BrewDog interview: Watt reveals all

James Watt, co-founder at BrewDog, talks about the possibility of an IPO, JDW, expansion in the US, a new food menu, site finding and plans for a boutique craft beer hotel.

Brewdog is looking to complete a deal for a boutique craft beer hotel “quite quickly” and is looking at a couple of potential sites in Ellon Aberdeenshire, co-founder James Watt has confirmed.

The hotel, which will be situated near the brewery, is expected to have between 50 to 60 rooms. Watt said it would mean that bar teams, suppliers, as well as customers could come to visit the brewery.

Watt said: “Everything will be focused on beer at the hotel. The food in the hotel will all be designed to pair with beer. We are looking to have Punk IPA on tap in a 5 litre mini keg in the rooms and the mini bar will be full of the most amazing craft beers on the planet.”

He admitted that Brewdog would have to employ some expertise for the hotel operation but said: “We have actually already got a few people within our business who have run hotels before so are fortunate we already have people with expertise within the business.”

Food​

A new food menu is to be launched at its pub sites which will closer link beer and food. It will be designed to use beer much more as an ingredient, have more beer and food matches as well as more sharing platters.

Brewdog has recently launched breakfasts at weekends at its Leicester site. He said the response was good for the first weekend and he was really “optimistic” that it can be added to other sites. He said a decision would be made in “a few weeks” on whether to roll this out. Some of the sites have licensing hours agreed from 12 noon so there may have to be some “tweeking” of opening hours, he added.

US Expansion ​

The company has revealed plans to open a brewing operation in the US although Watt said it would be difficult to open bars because of the three –tier system in the US, which means that producers can only sell to wholesalers and not direct to retailers.

Stock market​

Watt said floating on the stock market would be something Brewdog would “potentially” think of at a later date. But he added that the current funding model gives the company a great connection with customers and the people who own the company are the people that drink the beer.

Site finding ​

Watt said the company had not looked at a group acquisition but he would not discount the idea. However, he admitted finding the right sites is tough.

“We have so many plans and we can only move at the speed that we can find sites,” Watt said. “The sites that we have are unusual as most of them are off pitch and a little bit quirky.”

JD Wetherspoon​

He refused to be drawn on the £1.99 pricing of Punk IPA at JD Wetherspoon sites but said he considered the company to be a “fantastic partner to work with” as their staff are knowledgeable and the beer is really well looked after.