PASSION
Crowdfunded Scottish craft brewer Brewdog has unveiled ambitious plans to open an Australian brewery and a separate partnership to open a string of bars in UK airports and railway stations.
The Australian site will be on the river in Brisbane’s Murarrie area, with construction due to start in the second half of 2018 and the brewery coming on stream in early 2019. It will double as the company’s HQ Down Under.
Brewdog said yesterday that its investment in the Queensland capital will total AUD$30 million (£17m), including a 3,000 square metre brewing and canning facility, restaurant, taproom and visitor centre. The Scottish group announced in July last year that it had narrowed its search in Australia to Brisbane and Newcastle. After a public request for Australians to submit ideas for a suitable location, the brewery said yesterday that it had been “inundated” with hundreds of proposals, “including a video pitch from the government of South Australia”. It added
0 The Ellon-based brewer was founded by James Watt and Martin Dickie
JAMES WATT, CO-FOUNDER that after “numerous scouting trips” and feasibility studies the group settled on Brisbane. James Watt, Brewdog co-founder said: “Australians are some of the most passionate and informed beer drinkers on the planet. The encouragement I received from the craft beer movement during my last visit in the country blew me away.
“I’m glad our Australian fans at home and in the diaspora were relentless in pushing for a brewery, and I look forward to sharing my first can of Aussie brewed Punk IPA with them!”
The launch of Brewdog Australia is expected to generate 150 jobs in the Brisbane area over the next five years, and although the site will initially serve the Australian market the group said it had “potential to export to Asia”.
It added that the new brewery will be looking at plans for a possible local Equity for Punks crowdfunding raise to help further expansion in the country. Brewdog’s rapid
“Our Australian fans at home and in the diaspora were relentless in pushing for a brewery.”