Sunday 17 January 2021

Brewdog's 10 biggest mistakes

After listening to the soft hitting interview on Radio 4 and reading capitalist brewery owner James Watt's humblebrag about his 10 biggest mistakes I got to wondering what are really Brewdog's 10 biggest mistakes?

I was an early fan of Brewdog, back in the day when I had to go to specialist beer shops to find their beers. I can remember when they first got a beer in a supermarket and I've watched their growth ever since. Having said that, I also went off Brewdog early on, once I realised they were twats. 

What first pissed me off can't really be called one of their biggest mistakes, as they've done very well out of it, but selling off a very small part of their company to their fans, and then selling off a larger chunk at a lower price to venture capitalists seemed an incredibly cynical move. 

Having tits on a beer bottle was definitely a mistake though, as it rapidly vanished from their website:


I don't remember them getting much flak for it, perhaps because they managed to hide it so quickly. But then  I don't remember them getting much flak for this one either:


Which is certainly as bad, if not worse, than that awful CAMRA young members' leaflet that had everyone up in arms.

The second biggest mistake I think they made was when they dobbed themselves in to the Portman group to generate some publicity. Putting the whole brewing industry at risk of greater regulation for their own personal gain is a dick move, even more so when they duped Zak Avery into writing stuff to support them. Arseholes. 

The general drivel about them being somehow different from any other bunch of capitalist bastards trying to separate you from your cash also grates, but it's hard to pin down a specific mistake as it permeates their marketing output. In fact, I can't be arsed to look any closer, or indeed keep going with singling out any of their many mistakes. Instead I'm going to try crowd sourcing rather than crowd funding. So here's your chance to see if we can get to 10 by putting in the comments what you think are Brewdog's biggest mistakes. 



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11 comments:

  1. The Beer Nut17 January 2021 at 19:47

    The email to a blogger on 27th November 2009 which included "We incurred significant expense in sending samples ... I would not have expected you to repay the favour in this way."

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    Replies
    1. Ed17 January 2021 at 19:49

      Bloody hell! Keen on objectivity I see.

      Delete
    2. The Beer Nut17 January 2021 at 19:53

      In fairness, even in 2009 most influencers stayed bought once bought. In the same email, the "significant expense" is stated to be "around £100" btw.

      Delete
  2. Phil17 January 2021 at 20:49

    I recently - as in, last year - got back into BD's beers, having been a proper fan early on and been extremely disappointed when they ditched cask beer. So that's about nine years of sales they lost to, oh, at least one person.

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  3. Thom Farrell17 January 2021 at 21:20

    Last time I checked the BrewDog site at Ellon was the eighth or ninth largest brewery in Britain. Nothing wrong with success of course, but they way they constantly pretend to be some sort of virtuous underdogs is a little galling for my taste.

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  4. Tandleman18 January 2021 at 11:21

    More recent. The QC on Lost Lager is atrocious. You never know what you are going to get. At its best - beautiful. Often a lot less so.

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  5. Pivní Filosof19 January 2021 at 12:48

    When they interviewed people for a marketing position and then used the stuff the candidates brought to the interview, without paying them, of course.

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  6. retiredmartin9 February 2021 at 11:25

    As Phil says, the half-hearted reintroduction of their cask (one of the strengths). When the Cambridge BD opened 18 months they had an unmarked handpump on the bar which was NEVER in use.

    I also find the Punk IPA that Spoons virtually give away as part of meal deals better than the one that costs a fiver in their own bars.

    Let me say this though; wonderful staff, the best pub food, and the Triple Hazy Jane is my (and Mrs RM) favourite can of beer during Lockdown.

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  7. Neil15 February 2021 at 22:09

    If only I could have made the same mistakes as the Bru Dog guys

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    Replies
    1. Ed15 February 2021 at 22:13

      Well it can't be that hard to put tits on a bottle label so there's still time!

      Delete