Beer
Award-winning Beer Kitchen to open new site in St Andrews
After launching in Edinburgh last summer and an "exceptional" year in business, the new venue will be introduced to the thriving student city, St Andrews, where high numbers of national and international students study every year.
With works already on their way, the Beer Kitchen St Andrews will open mid-November near the university campus, hosting 14 different beer taps as well as a bespoke selection of bottled and canned beers.
Food is also at the heart of the Beer Kitchen’s model, with dry sales representing 40% of Innis & Gunn’s retail business sales.
Award winning
The concept, which achieved the New Casual Dining Concept of the Year Award at the Casual Dining Awards this year, also boasts of another site in Dundee, which was opened earlier this year with the creation of the world’s first beer marmalade.
Dougal Sharp, founder and master brewer at Innis & Gunn, said: “Each new Beer Kitchen gives us a chance to introduce great craft beer to a new audience. We want our Beer Kitchens to be known as spaces where amazing beer and food can be enjoyed.
“It’s always rewarding to bring this to another town and I’m looking forward to giving St Andrews a new place to enjoy craft beer.”
David Hall, managing director of Innis & Gunn Retail, added: “Edinburgh and Dundee have proved to be a successful start for our retail business. We seized on the opportunity to make St Andrews our third opening and are excited to showcase our beers in the town.
“Opening up a new venue in St Andrews will be an integral step in developing the retail business further.”
Virtual reality
In August, 50 UK pubs offered drinkers of Innis & Gunn's Original beer or Lager the opportunity to wear a virtual reality headset so they could watch an immersive 360° video while drinking.
At the time, Sharp told The Morning Advertiser: “It is about getting people to try this experience and find that the beer tastes and feels very different to what we’re used to. If that gets people talking about great craft beer then that’s worked for me.”
In 2017, the company plans to launch its largest site in Glasgow and introduce the concept overseas in Toronto, Canada.
