News brewed 26/03/2018

Brew House: Leading craft beer businesses join forces as BrewDog buys Draft House bar fleet

Independent craft brewer, BrewDog, today announced that it has purchased Draft House, as two of the UK’s leading craft beer bar networks aim to propel the UK’s beer scene.

From today, BrewDog will take ownership of the entire Draft House estate of 14 bars across London and the South East. Alongside his role as Managing Director of BrewDog Bars, David McDowall will become Managing Director of Draft House, taking the reins from founder Charlie McVeigh.

David McDowall, MD of BrewDog Bars commented:

“At BrewDog we are obsessed with making other people as passionate about craft beer as we are, and in speaking with the Draft House team we recognised that there was a great opportunity to combine our efforts and really have an impact on the UK bar landscape by working together.”

All 213 of Draft House staff will now join the BrewDog family, and the brewer will be offering all Draft House staff Cicerone training, as well as support if they wish to apply to the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD) and the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). BrewDog will be meeting with the entire Draft House team in the next week to discuss their future plans and answer any questions.

David McDowall continued:

“Draft House has got an incredible team of engaged people and we’ll be doing everything we can to empower them in their business and offer them the support they need to achieve their career goals. The two most important things for us are our beer and our people and we’re excited to extend that to our new family at Draft House and would like to offer a massive welcome to every single one of them.”

BrewDog is planning to invest in the current Draft House sites and may look to expand on them in future. The beer selection will be different from BrewDog bars, but with the same focus on independent craft beer from around the world. The Draft House teams will also be invited to contribute to the development and brew days for a series of beers brewed at BrewDog’s HQ in Aberdeenshire, with the resulting beers launching across all Draft House sites.

Draft House launched its first site in 2009 on Northcote Road in Battersea. Since then, it has opened a further 12 bars in the capital including Camden, Paddington, Tower Bridge and Old Street. In 2016 it opened a bar in Milton Keynes, its first outside of London.

Charlie McVeigh, Draft House founder commented:

“Nine years have passed since the first Draft House launched, and it has been a truly remarkable journey of discovery. We’ve built an awesome business, and more importantly, a team right at the heart of the UK’s beer revolution. I am immensely proud of what we’ve achieved together and delighted to hand the business over to BrewDog for its next stage of growth. Draft House couldn’t be in better hands.”

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About BrewDog plc

Since 2007 BrewDog has been on a mission to make other people as passionate about great craft beer as we are. From the Headliner series, which includes bold, uncompromising pack leaders like the flagship Punk IPA, to the Amplified range (beer, but turned up to 11), BrewDog brews beer that blows people’s minds and has kick-started a revolution.

Cofounders James Watt and Martin Dickie shook up the business world in 2009 with the launch of pioneering crowdfunding initiative Equity for Punks, an initiative that has seen the company raise £53m over five rounds, raising more money through online equity crowdfunding than any other on record. The funds, and the army of punk shareholders (75,000) has enabled the Scottish craft brewery to scale up without selling out.

With 50 global bar launches, export into 60 countries, and a brewery in Ohio that launched in 2017, BrewDog continues to take the craft beer revolution stratospheric, whilst continuing to push the boundaries, invest in people, put the beer first, and champion other small breweries in its venues.

For more information, please contact:

Julian Obubo & Elsa Druiett

t: +44 203 1379 270

e: brewdog@manifest.london