Continental pub culture brought to Scotland
Glasgow's West Brewing Company is a frequently busy 300-seater German bierhalle with its own brewery, producing real German beer - an established attraction in the heart of the city.
But as a business venture it was dismissed as a no-hoper before it even got to the planning stage.The idea of launching such a large-scale niche proposition went the distance on TV business investment show Dragons' Den… and then got the thumbs-down.
But the high-profile knock-back only encouraged self-confessed Bavarian beer fanatic Gordon Wetzel-Stewart and his German wife Petra to pour everything they had into the bid to make their dream a reality.
And the dual bierhalle-brewery venue finally opened in March 2006 in a landmark former factory in Glasgow's run-down but slowly regenerating East End.
The interior fit was carried out by a crack squad of German specialists who brought all the material in a container lorry from Düsseldorf. Combining the new bierhalle with a bespoke brewplant, created from scratch underneath the main hall, was a daunting prospect. But Gordon and Petra, who have a background in risk consultancy, were clearly seeking a serious entrepreneurial challenge.
They wanted to replicate the philosophy of the Bavarian bierhalles they'd admired, because "they're part of their communities - creating employment, serving local produce, and creating export links with wider markets; and most importantly acting as a major local social forum".
Offering an antidote
The couple see this sort of venture as an antidote to corporate culture and mass brands, whether global drinks or national pub chains.
But why - apart from a fascination with Bavaria, acquired during stints living and working in Munich - did Gordon go all-out to produce his own real German beer in the UK?
"It's really simple," says the 39-year-old. "When I was in Munich I would taste the beer and say 'this is fantastic'. Then back home one night I was in a bar drinking a standard keg pint and I couldn't finish it. 'Why am I drinking this vile stuff?' I asked myself."
He gave up beer for 18 months and only started again when he moved back to Germany. There, a rekindling of his boyhood fascination with his brother Derek's home-brewing equipment, and a natural scientific bent, led him swiftly into the study of German brewing.
Now, along with brewing colleague David McKenzie - who's also a lifelong friend - he's a fully authenticated braumeister running "Britain's only brewery affiliated to [high profile Bavarian beer brand] Weihenstephan".
"Of course you can get decent German draught beer in Britain now, but still in nothing like the variety you find in Bavaria," says Gordon. "I wanted to make outstanding German beer the main element of the whole plan, because it's so incredibly important to me.
"Like The Publican I'm passionate about pubs, and if anything I'm even more passionate about the beer you are served when you go there. Why should anyone put up with second best, or worse?"
The West's beer (Hellas, or light; Dunkel, dark; and St Mungo's, after Glasgow's patron saint) has already won plaudits, and has found its way into a select group of leading beer-specialising bars in Glasgow.
The bierhalle itself is inevitably the brewery's current biggest Scottish pourer, but next year will see the start of a quiet and, says Gordon, carefully organised launch into London.
And next spring the Dunkel variety - the brewery's top seller - is to be entered in Germany's main beer gold medal contest, on the recommendation of a leading Bavarian fellow braumeister.
"If we even get a mention I'll be ecstatic," says Gordon. "Think what a scoop it would be for a British brewery to score at Germany's biggest beer contest, and with German beer!"
A major proposition
The 300-capacity bierhalle - you can view the brewery kettles from an interior balcony - is a major on-trade proposition in its own right. Petra, 33, has been the driving force behind the bar and food side since inception, with Gordon masterminding the beer. The dining offer centres on German and other hearty Continental dishes - garnished, say, with a giant house pretzel.
Besides the house beers, the bar also dispenses an eclectic list of German and other imported continental beers - many of which are unique to Glasgow.
Based in the massive, vintage former Templeton's carpet factory building, the venue's commanding feature is its huge traditional European-style bar and gantry.
This forms one big corner of a cavernous hall stocked with large solid wooden bierkeller-style tables and chairs. Massive, soaring steel-girt factory windows flood the venue with light.
But the décor is understated, with no kitschy cuckoo clocks or Alpine flounces.
The staff are a thoroughly international mix - European visitors can usually find a bar worker who can speak to them in their own language.
The building itself is a faithful reproduction of the Doge's Palace in Venice - a flamboyant statement of opulence by the carpets mogul - and is a premier league piece of iconic Glasgow architecture and industrial heritage. The titanic carpets that were once made there now cover the floor of the Taj Mahal - the palace, not the restaurant.
The bierhalle is already a tourist attraction, not least for the beer, and Gordon's robust insistence on serving in metric as well as pint glasses (the customer chooses) has regularly made headlines.
"Our busiest night of last year was November 5," says Gordon, "because the municipal fireworks display on the Green drew thousands, and a lot of people made a night of it by dropping in here for a beer and food."
However, the couple believe another valuable trade opportunity is just about to take off.
New hotels are now sprouting up to accommodate business conference guests - Glasgow conferencing is booming - and cheap flight and room deals are bringing increasing streams of shopping and sightseeing visitors from Europe.
The venture and its beer might be German, but Gordon and Petra insist all visitors - including Bavarians - will find a quality slice of real Glasgow pub life at the bierhalle.
