On Brewdog
Feb. 16th, 2026 05:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeThe news about Brewdog this weekend was not surprising. It has been clear for a while that the company is not doing well and ultimately, I would not be surprised if it goes under. It is clear, at the very best, that there will be some sort of asset stripping, but then there aren't that many assets left to strip. It all looks doomed, but then I might be wrong.
I invested in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th iterations of the Equity For Punks scheme. I probably sunk around £350 into the business. I'm aware I am not going to get any of this back, but then that's investments for you. It's all just gambling in a suit. And ultimately, I have made more than £350 back in discounts and merchandise so I can't really complain. I also don't regret travelling around Europe to get my beer visas stamped. We spent a good chunk of 2018 doing this and it was a good opportunity to go to places we had never been before. Was it pointless? Perhaps, but then it was a hobby. I don't understand the appeal of other people's hobbies, this was something that Wolfie and I could do together.
Do I regret investing? Not really, certainly not prior to 2017 when most (if not all) of my investments were made. The truth is that Brewdog changed after a significant chunk of money from a venture capitalist company that year at very onerous terms. These devalued my shares significantly. I probably should have cashed out then, but the valuation was poor. At the same time, community was discarded and everything became corporate, as is often the case with such deals. Ironically, this also happened to the company where I was employed at around the same time - it was bought by a group owned by investment bankers and everything became about bottom lines and spreadsheets. It became a much less dynamic place to work and ultimately I was made redundant during the first lockdown in 2020.
I was fully on board with the Brewdog vision prior to 2017 and I am still thankful for their huge role in popularising craft beer in the UK and beyond. Prior to 2010, there was very little and now you can even buy decent ones in supermarkets. When the bars opened, they were great places to try exciting guest beers, and they did offer a leg-up to many small breweries at the time. We became friends with the bar staff, had regular pub meets there, and it did feel like a community. However, the last few years have also proven that the best craft beer is local. I was out in Bradford last night and this was highlighted again. By trying to conquer the world, the Brewdog senior management clearly made many poor business decisions and it is these that have directly contributed to the current malaise. Spirits, sours, seltzers, spice rubs, and expanding quickly into certain territories are just some examples. They also diluted their offering, brewing poorer quality beer.
Brewdog was largely dead to me before this announcement. The closing of the final Leeds bar last month, coupled with the shuttering of their German online shop at the start of February, has narrowed down my options significantly. What's sad is that should the other two Brewdog bars in Berlin close (which is likely - the one in Friedrichshain fell in mid-Janaury) then the number of craft beer bars in the German captial will have halved in three years. That's not a good trajectory. You also see the same in cities like Birmingham and Leeds, which does make me fear for the future. Furthermore, there's no longer a place to get reasonable craft beer at reasonable prices in Berlin. I guess this will help me with my weight loss goals if nothing else.
You can point to COVID, the cost of living, higher energy prices, and lower hop yields due to climate change as all being contributory factors. You can also highlight reduced drinking in general - although the rise of non-alcoholic beers should mitigate a good chunk of this - but ultimately Brewdog failed because of poor business decisions and trying to become a macro while discarding the community that helped found it. Poor quality at a high price point with reputational damage to boot.
Do I feel betrayed? Certainly. The senior management cashed out nicely. But then this disappointment is just one in a long line of disappointments. The well-publicised allegations against certain people in the business, the removal of their B-Corp status, the withdrawal of their commitment to being a living wage employer, trying to open a bar in Dubai while claiming to be pro-LGBTQ+ rights, and shutting bars with merely hours notice all left a bitter taste in the mouth. They even stopped promoting local guest breweries too, resorting to their own now poorer-quality offerings. However, what also leaves a bitter taste is a few furs celebrating the company's demise when there will likely be a large swathe of people left unemployed as a result.
Ultimately, then, I have mixed feelings. I'll be sad to see Brewdog go, but then they long ago abandoned their principles. Furthermore, by trying to compete with tha macro breweries, they have brewed below-par beer for years. By forgetting about community, particularly the one they needed from the start, I do not lament their demise. I just hope all of the good people who worked for them will be able to find new roles should the worst come to the worst.
I invested in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th iterations of the Equity For Punks scheme. I probably sunk around £350 into the business. I'm aware I am not going to get any of this back, but then that's investments for you. It's all just gambling in a suit. And ultimately, I have made more than £350 back in discounts and merchandise so I can't really complain. I also don't regret travelling around Europe to get my beer visas stamped. We spent a good chunk of 2018 doing this and it was a good opportunity to go to places we had never been before. Was it pointless? Perhaps, but then it was a hobby. I don't understand the appeal of other people's hobbies, this was something that Wolfie and I could do together.
Do I regret investing? Not really, certainly not prior to 2017 when most (if not all) of my investments were made. The truth is that Brewdog changed after a significant chunk of money from a venture capitalist company that year at very onerous terms. These devalued my shares significantly. I probably should have cashed out then, but the valuation was poor. At the same time, community was discarded and everything became corporate, as is often the case with such deals. Ironically, this also happened to the company where I was employed at around the same time - it was bought by a group owned by investment bankers and everything became about bottom lines and spreadsheets. It became a much less dynamic place to work and ultimately I was made redundant during the first lockdown in 2020.
I was fully on board with the Brewdog vision prior to 2017 and I am still thankful for their huge role in popularising craft beer in the UK and beyond. Prior to 2010, there was very little and now you can even buy decent ones in supermarkets. When the bars opened, they were great places to try exciting guest beers, and they did offer a leg-up to many small breweries at the time. We became friends with the bar staff, had regular pub meets there, and it did feel like a community. However, the last few years have also proven that the best craft beer is local. I was out in Bradford last night and this was highlighted again. By trying to conquer the world, the Brewdog senior management clearly made many poor business decisions and it is these that have directly contributed to the current malaise. Spirits, sours, seltzers, spice rubs, and expanding quickly into certain territories are just some examples. They also diluted their offering, brewing poorer quality beer.
Brewdog was largely dead to me before this announcement. The closing of the final Leeds bar last month, coupled with the shuttering of their German online shop at the start of February, has narrowed down my options significantly. What's sad is that should the other two Brewdog bars in Berlin close (which is likely - the one in Friedrichshain fell in mid-Janaury) then the number of craft beer bars in the German captial will have halved in three years. That's not a good trajectory. You also see the same in cities like Birmingham and Leeds, which does make me fear for the future. Furthermore, there's no longer a place to get reasonable craft beer at reasonable prices in Berlin. I guess this will help me with my weight loss goals if nothing else.
You can point to COVID, the cost of living, higher energy prices, and lower hop yields due to climate change as all being contributory factors. You can also highlight reduced drinking in general - although the rise of non-alcoholic beers should mitigate a good chunk of this - but ultimately Brewdog failed because of poor business decisions and trying to become a macro while discarding the community that helped found it. Poor quality at a high price point with reputational damage to boot.
Do I feel betrayed? Certainly. The senior management cashed out nicely. But then this disappointment is just one in a long line of disappointments. The well-publicised allegations against certain people in the business, the removal of their B-Corp status, the withdrawal of their commitment to being a living wage employer, trying to open a bar in Dubai while claiming to be pro-LGBTQ+ rights, and shutting bars with merely hours notice all left a bitter taste in the mouth. They even stopped promoting local guest breweries too, resorting to their own now poorer-quality offerings. However, what also leaves a bitter taste is a few furs celebrating the company's demise when there will likely be a large swathe of people left unemployed as a result.
Ultimately, then, I have mixed feelings. I'll be sad to see Brewdog go, but then they long ago abandoned their principles. Furthermore, by trying to compete with tha macro breweries, they have brewed below-par beer for years. By forgetting about community, particularly the one they needed from the start, I do not lament their demise. I just hope all of the good people who worked for them will be able to find new roles should the worst come to the worst.
