BrewDog acquires Berlin taproom and brewery from Stone Brewing

The brewery, located in the German capital's Mariendorf neighbourhood, contains a 100hl (hectalitres) system, a 10hl pilot system and features both a 2,500sqm taproom and 5,000sqm of outdoor gardens for enjoying beer outside.

The brewery will be closed for between six and eight weeks for refurbishment with BrewDog moving into the facility on 1 May before hosting an AGM for its Equity Punk shareholders at the venue later in 2019.

Stone Brewing Co, which was founded in 1996 in San Diego, California, worked with BrewDog in 2007 on a collaboration beer at BrewDog’s original brewery in Fraserburgh. The Berlin brewery will continue to brew Stone’s beers as well as BrewDog’s following the deal.

Too big and too bold

Stone Brewing co-founder and executive chairman Greg Koch said: “Ultimately the project turned out to be too big, too bold and too early in our growth curve in Europe.

"Sure, in hindsight maybe we should have started smaller, aimed for the treeline instead of the stars. Today we lick a few wounds, but count our successes too.

"We are not leaving Germany. Or Europe. We’ve met a whole new country and continent of craft beer fans! Our distribution to more than 30 European countries will continue to grow. Stone Brewing Tap Room – Prenzlauer Berg is still very much open, and pints will still flow.  

"We stand proud, and are heartened that we can pass the Mariendorf beer temple into the capable hands of our friends at BrewDog. They will do great things. And from time to time, as we’ve done in the past, we’ll do some of those great things together.”  ​

“We are really excited to become a small part of the craft beer movement in Germany and the German beer scene overall, and we are also really excited to be part of the Mariendorf community,” BrewDog co-founder James Watt added.

“Beer, people and community have always been the foundations of our business and that is what we will be focusing on in Berlin too as we look to share our passion for craft beer with as many people as we can.”

Craft community

In revealing the deal to acquire the Berlin brewery and taproom from Stone, BrewDog also unveiled its ‘Berlin Craft Collective’ which will see BrewDog hand over the new brewery keys to Berlin’s independent craft brewers and providing full access to the facility’s 10hl Pilot system.

“We want to make our new Berlin brewery the hub for the craft beer movement and use it to help elevate the status of beer and craft brewing in Germany,” Watt explained.

Discussing the expansion of BrewDog’s global operation, which currently spans more than 80 bars in 60 countries, with plans afoot to grow its bar estate by up to 33 new sites in 2019 – increasing the number of outlets to more than 100​ - Watt added: “There’s a lot uncertainty and fear surrounding British business at the moment, which is why we’re taking our destiny into our own hands and investing in the future of BrewDog by continuing to expand our global community and by being able to make beer in mainland Europe.

“So screw Brexit, weak leadership and political in-fighting, we’re just going to keep making sure as many people as possible can join the craft beer revolution regardless. We are not going to let stupid politicians fuck up our business.

“We are still fully committed to expanding and growing our UK operations too, but the fact we now have a brewery on the continent, protects us from the uncertainty surrounding Brexit which is impacting all British businesses.”