BrewDog aims to launch five bars
Scottish microbrewer BrewDog is looking to open five new bars this year by asking customers to suggest sites in their home towns.
This comes after BrewDog announced it is to open its third craft-beer bar in August, with the site chosen through the "Great BrewDog Bar Hunt" competition.
It is also keen to open a site in London "as soon as it can", as well as other major towns and cities. The microbrewer said it is flexible about the type of site, and happy to consider derelict buildings.
Like its other bars, the new site in Argyle Street, Glasgow, will trade under the BrewDog name.
With a capacity of around 120, BrewDog Glasgow will offer 14 draught taps and stock beers from brewers including Stone, Three Floyds, Mikkeller, Struise, Nogne, AleSmith Brewing Company, The Bruery and De Dolle breweries.
Cheese and meat plates, designed to complement specific beer styles, will be offered, along with "hop pizzas". In total, £400,000 is being spent on refurbishing the site.
The winning entrant receives a £1,000 cash prize, a lifetime discount in the bar and a paid trip to the brewery in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, to brew their own batch of beer. The competition has been advertised in the BrewDog blog and newsletter.
BrewDog co-founder James Watt said: "Involving our customers in the growth of BrewDog is paramount, which is why the strategy to find the next bar was easy.
"We always want to shorten the distance as much as possible between ourselves and the people who drink our beers, so letting them be in charge of the next venue for our expanding bar network was a no-brainer.
"This year has been a whirlwind, with the opening of BrewDog Edinburgh providing a huge highlight. BrewDog Glasgow proves we won't rest on our laurels.
"Our mission is to make people as passionate about beer as we are and our network of bars not only poses a threat to the insipid yellow mainstream lagers that populate the on-trade, it provides an alternative to the drab, soulless bars that peddle them."
