Plans for the New Brewery and 2012 expansion unveiled

17.10.2011

Invest in BrewDog at www.brewdog.com/equityforpunks -Our brewery and five new bars due to open in 2012 will be largely funded by investment from beer drinkers

We are excited to unveil our plans to build the world’s first fan-funded brewery in 2012 as well as opening five new craft beer bars across the UK. Planning permission for a new £6.5million low carbon brewing facility in Aberdeenshire has already been submitted, following investment of over £1.5m from beer drinkers across the world through Equity for Punks.

new_brewery_plans_540_02

We have grown by over 200% in 2011, and through the investment of craft beer drinkers all over the world in Equity for Punks we are planning on exceeding that growth in 2012. The new facility will give us much needed brewing capacity, to help meet the growing global demand for our beers.

The new brewery will now be at Balmacassie as opposed to Pottorton as originally intended, there is less than 8 miles between the 2 locations.

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In the end it just got too difficult and would have taken far too much money to get the utilities we needed to the Pottorton site and get the detailed planning permission to develop a green field site. Despite working on the project for 2 years, it would have taken at least 2 more years to get a building there. Furthermore it was going to cost in excess of £2.5m to get water, gas, electric to the site and to treat and dispose of the effluent water.

With the new site, we save money as the utilities are in place and we aim to have the new brewery online by October 2012, the project will be the same with the same environmental focus, just on a slightly different field.

We already own the site at Balmacassie having completed a deal last week, and the planning application has already been submitted. We also bought the adjacent field here – a total of 3.6 acres. Initially we will only develop one of them, leaving the adjacent one as a field until we need extra space at which point we will develop it, meaning we have loads of room to grow at the new location.

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We still own the Pottorton land and we are going to use it to grow our own malt (a local farmer will help us!) and some soft fruits for a special ‘BrewDog Estate’ beer to be released once per year. It is a pity the original site did not work our; c'est la vie. Some projects come off and some don't. We felt it was much better to look at it objectively and do what is right for the business than cling to a project due to the fact we invested a lot of our time in it. At Balmacassie we can build an equally awesome, eco-friendly brewery but we can do it much quicker and provide better value for our shareholders by doing so.

The new BrewDog brewery will house state-of-the-art, energy efficient craft brewing equipment and will create 25 new jobs immediately, rising to over 75 during the next five years.

Some Stats on the new facility:

An initial 3000 m2 brewery will built on the 3.6 Acre Site
The new brewery will have an initial capacity of 100,000 HL per annum, expandable to 500,000 per annum
4 Vessel 100HL Brewhouse with a heat recovery system
We will take our 27 existing fermentation tanks
Add 10 new 400HL FV tanks (and we have plenty space for more)
A new bottling line

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*note this is just half of the building above. Warehouse and bottling hall not shown.

The offices are being designed by the super cool CM design scamps who do all the interior design for the BrewDog bars and are going to be fitted out in the same industrial, utilitarian way with reclaimed materials and used furniture.

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We also plan to invest £1m to grow our bar division over 2012.

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BrewDog Newcastle will be at 16 Dean Street (above). We have recently concluded a deal for the premises and hope to start work soon. Work is just about to start on BrewDog Camden (below) and we hope to be open by the 10th of December just in time for a Hoppy Christmas. These will be our 4th and 5th venues adding to the success of BrewDog Aberdeen, BrewDog Edinburgh and BrewDog Glasgow.

BrewDog Camden

All this is made possible by Equity for Punks investments. This is a facility and new bars you will all own part of, we hope you enjoy being part of this as much as we like having you onboard. Give yourself a pat on the back and have a Punk IPA, you deserve it.

For those who still want to invest, visit www.brewdog.com/equityforpunks to buy part of BrewDog from £95

Comments

@Jonas- If any brewer out there more fully embodies what it is to be a craft brewer than BrewDog does, well, I'm afraid I haven't seen it. For me, craft is all about quality and passion, both of which these dudes have in spades. It's all about the creativity, the ingredients, the recipes, and the care given to making them happen. I don't need some mad scientist hovering over a cauldron with a wooden spoon and a fire he/she created by rubbing sticks together. More reliable and predictable equipment can only make the creative process and the execution of one's vision smoother. Variations in raw ingredients and recipe tweaks will still give you your precious variation from one batch to the next. BrewDog is one of the best damn craft breweries out there today...lighten up...have a Punk IPA.
Jeff 18.10.2011
Quality guys new brewery looks the biz you Guys have done very well over a short period of time quickly moving foreword to provide a product that has been very well accepted by a very enthusiastic public wanting more keep it up .
Richard S 18.10.2011
Looks great!
Olefattguy 18.10.2011
I hope Brewdog Manchester is still on the agenda! Its thirsty work down here...
Shaunyboy 18.10.2011
When I think craft beer I think of creativity and and innovation where as real ale I tend to associate with upholding traditions. Craft beer in my eyes has nothing to do with the amount produced. That would be microbreweries, and as far as I can tell BrewDog brew too much beer these days to be still considered micro. Not that it matters, I still enjoy the beer.
Tom 18.10.2011
Congratulations to all at Brewdog. Really looking forward to hearing more about your progress over the next months. It must be such an exciting time for you all seeing it all finally start to happen.

Terrible shame that all that time spent in sourcing, learning about and choosing hops, malts and yeasts and blending them skillfully into finely crafted beer will soon be replaced by the uncrafty pushing of a single button (or so I am led to believe) but hey, them's the breaks.

AdamAitch 18.10.2011
Is someone literally arguing that brewing beer in a bigger facility means it can't be called 'craft' beer anymore? Holy smokes dude, you need to get out of the house more often.

I don't know what part of the world you're in, but if you're anywhere near a BrewDog bar step in for a pint or two. Otherwise go to your local pub and enjoy a pint of any 'craft' beer you like.

BrewDog we are all excited about your upcoming plans for the future. It's a pity you won't be able to call it craft beer anymore though....

Bracken's Bitches 18.10.2011
Good on you guys for creating something new and exciting in scotland and also for being at the forefront of championing SME in the UK - especially with all the heartache that entails! I agree with most of the comments. As long as I like the beer I'll be drinking it.
EdinAlex 18.10.2011
James - you and the crew should be congratulated. I would love to have your courage.

I have ocassionally criticised you in the past for some of the whacky imagery and finger pointing. I think it's great that you provide a brilliant alternative to boring tasteless, lifeless beer. And the fact that you're expanding to create more good beer and more jobs and doing so ethically, and 'green' - good on you all!
Craft/ non craft/ real etc.. is missing the point.
Q: Is product good?
Y: buy and enjoy product.
N: Don't buy product.
Simples!

Congratulations!
Pete O 18.10.2011
@Jonas.

There is always variation from batch to batch, in all scales. This is due to ingredients (including yeast with all its quirks) or process. In my opinion (professional and personal), the variation should arise from ingredients, not F-ups in production.

If you think it's nice and refreshing to have a beer completely spoiled by wild yeast (or something else that is not in the recipe), I can recommend several inconsistent, in my book crap, breweries all over the world.
Aki 18.10.2011
@jonas Not really a massive scale shift. I think they brew 5000L per time and now they will brew 10000L per time. You could have a 30000L brewery that has hand operated valves. Thats 3 times bigger but is it Craft.
When i visited at the last AGM they make all their recipes on a tiny 50L practice system then upscale the good experiments.
I would have thought this was a good thing and would mean better, more consistant beer that would have less oxygen pick up and probably better techniques throughout. But no- Its Miller Time!!

whatacock 18.10.2011
Consistency is BrewDog's biggest problem, in my opinion. If this new plant helps improve that, I'm all for it. I've poured away too many cans of Punk IPA...
BeerCast Rich 18.10.2011
Make your mind up -- either it's a well defined term (and so doesn't apply, as Jonas says) or it's meaningless marketing drivel.

Choose now.
Finlay 18.10.2011
Ok, I see, so your issue is with their use of the word 'craft'

I'm glad people like you are out there to police the misuse of loosely defined terms.
BenH 18.10.2011
It will almost certainly affect the flavour.

Small batch production will have more variation from batch to batch. Now, you could argue that consistency is a good thing, but for any sane definition of "craft" those inconsistencies are what makes the product unique -- see vintages of wines, single cask whisky and aged beers like Orkney Porter.

Larger fermenters will also affect the flavour. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but any factor that affects flavour can also affect quality (given that "flavour" is the primary driver of quality for a beer).

Choose a different word. What you're doing isn't craft, ie "An activity involving skill in making things by hand"
Jonas 18.10.2011
@Jonas What difference does the brewery size have on the quality of it's beer? Personally, I couldn't care how many million barrels a brewery is producing, or if a button is pressed to perform a procedure, I'll only buy their beer if it tastes good. This is my only yardstick and I'm pretty sure it's the same for most people.

If there's a good argument against large scale brewing affecting the end quality of beer, I'd like to hear it.
BenH 18.10.2011
go on Punks..........you've made my day : )
clint eastwood 18.10.2011
Awesome work, guys. Keep it up. Let me know if I can help.

And, people, Brewdog is craft beer and will always be. It is about how and of which ingredients it is made, not how much of it is made.

Jonas, how does, for instance, turning a valve manually vs. via actuator + button affect the flavour of the beer beneficially?
Aki 18.10.2011
Congratulations guys!
You are an inspiration to all young scottish budding entrepreneurs. keep up the good work
Chris 18.10.2011
Jonas, 'craft' means pretty much whatever you want – brewers in the US use it if they qualify under the guidelines of the Brewers Association of America. BrewDog use it as it fits their 'non-cask and unstuffy' image. I guess you use it to refer to people like Cantillon. I try not to use it at all, as it usually ends up in disagreements over semantics.
BeerCast Rich 18.10.2011
The plans look great. Bet all the team are super excited.

Just shows what you can do with a bit of hard work.

Well done guys,

Robbie 18.10.2011
Wow, this is such exciting news for a Tuesday morning. And I helped make this happen!

woooo!

Stacey 18.10.2011
You're still not answering my point.

How do you reconcile a 100HL automated plant with the idea of "craft" being human scale. Pointing to other breweries that claim to be craft breweries (for the purposes of government subsidy/tax breaks) doesn't answer the point.

Where is the "craft" in pushing a button?
Jonas 18.10.2011
How exciting! Can't wait to watch the new brewery grow :)
Rhona 18.10.2011
Plans look great - should be a big leap for BrewDog. Are you going to bring canning in house, as well?
BeerCast Rich 18.10.2011
Great. Thanks for sharing the plans. Can't wait to visit.

Matt 18.10.2011
Amazing news guys! Brilliant to see my investment grow and develop.

Will bracken be chewing through the ribbon at the opening day ceremony??

John 18.10.2011
@LostNortherner

We are aiming to be open by late December in Newcastle.

James, BrewDog 18.10.2011
Congrats on the new brewery, just read the great news!!

Manuel 18.10.2011
Any idea when BrewDog in Newcastle will open? I'm back in the UK for the Christmas period, and hope to be able to sample some brews outside of my family festivities?
LostNortherner 18.10.2011
Jonas, the definition of craft brewing changes to keep Sam Adams, at over 2 million barrels per year under it's umbrella. Not these guys. At the new brewery, we will be 1/10th the size of Sierra Nevada - one of the best craft brewers on the planet.

We want to change people's perceptions about beer and make other people as passionate about great craft beer as we are. To do that we need to be able to make a little bit more of it!

James, BrewDog 18.10.2011
Given that the US definition of "craft" changes almost annually so as to keep those breweries under the craft umbrella, that doesn't answer my point.

How do you reconcile an automated 100HL brewhouse with the concept of "craft" being human scale?
Jonas 18.10.2011
Awesome Stuff. Well done guys. so excited to be part of all this!

Bex 18.10.2011
We will still be much, much smaller than the best craft breweries on the planet: Stone, Dogfish Head, Firestone Walker, Bear Republic, Avery,Left Hand, Lagunitas, De Proef.

The numbers sound a lot, and it is a bit of a jump for us, but in terms of the beer business, it is still tiny.

James, BrewDog 18.10.2011
How do you reconcile this with the idea of craft brewing being "human scale"?
Jonas 18.10.2011
The plans look awesome.

Serious kudos for creating new jobs in the current economic climate too.

Adrian 18.10.2011

Plans for the New Brewery and 2012 expansion unveiled

17.10.2011

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