Cask beer, chilled beer warehouses and bar franchises: BrewDog unveils 'blueprint' for its future

Brewing giant BrewDog has unveiled its blueprints for the next decade as it announces the return of cask beer, the launch of Europe's first chilled beer warehouse and a new bar franchise scheme for its Equity Punks.

Published 9th Oct 2018
Updated 9 th Aug 2023

The massive firm, which has 70 craft beer bars across the globe and recently posted a 55 per cent increase in its turnover versus the same time last year, is continuing its global expansion drive.

Having only launched its fifth round of Equity for Punks crowdfunding drive last October, it has already raised over £23.7 million from its fans.

With a flurry of new BrewDog bar openings including Paris, Hamburg, London’s Brixton and Canary Wharf, Manchester, Dublin, Toronto, Budapest and Brisbane, set to be unveiled, the founders have revealed their 12 point business manifesto for the next decade.

Top of the blueprint is their plans to make great beer, writing in the release that their massive growth will not cause a drop in the quality of their products, the brand said: "Making beer in slightly larger batches actually gives us more control over the vital parts of the process meaning we can brew better beer.

"The fact that the world’s huge beer companies all make mediocre beer has nothing to do with the size of batches they are making and everything to do with the philosophy of the company."

The company announced the launch of Hop Hub this November, their new distribution centre just outside Glasgow, which they say will soon be "Europe’s first ever fully refrigerated beer warehouse for national distribution".

In news that will please Camra fans, they will be reintroducing cask beer, a practice they stopped almost a decade ago.

"We stopped doing cask beer in an effort to try and get people excited about craft beer in kegs in the UK. We also stopped because we were concerned about how often cask beer was incorrectly stored and served by publicans, which adversely affected beer quality, and furthermore we felt the beers we were brewing at the time suited keg dispense better.

"However, with craft beer in kegs now widely accepted in the UK and with our Draft House bars being the perfect place for us to control quality, we have decided to look to start putting some classic BrewDog beers back in cask."

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It was announced that BrewDog plan to launch Dead Pony Club in Draft House bars in mid November, and a "handful of carefully selected partners" in late October.

Other plans include collaborations for their Draft House range with brewers such as Ken Grossman from Sierra Nevada and George Schneider from Schneider Brewing, improvements to their sour beer facility Overworks, the introduction of a new barrel-aging programme and the launch of a bar Franchise scheme - giving Equity Punks the chance to open their own BrewDog bar in their home town.

As part of their continuing drive to help charitable causes and assist fledgling distilleries, the brand have announced the launch of the BrewDog Foundation, a £1million annual fund that "will be donated to charitable causes chosen by the brewery’s team and Equity Punks", as well as revival of their Development Fund, which will see the company make up to £200,000 available each year to help develop smaller breweries.

The first recipients of the fund being Dope & Dank, a US-based initiative on a mission to bring craft beer to a more diverse audience in the US and around the world.

James Watt, BrewDog co founder said: "This is our manifesto for the next decade of dog. A public declaration of how we are going to progress our unerring mission of making other people as passionate about great craft beer as we are. We are determined to show that craft beer can be a force for good in the world, and we’ll continue to build a completely new type of business, with our community firmly at the helm.

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“There is nothing more important to us than our beer and our people, which includes not only our amazing team but also the global community we have built. This Blueprint showcases how we will fight tooth and nail for what we believe in, as we aim to make a meaningful impact on both the world of beer and the world of business."

 

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Driven by a passion for all things drinks-related, Sean writes for The Scotsman extensively on the subject. He can also sometimes be found behind the bar at the world famous Potstill bar in Glasgow where he continues to enhance his whisky knowledge built up over 10 years advising customers from all over the world on the wonders of our national drink. Recently, his first book was published. Dubbed Gin Galore, it explores Scotland's best gins and the stories behind those that make them.
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