A call to arms for the people of Aberdeen...

Published - 23.08.2010 Comments (33)

“It's shite being Scottish!” - just one of those unforgettable lines that earned Trainspotting its place in the hearts and minds of the Scottish people who know all too well what it means to hail from north of the border. Boasting a climate that's amongst the rainiest in the Western hemisphere, a national food that consists of sheep's stomach and the label 'sick man of Europe', it's fair to say the Scots have a tough time of it.

Furthermore, we're more than happy to go in our droves - despite being ever the defeatists - and support our local or national sides who show no sign of brining home the championship or world cup bacon; expected to lose no matter how feeble the opposition.

Imagine though – even just for a moment - being able to support a team from the north east of Scotland that actually does win things for a change. A highly unlikely situation? We think not.

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Take Aberdeen for example. Seemingly 100% committed to supporting the local football at any financial or emotional cost, Aberdonians have somehow become blind-sighted to the World Cup Winner in their midst – BrewDog. Despite being enjoyed by beer lovers and fans of hand-crafted produce in over 20 different countries across the world, BrewDog's toughest critics, it would seem, are at home. In fact, we hardly ever sell a bottle of any BrewDog beer in our hometown, Fraserburgh, while Aberdeen fairs little better with only a handful of outlets stocking our hardcore ales.

However, we are determined to work even harder to help bring the craft beer revolution to the north east of Scotland and hopefully we can kick start this with the opening of our craft beer bar, BrewDog Aberdeen, in late September.

149818745_400 The bar in BrewDog Aberdeen has been built with bricks reclaimed from an old fire station!

While BrewDog continue to be among those pioneering the creation of craft beer in the UK and beyond, supporting our work isn't just for beer lovers but for anyone who wants to support their hometown, bolster their local economy and experience great beer. Tell your friends to try drinking something local, artisanal, ethical and hand crafted as opposed to something generic, industrial and artificial. You never know, they may just like it.

If you guys have any ideas how we could sell more beer in our local market we would love to hear them below! The most useful suggestion will qualify for a free Punk t-shirt!

Join the Discussion

Comments (33)

Molotov 12.09.2010 @ 12:09pm

Roddy dis hae a point. This dressin' up as penguins and a' the flappin aboot that they dae jist amuses bairns (and students). Notoriety is a short term tag to enjoy but the joke will wear thin on the more grown up beer drinkers. GOVT WARNING: Killer Whales eat Penguins ( so use that as an excuse to ditch the robes in the Broch harbour).

Roddy c 11.09.2010 @ 4:55pm

What about the grill or hootananys in the ness and nearly every other free house.stop dressing up like bloody penguins and give us the option to drink the stuff in bars an we will.the reason nobody in the north east drinks it is cause we cant buy it .mon min brochers finger oot min

Stalin 31.08.2010 @ 11:03am

No wonder you don't sell much beer in the Broch as Tesco disna hae ony of your hard core types ( by that I mean anything stronger than 6 per cent) and ye canna sell beer oot the front door o your brewery . Folk fae the Broch tend to be friendly and even slightly inquisitive (forget the druggies) and therefore like to see 'fits happenin'. Add to this that Brochers like to pay cash and do 'dealies' face to face then I am not surprised that locals will not pay £7 for delivery for what is on their doorstep. I am told this is a licencing problem with the council . Councillors are just like MPs , give them a brown paper bag with an 'incentive' in it and i am sure the wheels will start turning on the licence issue. As for Aberdonians that do their 'hoochin' doon Union Street most of them tend to be 'Badgers' and sheep like. They stand with the fashionable beer in hand close to their chest so that others can see how cool they are. On this front the big brands that advertise on tv are the winners . I work with some 'Badgers' at an Aberdeen oil company and they view you guys as gimmicky only brewing extreme beers. Add to this they are as tight as a ducks arse and spend their cash on supermarket multi-buys . You will do better down south as folk are looser with their wallets and appreciate a more distinct flavour.

Bill Wilkinson 30.08.2010 @ 11:06am

You truly are "prophets without honour in your own land" - Prophecy, now there's a name for a beer to raise the hackles of God fearing mid-west Americans and church going Aberdonians. Personally, I prefer to worship at the Brew Dog altar, which is quite easy to do where I live as there are several such regular venues in Newcastle. Perhaps you should try and attain "Papal blessing" status when the Pope visits Scotland? It's bound to get you noticed.

John McDonald 29.08.2010 @ 6:00pm

I quite like trapsing round all the supermarkets to get my various Brewdog for the week!Sainsbury for Blonde and IPA. Tesco for Zeitgeist and 5am Saint.Do no smaller shops stock any? I find it hard to get info on where I can buy the beers locally... would be good to have a list on here.I also want to buy some hardcore IPA, had it in MUSA last night.... wonderful stuff!!!

John Bowman 28.08.2010 @ 10:16am

Make it easier for pubs to stock your beers. I hear too many tales from your (few) established Aberdeen outlets of Brewdog demanding cash on delivery or trying to deliver at 9 on a Friday evening when the place is heaving. The demand's there - the beer is missing.

Foolsgold 24.08.2010 @ 10:18pm

Get it on the front of the strip of the local football team - you could have Brewdog for the gents, brewpups for the kids and Bitches Brew for the ladies!Alternatively, why not wrap a prominent building in Aberdeen in the Brewdog logo similar to the wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin and the Pont Neuf in Paris!

Philippo F 24.08.2010 @ 2:35pm

Reckon the BBQ idea and product tasting would be good. How about Union Terrace Gardens...

Peter Bowyer 24.08.2010 @ 10:56am

The problem of not being appreciated locally is something affecting many drinks producers. My particular love is cognac - the small producers' products - not the over hyped, over priced, bland blends of the big boys. But cognac in general is not consumed much in France, we drink more of it England and I think the French drink more whisky than is consumed in the UK. It seems that wherever you are the locals don't appreciate the quality of what they have on their door steps. I don't think there is much you can do about it, just concentrate on getting the message across to widest possible audience.

Innes McCulloch 24.08.2010 @ 8:31am

Get Brewdog in the Spree book (new edition released in October I think). Nothing us Aberdonians like more than a 2 for 1 offer! You could use it for food if you're serving it in the new bar and then they'll try the beer!On another note I was in 2 pubs on Bath Street in Glasgow last night and they both stocked Brewdog (Bunker & Lucky 7). I had to educate the barman on the delights of it!

Helge Nareid 24.08.2010 @ 7:39am

The reason Brewdog had no beers at the Aberdeen Beer Festival is that they didn't want to.An attempt was made to place an order, but Brewdog weren't interested.

Bob 24.08.2010 @ 7:24am

Your surprised Brewdog's &quotexpensive beer in moderation" brand doesn't work in Scotland?I also think Scots are far to canny to pick their beer because the owners dress up in various outfits. I'd keep targeting the south and Americans.

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Dale 24.08.2010 @ 12:34am

Well out of the 4 pubs listed by Alistair, at the very least the Moorings and The Prince of Wales should be stocking it. both have an already amazing beer selection, both bars feature plenty of guest beers in bottles and pump....

Ally Maciver 23.08.2010 @ 10:00pm

Not applicable to this particular problem, but there are a few thousand people who drink beer in spectacular quantities who also follow the Scotland national team everywhere they play.I'm sure they are an exploitable resource who would happily promote your beer in select foreign destinations cleverly picked to coincide with the fixture list.

Ally Maciver 23.08.2010 @ 9:33pm

Tell us which pubs stock it and we'll go there instead. Its not rocket surgery.And the Brewdog label would look lovely emblazoned across the strip of the current SPL League Leaders. That would definitely boost sales round these parts.

James 23.08.2010 @ 7:51pm

Alastair, problem is, most of the places you listed are not independent.

anarchy999 23.08.2010 @ 7:27pm

you could always stick a bottle up a sheeps arse, at least you'll grab the attention of early guy aged between 18-50

Alastair Crowe 23.08.2010 @ 6:45pm

Use bars like the abercrombie, the moorings, the prince of Wales and blackfriars. Get them stocking beers like zeitgeist riptide and 5am saint. Same with venues like cafe drummonds and the tunnels. Get those places and you'll have everyone in town drinking. Also there really aren't any off licenses in town anymore. Cheers guys and good luck

C Mac 23.08.2010 @ 4:50pm

Most of Aberdeen spend the time in cars commuting to and from work. Stick some adverts up on billboards to get it to their attention. Then simply get it into the pubs in the Northeast. Alot of effort has gone to markets out with this area and not many people at home are aware of an award winning local brewery.Get a strong foothold in the market here and it will go from there.Sponsoring the Wizard festival would be a good move.

Nathan Morrison 23.08.2010 @ 4:04pm

Why not stage a series of 'hostile takeovers' or 'Brew Dog squats' in local bars where you take over the bar for one night or a weekend and advertise your beer that way. You could supply them with free volunteer staff to take up the extra cost of changing beers and rebranding taps, provide them with a few extra bar hands and a menu of your beers for the local clientelle. If the event goes well ask the bar to take on one of your beers, possibly voted for by the locals. This way you'll give the bar a special event that will increase their revenue, promote your beer, hopefully win new customers and distributors. Flyer the events heavily and advertisae blind taste testing, giveaways, and other such things. Lastly to promote this wee venture recruit a local 'street team' like a lot of indie record labels do - 'brewdog punks' in return for free gifts/bribes (such as beer, t-shirts or a brewery tour) get them to flyer their local area with nationaist brew dog propoganda. A veritable brewdog revolutiuon, armed to the teeth with beer.

Dale 23.08.2010 @ 2:08pm

0h, and try contacting the local Camra Crowd too... they could have some potentially useful contacts perhaps? (even if you think that they are a bit crusty...)AND ANOTHER THING, (nearly done) I don;t recall seeing ANY BREWDOG at the Aberdeen beer festival... I did Spot Martin there though, but why on earth now? a lot of us were disappointed about that...

Dale 23.08.2010 @ 2:05pm

Well the major problem is that it's not in people's faces here, I've lost count of the times that I've gone into bars looking for Brewdog, only to find that no bars stock it... People can't drink it, if they can't get it... its fine having it in the supermarkets, and I always push it to people who like beer, but you need to have it in the bars too.I also agree about Freshers week there too, that's a great Idea, but its for nothing if the students can't drink it when they are out.Its seems to me, that a lot of your focus has been with getting your beers in the pubs in London more than up here, and you have had a lot more events and launch parties down there, whilst all the time, we the locals that you are now complaining are not buying the beer have been shouting for ages for you to hold these kinds of events in Aberdeen!!! I can only remember 1 being held up here, that I coudn't make it to because I was offshore...

Iain Louden 23.08.2010 @ 1:57pm

I started drinking BrewDog because it was Scottish beer, and it was strong (PUNK). Unless you've read about BrewDog in the papers then I don't think you would know it was scottish.

Francis 23.08.2010 @ 1:56pm

Advertise clearly that it is beer from Scotland. The national pride approach can at least get people a little interested?

Heidi H 23.08.2010 @ 1:48pm

Sorry can't give you any local advice as I'm from Chicago. Returned a week ago from a trip to Edinburgh and Glasgow and would have travelled up to Aberdeen if you had a brewpub then. Might have postponed our trip if we knew you were opening a craft beer bar this fall. Had a disapppointing beer trip except for your beer in bottles and a few others. Can't wait for your collaboration with 3 Floyds!

Andrew Sharp 23.08.2010 @ 1:47pm

How about doing a straight from the vat, re-fillable mini-keg. Keg runs out, hop down (pun intended) to the brewery and get the refill of your choice. Really the only draught beer you can have at home is lager and its expensive cause it needs to stay carbonated. Ale doesn't need to be so your now the cheapest and tastiest way to have a pint at home, maybee a 2 or 3 gallon Brewdog branded keg?

jonathan moir 23.08.2010 @ 12:50pm

without a doubt a BBQ and Product testing Day! Everyone tasting the product! Get some of that girls from Front magazine up aswell. or make sum sum pork n brew dog sausages for the barbie!

GregorR 23.08.2010 @ 12:49pm

Late September = Freshers Week in Aberdeen. Ask about getting stalls set up at the uni's Freshers Fayres. The pub is also going to be pretty close to Woolmanhill Flats, get someone to go there with posters or flyers or whatever, the students there are stupid enough to let anyone in through the buzzer doors so...And theres about 700 students live there

nick 23.08.2010 @ 12:45pm

How many people (that arent into beer) would actually know where its made or have even heard of it?Sad but true but most people in Scotland think tenants is good lager. Its like everything in our country people are afraid of the unknown or standing out from the corona drinking crowd.

jonathan moir 23.08.2010 @ 12:43pm

without a doubt a BBQ and Product testing Day! Everyone in the broch loves a BBQ and beer! Get everyone tasting the product!

Mike H 23.08.2010 @ 12:41pm

Offer me commision! At the moment, I'm trying to keep brewdog as my own wee secret

EphemeralDog 23.08.2010 @ 12:36pm

You could always coat a bottle in batter!