BrewDog

BrewDog was founded in 2007 by James Watt and Martin Dickie, two friends from northeast Scotland determined to challenge what they saw as a conventional British beer market. Starting with small batches brewed in Fraserburgh, they bottled beer by hand and sold it from a battered van at local markets. Their bold, heavily hopped beers and unconventional marketing quickly attracted attention, with Punk IPA becoming the flagship of a rapidly growing craft beer business.

Expansion followed at remarkable speed. BrewDog launched its Equity for Punks crowdfunding scheme in 2009, opened its first bar in Aberdeen in 2010 and relocated production to a purpose-built brewery in Ellon in 2012. The new site expanded repeatedly, adding brewing and canning capacity, while beers such as Dead Pony Club, Elvis Juice and Hazy Jane helped introduce modern craft styles to a much wider audience.

Over the following decade, BrewDog developed into an international business, opening bars and breweries overseas and establishing a major presence in supermarkets and hospitality. Its Ellon headquarters became the centre of a large brewing operation, complete with the DogTap venue, while the company experimented with everything from high-strength speciality beers to alcohol-free brewing. Its rapid growth was accompanied by controversy surrounding its marketing, workplace culture and business practices.

In 2026 BrewDog entered administration and was acquired by Tilray Brands, bringing a dramatic change to the business it had built since 2007. More than three quarters of its UK bars closed, while the main Ellon brewery and three brewpubs remained operational. The acquisition marked the end of BrewDog's independent ownership, but production continued in Aberdeenshire, where the brewery had established its main home more than a decade earlier.