| Type | Independent |
|---|---|
| Industry | Alcoholic beverages |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Fraserburgh, Scotland, UK |
| Products | Beer |
| Owner(s) | James Watt & Martin Dickie |
BrewDog is a Scottish brewery located in the town of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.
Contents |
BrewDog was founded in 2006 by friends James Watt and Martin Dickie. The brewery at the Kessock Industrial Estate in Fraserburgh produced its first brew in April 2007. It claims to be Scotland's largest independently owned brewery producing about 120,000 bottles per month for export all over the world.[1]
BrewDog produces bottled and canned beers in a variety of styles such as ale, stout, IPA and lager, some of which are also available in keg and cask ale containers. The bottled beers are widely distributed to British supermarkets and are exported worldwide to countries including Japan, Taiwan, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, the United States of America, Canada and Australia. The kegs and casks are available in a small number of locations throughout the UK.
BrewDog's core range of beers include:
Other BrewDog beers have included:
In 2009, Tokyo* caused controversy when UK watchdog the Portman Group criticised the availability of a beer of that strength in 330 ml bottles with traditional crown corks. Since then Brewdog has produced progressively stronger beers of very high strength, and has laid claim to the title 'strongest beer ever brewed' on more than one occasion.
Late in November 2009, BrewDog launched a beer called Tactical Nuclear Penguin,[2] with 32% alcohol, which was claimed to be the strongest beer ever made.[3]
In February 2010 Brewdog announced Sink The Bismarck, an apparent 41% A.B.V.[4][5] to reclaim the World's Strongest Beer title from Schorschbräu, who had produced a 40% A.B.V. version of their Schorschbock.[6]
In July 2010, BrewDog produced a 55% A.B.V. freeze-distilled beer called The End of History, with the bottles packaged in the stuffed dead bodies of small animals, priced at £500 and £700 each.[7][8][9] Only 12 bottles were produced; 11 for retail sale, with the other one going to internet video blog BeerTapTV.[10][11] BrewDog claim that this set new records not only for alcoholic strength in a beer, but also for price. Advocates for Animals called the gimmick 'perverse'.[12]
In October 2010 Brewdog opened their first bar in nearby Aberdeen, simply named "Brewdog Aberdeen".[13] A second bar, Brewdog Edinburgh, opened in March 2011 located on Cowgate.[14] with a third in Glasgow which opened July 2011 [15]. Bars are planned for the Camden area of London to follow in the autumn and in Newcastle before Christmas. [16]
BrewDog won the 2008 Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.[17]
Paradox Grain won a Gold Medal at the 2008 World Beer Cup in the Wood and Barrel-aged Strong Beer Category.[18]
BrewDog won the Tenon Entrepreneur of the Year Award for demonstrating exceptional vision and leadership at the 2008 National Business Awards for Scotland.[19]
The Physics won World's Best Strong Pale Ale (Sub Category Winner) and Rip Tide won Worlds Best Imperial Stout (Style Trophy Winner) at the 2007 World Beer Awards, an annual competition organised by Beers of the World magazine.[20]
Hardcore IPA won Gold at the 2010 World Beer Cup in the Imperial IPA category.[21]
BrewDog's provocative marketing has been a key aspect of the business, and has gained them substantial international coverage[22]
In 2008 BrewDog were challenged by UK drinks industry watchdog the Portman Group. Portman had claimed BrewDog to be in breach of their Code of Practice.[23] BrewDog denied these allegations and countered that Portman was impeding the development of smaller brewing companies.[24] After an 8 month long dispute and a preliminary adjudication which had ruled against the company, in December 2008 BrewDog were cleared of all breaches of the Code of Practice and were permitted to continue marketing their brands without making any changes to the packaging.[25] In protest to their targetting, BrewDog introduced "Speedball", saying "...we thought we would give them something worth banning us for..." . Speedball was promptly banned by Portman[26] before being renamed as Dogma.[27]
BrewDog were also described as "...one of the prime movers..."<http://beertoday.co.uk/?p=861> behind the campaign which changed the law in 2011 to allow new beer measures in Britain.[28]