14 Sep Planet Brewdog
Started in 2007 with one ambition: To brew better beer than had been done in Scotland until then. The Punk IPA exceeded all expectations. Anno 2020, BrewDog brews more than a hundred beers in five breweries on four continents. Planet of the Dogs is (almost) a reality. This article by Sander van Werkhoven previously appeared in Mitra Magazine # 48 It is 2006 when the two young friends James Watt and Martin Dickie – then 24 – conceive the plan to start their own brewery. The weak ales and lagers that still dominated the English and Scottish markets at the time did not appeal to the duo. In America, they were introduced to a new style of beer, the India Pale Ale, or IPA. The beer the Scots most often refer to as “gateway beer” is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. By gateway beer, the guys mean: a beer that opens the door to something new, to the future. A beer after which you know: after this, everything is different. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, however, according to Watt and Dickie, is even more than a gateway beer; it is also a pioneering beer. First brewed in 1980, it was one of the first beers to feature Cascade hops. As the friends brewers put it, “Anyone arriving in the world of beer coming from lager still has many steps to take. When you taste Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, that’s not just a step up or up, no, that’s a giga hop-energy skyscraper-high leap into the air.’
The Beer Hunter
Inspired, the men scraped together their savings, managed to get a bank loan and brewed their first beer, BrewDog Punk IPA, which was released in 2007. The Beer Hunter, the late beer publicist Michael Jackson, spoke the legendary words to Watt and Dickie at the time: ‘If you can make beer of this quality, I suggest you quit your jobs and start a brewery!’ And so it was. And the rest is both history and future, you might say. ‘That statement, those “words of relief” from Jackson were incredible,’ says Watt. ‘The Beer Hunter himself loved our garage-brewed beer and confirmed what we were thinking. That was the moment we realised we could, no, start a new business. had to make. His encouragement was exactly what we needed. During this meeting, BrewDog was born.’
Free Beer
The IPA that laid the foundation for the success still exists. But it has been joined by hundreds of its kind. Some of them are permanent fixtures in the range. Incidentally, this brewery also has an interactive beer museum and an ‘Overworks’ section; just like in its home country Scotland, this special brewery only makes special and sour beers. Varying in alcohol from 0.5% (Nanny State) to a staggering 55%! Although freeze distillation was used for this ‘The End of History’. At the start, the staff consisted of two people (and one dog), 12 years later there were already more than a thousand people working there (and still only one dog). The beers that are brewed can of course be drunk at home, but in the meantime also in almost a hundred BrewDog bars worldwide. The rapid growth is partly made possible by some 130,000 shareholders. Here’s how it works: to finance the expansion, Watt and Dickie came up with a unique way of crowdfunding. Anyone who wants to can become a co-owner of the brewery for as little as 25 British pounds. In total, this has brought in almost 70 million British pounds (€82 million). And this loyalty is rewarded. The ‘Equity Punks’ get discounts on beer and meals in BrewDog bars, a free beer on their birthday or are allowed to be present on special brewing days.
Beer hotel
In 2020, the two ex-punks Watt and Dickie are at the head of a global beer empire that is still classified as ‘craft’. In 2019, there was also considerable expansion. A brewery was opened in Brisbane, Australia, and in Berlin, the brewery with taproom from the American colleagues of Stone Brewing was taken over. This brings the total number of breweries to five. A unique hotel was previously built at the American branch in Columbus. All 32 rooms are ‘beery’ decorated and have their own beer tap. ‘The only hotel in the world that no one wants to check out of’, the duo jokes. Incidentally, this brewery also has an interactive beer museum and an ‘Overworks’ section; just like in their home country Scotland, this special brewery only makes special and sour beers.
Charity
This is how BrewDog continues to distinguish itself with unique beers and a similar approach. Every year, 20 percent of the profit is ‘given away’. Half of that percentage is divided equally among all employees; whether you are a production employee or a sales manager Europe, everyone gets the same share. And the other half goes to charity. Another impressive action was this one: BrewDog made a serious statement against the skewed salary distribution between men and women by brewing a batch of Pink IPA – with a pink label of course! – instead of the regular Punk IPA. Because women earned on average 20 percent less than men when the Pink IPA was brewed. That Watt and Dickie have their hearts in the right place and hold humor in high regard, became clear when Watt, accompanied by Dickie, had himself photographed as a copy of Vladimir Putin on horseback, with his torso exposed, in an alpha male pose. To poke fun at the narcissistic Russian president, who had himself immortalized by his state photographer, but especially at his homophobic policy. A batch of beer was made called Hello My Name Is Vladimir – brewed with erection-boosting berries to help the president out. The Scots sent a case to the Kremlin. ‘But we never heard back from the Kremlin, strangely enough.’
Declaration of Independence
Always looking for something speech-making, these are the cheeky brew dogs. For example, the first BrewDogAF Bar opened in London in early January. With fifteen taps from which only non-alcoholic beer flows. “Unique,” according to Dickie. And when BrewDog crossed the ocean and began making beer in Columbus, Ohio in 2016, the brewery released the recipes of all 215 beers up to that point. To reinforce the “craft beer revolution” and by way of liberation from factory beer. BrewDog’s own declaration of independence, so to speak. That freedom, that unwillingness to conform, you can taste it in the beer. Try it. Brewdog is imported into the Netherlands by Bier Co and is available in virtually every supermarket and specialty store.
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