FRASERBURGH, UK – BrewDog, Scotland’s largest independent brewery, officially opened BrewDog Manchester at 35 Peter Street last Friday (4th May) – their seventh craft beer bar to open in the past 18 months. To mark the launch, the idiosyncratic brewer introduced a ‘crap beer amnesty’ for Mancunians, which allowed the Manchester public to swap a can of mainstream branded lager for one of their artisanal canned, bottled or draft craft beers for one day only. Between 1pm and 8pm on the Friday, BrewDog promised to recycle the cans of mainstream lager, once they had ‘blown them up’.
James Watt, cofounder of BrewDog, commented prior to the opening:
“Manchester has always been a priority location for a BrewDog bar; it’s a great city which is already embracing the craft beer revolution. However, there is still a worrying amount of characterless chain bars serving tasteless, insipid mainstream lagers and we want the crap beer amnesty to put a stop to it once and for all.”
“Manchester, give us your crap beer – you no longer need it. Hand us your tasteless Boddingtons, Carling or Fosters can and we will destroy it in the most suitable fashion – blowing them all up and recycling the sad, soulless remains. The mainstream beer scene just imploded, and we pushed the trigger,” he added.
BrewDog Manchester is located at 35 Peter Street and will take on the brewery’s characteristic utilitarian aesthetic, with a huge glass frontage, external seating area, a partial mezzanine and exposed beams. Visitors can also look forward to vintage board games, a beer library, old school pin ball machines and a food menu consisting of pizzas, burgers and cheese and meat boards designed by Masterchef winner, Tim Anderson.
Crap Beer Amnesty…
To mark the opening, the ‘crap beer amnesty’ allowed anyone to bring along their ‘mainstream lagers’ for the swap and BrewDog’s co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie took personal responsibility for ‘recycling’ every branded mainstream beer they received during the amnesty period.
James Watt continued:
“We want the public to realise that the fizzy, yellow so-called ‘beers’ pushed on the unsuspecting public by chain bars in Manchester should be treated as a crime. The crap beer amnesty is designed to prove to beer drinkers in the area that have previously put up with these unfortunate offerings that things have changed. The time for revolution is now.”
Beers from across the globe.
BrewDog Manchester is the latest in an ambitious expansion plan for the brewery that has previously produced the world’s strongest beer, The End of History (55% ABV) stored in roadkill and offers customers with a BrewDog tattoo a lifetime discount at their bars.
With a capacity of around 250, BrewDog Manchester has 12 draught taps and stocks beers from world-renowned craft breweries such as Stone, Three Floyd’s, Mikkeller, Struise, Nogne, O, Alesmith, The Bruery and De Dolle.
Further expansion plans
Following the launch of BrewDog Manchester, the Scottish brewery has plans to launch seven more craft beer bars by the end of this year.
James Watt added:
“Our aim is to make people as passionate about craft beer as we are, and the expansion of our bar network is a big part of that.”
Whilst stocks lasted.
What is BrewDog?
We were bored of the industrially brewed lagers and stuffy ales that dominate the UK market. We decided the best way to fix this undesirable predicament was to brew our own beers. Consequently in April 2007 BrewDog was born. Both only 24 at the time, we leased a building, got some scary bank loans, spent all our money on stainless steel and started making some hardcore beers.
We are dedicated to making cool, contemporary and progressive beers showcasing some of the world’s classic beer styles. All with an innovative twist and customary BrewDog bite.