History of the Dog
Brewdog PLC is a multinational craft beer brewery and pub chain based in Ellon, Scotland.
BrewDog was founded by James Watt and Martin Dickie, in Fraserburgh, Scotland in 2007 and they still retain controlling interest of the company. When they set up Brewdog, James and Martin’s biggest mission was (and still is) to make other people as passionate about great craft beer as they are. They started the company just as the two of them (and the company dog) and brewed in tiny batches, filling bottles by hand and selling them at local markets and out of the back of their beaten up old van. In 2008, they brewed the UK’s strongest ever beer Tokyo, causing a media storm and battles with industry regulators The Portman group. They also became Scotland’s largest independent brewery.
In 2009, to aid expansion, they offered investors the chance to buy shares in the company through Equity for Punks, a private crowdfunding arrangement, with over 1300 individuals investing. They continued to push boundaries and break perceptions of what beer can be, by brewing Tactical Nuclear Penguin, which, with an ABV of 32% was the world’s strongest beer at the time.
2010, saw continued growth for them and the opening of the first Brewdog bar in Aberdeen, and continued to push the boundaries of beer, by brewing The End of History, a 55% ABV beer that was packaged in roadkill in a fusion of beer, art and taxidermy.
Since 2011, Brewdog have continued to grow at a rate exceeding all expectations and have moved from the original brewery in Fraserburgh to a state of the art eco-brewery in Ellon, as well as opening bars throughout the UK and mainland Europe as well as further afield in Brazil and the Far East.
2016 saw the beginning of construction of a second brewhouse in Columbus, Ohio in the USA, and launched spirits brand LoneWolf and 2018 has seen the approval of plans for the building of a third brewery site in Brisbane, Australia and work being nearly completed on hotel facilities in Columbus, the announcement of a similar hotel in Ellon and the completion of the OverWorks sour facility in Ellon
In the 10 years since it was founded in 2007, Brewdog has grown from a 2 man (and a dog) micro-brewery producing 1,050HL of beer per annum to a billion dollar enterprise with over 1,000 employees (and a dog) that produces 343,253HL of beer, runs 46 bars and has 70,000+ (and growing) shareholders. they were also in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 for a record sixth year in a row.
Charity and Employee benefits
In 2017, Brewdog announced that they would give away 20% of their profits every single year, with 10% shared between their staff and 10% donated to charity. They also offer all staff the living wage, enhanced maternity and paternity leave benefits and pawternity for those staff welcoming the patter of feet of a four-legged variety.
578 total views, 1 views today