BREWDOG is a Scottish brewery and pub chain based in Ellon, having first been founded in 2007 by James Watt and Martin Dickie.
According to the brand’s website, the pair were “fed up of the stuffy UK beer market” and so, aged 24, decided to start up their own business.
BrewDog has more than 100 bars across the UK, including in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Here’s everything you need to know.
BrewDog history
Watt and Dickie first started making their own beers in Fraserburgh in 2007, filling bottles by hand and selling beers at local markets.
In 2008, the group created the “UK’s strongest ever beer” – Tokyo – which was banned by the Portman Group – who set the rules for alcohol producers.
The first BrewDog bar opened in Aberdeen, Watt and Dickie’s (below) hometown, in 2010 while the city also hosted the company’s first AGM.
More bars opened in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London in 2011. The business continued to grow from there, releasing 36 different beers in 2014 and shipping to 55 different countries.
It also opened “the world’s first craft beer hotel” in 2018.
Earlier this year, we told how Watt announced he was stepping down from his role as chief executive.
He’s handed over the reins to chief operating officer James Arrow, but said that he would remain with the group as a non-executive director on the board and continue to advise the group on strategy.
Promotional gaffes
The company has become known down the years for creating cans based on current affairs or sporting events.
For example, in June of this year, it released limited editions cans of its Punk IPA – one called Three Lions for England, and another called Tartan Army for Scotland.
Sticking with the football theme, BrewDog also named itself the “anti-sponsor” of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
In a statement, the company criticised the decision to hold the tournament in Qatar, where male homosexuality is illegal and thousands of migrant workers died since the country was given the responsibility of hosting the event.
“This isn’t a World Cup. It’s a World F*Cup. Football’s been dragged through the mud, before a single ball’s been kicked,” the statement said.
Back in 2020, meanwhile, the company started selling a Barnard Castle eye test beer following controversy around senior government adviser Dominic Cummings (below).
He was accused of breaking lockdown rules after it was reported he had driven 260 miles to his father’s home in Durham to self-isolate with his wife and their four-year-old child.
Cummings also confirmed he completed a second journey to local attraction Barnard Castle as part of a bid to see if he could “drive safely” back to London as his eyesight had supposedly been damaged when he contracted Covid-19.
BrewDog’s lost forest
In May 2024, the Sunday National revealed that BrewDog’s “lost forest” risked turning into a lost cause by replacing dead trees too late in the season.
The company had promised to create the “biggest-ever” woodland in the Highlands to help the regeneration of Kinrara, near Aviemore.
The former sporting estate was bought by the company for £8.8 million in 2020.
However, criticism began when tree planting did not begin until 2022 after a funding grant from Scottish Forestry. The total grant for the Lost Forest’s phase one is £1.2m. To date, £690,000 has been paid as part of the Forestry Grant Scheme contract.
BrewDog had boasted that 500,000 trees had been planted but the Sunday National revealed in February that more than half of the newly planted Scots pine were dead – with the smaller mixed native broadleaf area suffering a “very high mortality” of 95%
In February, BrewDog told the Sunday National that the dead trees would be replaced but replanting is still going on.
Asked if Watt stepping down would have an effect on the “Lost Forest,” a spokesperson told the Sunday National: "They are currently re-planting all those saplings that sadly didn’t make it through the very hot and dry summer. So that process goes on.”
BrewDog News
Here’s a selection of some of the latest news about BrewDog as told by The National:
Brewdog yet to file company accounts for this year
Brewdog accused of 'no morals' after ditching carbon neutral scheme
BrewDog issue response to staff following EDL meeting in London bar
Living Wage Row
In January 2024, the Scottish brewer announced it would stop paying the Real Living Wage, with founder Watt issuing a statement on the “incredibly difficult decision”.
The statement came after reports broke that he had enjoyed a luxury holiday in the Maldives the month before announcing the wage changes.
He commented: “The controversy was because we have only increased our national bar team wages 20.4% since March 2022 and not the 26% that would have been required to retain a Real Living Wage status.
“I would love nothing more than to give everyone in our business a further huge pay increase, but we simply have to balance our books, offer fair value to our customers and ensure the long-term viability of our business. And ultimately, protect jobs.”
More than 20,000 people signed a petition calling for BrewDog to reverse its decision.
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