BrewDog the latest brewer to start brewing cask again

As outlined in BrewDog’s new 'Blueprint' manifesto setting out its business strategy for the next 12 months and beyond, the brewer stopped producing cask in a bid to try to get people excited about craft beer in kegs. It said it also stopped because it was concerned about how often cask beer was incorrectly stored and served by licensees, which “adversely affected beer quality and, furthermore, we felt the beers we were brewing at the time suited keg dispense better”.

However, with craft beer in kegs now accepted and with the operator’s Draft House being the best place for BrewDog to control quality, the brewer is to start putting some classic BrewDog beers back into cask. Dead Pony Club will launch in Draft House bars in mid November, and a handful of selected partners in late October.

Alongside cask, BrewDog is also introducing a new barrel-ageing programme, which will see four editions of Paradox beer in 2019, four editions of a new barrel-aged imperial stout and three editions of a new barrel-aged barley wine.

The blueprint, published on 9 October, outlined that BrewDog now operates more than 70 bars and one hotel across the globe, with plans to open almost 20 more over the next 12 months.

New brewery

This is in addition to the construction of its first southern hemisphere brewery and taproom, overlooking Brisbane River in Queensland, Australia, which will feature an advanced brewhouse, canning line and barrel-ageing facility. BrewDog is looking to have the venue operational by August 2019.

BrewDog co-founder James Watt said: “In the past 10 years, spurred by our passion, our mission and our community, we have gone from two humans and a dog to a vibrant purpose-driven business with more than 1,000 amazing team members.

“While by most conventional measures we are no longer a small company, we are still absolutely inconsequential in a beer industry dominated by behemoths. Our largest competitor is more than 2,500 times our size.

“At BrewDog we are determined to show that craft beer can be a force for good in the world, and build a completely new type of business. A business that is part community owned, a business that gives back, a business that is open and transparent, and a business that looks after its people incredibly well.”

Commenting that BrewDog’s future looked bright, Watt said it would continue to evolve and adapt.

Amazing opportunity

He added: “It has been a pretty crazy ride since BrewDog started. We have done some amazing things, we have taken some insane risks and we have always worn our heart on our sleeve.

“We know we can always get better and we work towards that every second of every day. As we continue on our journey we are going to focus less on crazy growth and focus even more on crafting the best business and the best beers we possibly can.

“As a company the things we care most about are our beer, our people and our mission. We are going to increase our focus on all three going forward.”

Watt hailed what the business has done in the past decade and credited BrewDog employees and investors.

He said: “What we have built so far gives us an amazing opportunity to invest even more into our beer and our people and an opportunity to continue building a completely new type of business.

“We are determined to continue making a stand for independence, a stand for quality and a stand for credit. Alongside our Equity Punks and incredible team, we will fight tooth and nail for the things we believe in as we aim to make a meaningful impact on both the world of beer and the world of business.

“It has been a crazy first 10 years. Here is to the next 10.”