BrewDog beers axed by pubs: Nearly 2,000 pubs remove beers by firm as owner continues to get online flak
Nearly 2,000 pubs have axed BrewDog beers - as the brewery continues to suffer an unfavourable public image after high-profile allegations made against it.
The Scottish company has been taken off the menus of approximately 1,860 pubs over the last two years, reducing its UK distribution by over a third, according to industry insider data. Punk IPA, BrewDog’s best-known beer, has been removed from 1,980 boozers in the same period, signifying a 52.3 per cent drop in distribution.
A source told The Sunday Telegraph that BrewDog was “losing taps like you wouldn’t believe” as punters lean towards rival draught beers, including London’s Beavertown and Camden Town. Pubs in Shepherd’s Bush, Camden and Shoreditch are said to be affected. Across the rest of the UK, BrewDog faces losses in Oxford, Brighton, Leeds, Sheffield and Dundee.
Industry figures suggest BrewDog’s reliance on JD Wetherspoon is now critical. The chain’s 794 pubs account for a large share of its remaining UK distribution. “If they ever lost the JD Wetherspoon deal, then that’s Punk IPA done as a [pub trade] product,” one source warned.
The decline in BrewDog’s distribution comes after a difficult period in which it faces huge losses and battles accusations of having a “toxic” workplace culture. In 2021 BrewDog was forced to apologise after former workers alleged a “culture of fear” within the business and “toxic attitudes” towards junior staff.
A “significant number” of ex-employees were said to have suffered “mental illness” as a result of working at brewer, signatories to an open letter said. The letter alleged the business was built upon a “cult of personality” around Mr Watt and Mr Dickie, with “growth at all costs” the overarching focus of the company.
Sent by a group called Punks With Purpose, it said: “Being treated like a human being was sadly not always a given for those working at BrewDog… Fear to speak out about the atmosphere we were immersed in, and fear of repercussions even after we have left.” Mr Watt said the letter was “upsetting” but that he would not “contradict or contest” its contents, and instead “listen, learn and act”.
In May 2022 BrewDog said it would hand out shares worth around £120,000 each to 750 staff over four years and launch the first ever profit sharing scheme for all bar workers in an effort to move on from the rift with disgruntled employees. In 2022 Mr Watt was also accused of inappropriate behaviour and an abuse of power by former employees in the BBC’s The Truth about BrewDog series.
Former BrewDog USA staff said female bar workers felt “powerless” and “uncomfortable”, with bartenders allegedly advised on how to avoid unwelcome attention from Mr Watt. At the time, Mr Watt’s lawyers said claims he had been behaving inappropriately were false.
Both BrewDog and Mr Watt complained to Ofcom, claiming they had been treated “unjustly or unfairly” in the programme, as they had been “misrepresented, disregarded, and omitted material facts in a way that resulted in unfairness to them”. However, in February 2024 the regulator said it would not uphold the complaint, ruling that “material facts were not presented, disregarded or omitted in a way that was unfair to the complainants, that they had an appropriate and timely opportunity to respond to the allegations made in the programme, and that their response was fairly reflected in the programme”.
BrewDog owner James Watt remains a lightning rod for online criticism.