Beer News: BrewDog Plans For 2 Billion IPO / Ohio Breweries Win Big on Global Stage

Global craft brewer BrewDog may soon go public on the London Stock Exchange. We’ve that and more World Beer Cup winners.

BrewDog Plans for IPO on London Stock Exchange

Founded in 2007 by James Watt and Martin Dickie BrewDog began as a Scottish garage operation that has become a global craft brewer which now employs over 2,000 team members and operates 111 bars around the world, as well as three hotels.

For years the company has rejected private equity buy-out offers in favor of an in-house “Equity for Punks” crowd-funding model that now has more than 200,000 members.

But last week, Watt told the Mail on Sunday that he was planning foran IPO which would give “longer term liquidity” to existing “Equity Punks” investors.

“We’re pretty much working towards IPO for them as much as anyone else,” Watt said. “They are the heart and soul of the business.”

“We’ve had loads and loads of inbound [takeover interest]”, including two approaches last year but “We’re very passionate about our independence.”

And given that BrewDog is now the UK’s biggest craft brewer and exports to more than 60 countries, the 200,000 Equity Punks who subscribed to previous fund-raising efforts could profit handsomely through the IPO.

“Annual sales growth has averaged 57% over the past decade,” according to the Drinks Business and “the company is on course to sell around 400 million cans this year.”

 

Words to Drink By

“The craft beer industry is now a more mature market and its future depends on whether you’re a ‘pint half full or half empty’ person.”— Bart Watson, Chief Economist for the Brewers Association

 

Ohio Breweries Wins Big At 2022 World Beer Cup

One of the beer industry’s most prestigious competitions, the World Beer Cup took place in Minneapolis last week and awards were presented at the conclusion of Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America on May 5th.

Returning after cancellation in 2020 because of the pandemic, the 2022 World Beer Cup was the largest competition to date, with 10,542 entries from 2,493 breweries representing 57 countries.

226 Judges from 28 countries oversaw 307 awards this year – gold, silver and bronze in 103 different style categories – and this year Ohio won big.

MadTree Brewing and Columbus Brewing both took home two awards each. Columbus Brewing Crocodile Tongue won gold in the “Mixed Culture Brett Beer” category.MadTree earned gold for their Oktoberfest lager, Ziegler, in the American-style Amber Lager category.

Three Ohio breweries returned to the World Beer Cup stage with awards in the 2022 contest, including a gold medal for Fat Head’s Brewery’s Goggle Fogger in the “South German-style Hefeweizen” category.Hoppin’ Frog’s Frogichlaus Swiss-style Celebration Lager and Fretboard Brewing’s Crazy Train earned silver medals for each brewery.

Eight Ohio breweries took home World Beer Cup awards for the first time this year.

Wolf’s Ridge Brewing’s Daybreak Coffee Cream Ale, earned its first World Beer Cup award in the “Coffee Beer” category.

Big Ash Brewing, HiHO Brewing and Immigrant Son Brewery all earned silver for their first awards at the competition. And  Gemut Biergarten, Inside the Five Brewing , Narrow Path Brewing and Sibling Revelry Brewing all brought home bronze.

Got Something You Think We Need To Know About? Send Your Press Releases to: [email protected]

###