When you first arrive at the craft brewpub on Abu Dhabi’s Al Maryah island and sit down with a cold IPA among other drinkers chatting and sipping beside bare brick walls and stainless-steel brewing vats, you could be in any number of brewery taprooms around the UK or US.
What you might not appreciate at first swig, though, is the significance of this venue. Craft by Side Hustle is the first microbrewery to open its doors not just in the UAE capital but the entire Gulf region, where other nations still ban the sale and consumption of alcohol.
This unassuming pub, with 14 beers on tap,…
