BrewDog to open chain of craft beer shops

Scottish brewery BrewDog is set to make its first steps into the off-trade market by opening a chain of “Bottledog” craft beer shops.

BrewDog’s co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie

BrewDog, based in Aberdeenshire, has said it will open the first in a planned chain of craft beer shops in March in London’s King’s Cross area, according to a report in the Herald Scotland.

Co-founder James Watt confirmed the move a day after launching a bar in the Pinherios area of Sao Paulo in Brazil.

The shops are expected to retail Brewdog’s beers as well as other brews from around the world and will be staffed by “beer sommeliers” who will be able to recommend products and help customers to fill their own kegs.

Mr Watt said a “string of Bottledogs” will be opened across the UK and Scotland as the company moves into the off-trade market.

Its on-trade portfolio is also set to grow with plans to open eight new bars Tokyo, New Delhi, Gothenburg, Paris, Berlin and Finland in addition to its current bars in Stockholm and Sao Paulo, London and Scotland.

The expansion plans will be part-funded by its latest “crowd-funding” campaign, which hit its target of £4.25m last month.

Earlier this month 16,000 bottles of BrewDog beer was stolen from a warehouse in Essex following a raid by masked men.