Bira 91 is a case study of how a home-grown beer brand took on giants and rang in good times, both for the owners and the customers. From shelves at alcohol vends to chic parties, Bira ruled. But why did the chic craft beer brand disappear suddenly? Several reports suggested that a name change spelt its doom. But industry insiders told India Today Digital that the name-change story is just the beer head in Bira 91's tall Weizenglas of woes.

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The frothy foam gives way to the allegations of the company's bad financial health, internal turmoil, and calls for a leadership overhaul that have compounded and coincided with supply-chain woes, induced by the change in name. Bira 91 beers are missing from the shelves of wine shops, the company lost Rs 80 crore and employees are now up in arms to oust founder Ankur Jain.

A name change—from 'B9 beverages private limited' to 'B9 beverages limited'—forced by regulatory norms, triggered the collapse of a thriving beer brand, some reports have claimed. However, there are several key questions here to do with the company that was worth Rs 4,370 crore, earning annual revenue of Rs 638 crore.

Why are hundreds of employees, present and former, up in arms against Ankur Jain? Are the two crises—change of name and allegations of "corporate governance failures, lack of transparency, delays in employee dues and salaries and deteriorating financials"—related? And, most importantly, could the cascading disruption in Bira 91's supply chain, which led to dwindling stocks of vendors, have been avoided?

India Today Digital spoke to an alcobev industry insider, a domain veteran, and a corporate lawyer, understand the crisis at Bira 91, a beloved I