, which still runs it today. But the beer business in Pakistan hasn't exactly been straightforward. Alcohol was initially banned in 1977 by then-Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in response to conservative politics. And politics brought an end to alcohol exports too.
ISPHANYAR BHANDARA: The theory behind the export ban was that an Islamic country should not be seen as exporting a vice.
JOLES: Isphanyar Bhandara is the CEO of Murree Brewery. When Bhutto was overthrown in a military coup, Bhandara's father made an appeal to his successor, the conservative Zia-ul-Haq. Without alcohol, Bhandara argued, people might turn to worse vices like drugs, not to mention the loss of millions of dollars in tax revenue for the state.
BHANDARA: He did understand, or buy, my father's theory, and later on, they became very good golfing buddies.
JOLES: Alcohol consumption and sales are now only permitted in Pakistan for non-Muslims and foreigners. Murree Brewery has found a way around these market limitations by diversifying its offerings to include nonalcoholic options, like fruit-flavored malt drinks.
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UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: Think natural. Be natural. Drink natural. Murree Brewery - getting better with age.
JOLES: Murree's alcoholic drinks have also done well in Pakistan, despite restrictions. But for years, Murree Brewery didn't have the go-ahead to export them. The elder Bhandara lobbied to change that, as did Isphanyar when he took over the business in 2008. Both father and son have held seats in Pakistan's Parliament.
BHANDARA: If we can sell it in Pakistan, why can't we sell it to people who already are consumers of beer?
JOLES: That window finally opened earlier this year. It was met with tepid optimism within Murree Brewery.
RAMEEZ SHAH: Initially, we were not confident that all of the things will go smooth.
JOLES: Rameez Shah is the company's export manager. He says they sent their first shipment to the United Kingdom in the spring to test out any snags in the export process. They're exporting to Portugal and Japan as well, and they're looking to ship to other countries, including the United States.
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JOLES: Inside the production area of Murree Brewery, cans move down a conveyor belt to get filled with frothy, golden beer. A member of the production team lists off the types of Murree beers being made here.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Light beer, Millennium, strong beer, (speaking Urdu).
JOLES: For now, the brewery says it doesn't have to crank up production to fulfill export demands, but they're hoping that might change. For NPR News, I'm Betsy Joles in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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