Say Hi to Tony

BrewDog didn’t just start the craft beer revolution; we’re forging a new generation to lead it. Our graduate scheme, which kick-started in September of last year, saw us set out to find two plucky individuals to join BrewDog and help set the beery wrongs of the world to right. 

We received thousands of applications from all over the world. The passion and vision of the candidates was mind-blowing; so much so, we ended up picking three people to join our team. One of those three is our UK operations manager, Tony AKA BrewDog’s beer baron.

Say hello to the person who gets our beer from the brewery to your glass:

“Hi, I’m Tony, the person responsible for getting our beer to where it needs to be. This involves supplying a whole range of different outlets including our bars, supermarkets, independent bottle shops, even cruise ships!

“If I hadn’t stumbled across a blog announcing the graduate scheme, my craft beer career would probably be looking very different right now. Even though I’ve been an Equity for Punks shareholder since 2011 I never imagined getting an opportunity to actually work for the company."
Tony began life at BrewDog working out of our original brewery in Fraserburgh; a space he fondly nicknamed the ‘converted garage’. Since then he – along with the rest of the BrewDog family – have relocated to our awesome new brewery just down the road in Ellon. You can guess which he prefers:

“The new brewery in Ellon has made a massive difference to how productive we can be. Firstly, it’s a much nicer environment. It’s not a converted garage on the north east coast. Saying that, I wouldn't change those months spent in Fraserburgh; even with the wind howling through the brewery!

“Secondly, we obviously have way more capacity now which makes my job a lot easier as we are able to satisfy the orders of more customers in a much quicker time.”Spending most of the day thinking about beer isn’t new to Tony. We’re talking about someone whose earliest memories are attending a beer festival with his parents:
“My parents are members of CAMRA so I actually attended my first beer festival in a push chair! When I was old enough to drink my interest in beer just snowballed and in late 2008 I was on a trip to Las Vegas where I made the discovery that changed my life – American craft beer. Very shortly after this I discovered my first bottle of Punk IPA and I haven’t looked back since.

“A lot of people do not realise that beer is not just the bland, tasteless fizzy stuff they find in their local. It’s a wonderful versatile product that has something to appeal to everyone of any age.”
So it wouldn’t be fair to speak to Tony without asking him if there’s anything in the tanks that he can’t wait to try:

“I’m really looking forward to trying the saison that we brewed at the shareholder brew day. The saison is not a style we have a lot of experience with so it should be interesting. I’m also looking forward to more Jackhammer.”

Despite being in the job for almost a year now, Tony’s not stopped learning. Along with the rest of the team, Tony recently say his Certified Cicerone exam - the most well-known and respected beer sommelier qualification on the planet! Passing with flying colours, Tony’s already set his eyes on the Master Cicerone:“I’ve just found out that I passed my Certified Cicerone exam which I’m really proud and also a bit shocked about! I thought my essay on Belgian Wit beers might have stung me.

“I’m setting a long term goal of passing the Master Cicerone exam in a couple of years, currently there are only six in the world and all in North America, so that would be a massive challenge."

Want to say hi to Tony? Drop him an email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @BrewDogTony