Brewdog Beer Hotel - Columbus

Yeah, that's these guys...
https://www.pastemagazine.com/artic...ans-to-bottle-a-55-beer-in-a-taxidermy-s.html

 

Been the the US HQ here in Ohio and it's a cool spot. Beers are solid, nothing too crazy but we always enjoy stopping in when passing through.

 

Yeah, it's also these guys...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/mar/28/brewdog-lawsuit-bar-punk-brewer-pub

Oh, and also these guys...
https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2017/mar/26/brewdog-lone-wolf-birmingham-pub-change-name

These Elvis guys...
https://www.brewdog.com/usa/lowdown/press-hub/blue-sued-shoes

Yeah, these guys...
https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/event-tv-brewdog-drops-taxidermy-cats-london/{subjects}/article/1346907

So yeah, they appreciate this thread, your interest in their meme hotel, and your clicks because that stuff means so much more to them than beer. They aren't a brewery, they are a marketing firm. The beer is just an excuse.

Honestly in this day and age I wouldn't even be surprised if this post was made by a BrewDog shill, and if it's not then I'm sure they aren't far away from making that a reality.

 

Unfortunately not everyone hates this brewery. People can't see how this hurts craft beer, overlooking the trajectory BrewDog is on. They are building power and will certainly change or influence the craft beer landscape for the worse and people are actually funding this future with their own money by investing in BrewDog's Equity for Punks scheme.

But they aren't Ohio beer. They are Scottish, they just took advantage of Columbus's geographic convenience.

 

@FleskBrewFan is no shill. But I appreciate you posting more about these guys to educate all of us who haven't heard as much about them. Is it true they had a hand in getting Ohio's ABV cap raised? If so that may be the first good thing they've done.

 

I can't say for sure if they had anything to do with the ABV cap or not, since I wasn't sitting in any of those meetings. But from an outsider's perspective I'd say that our legislators learned how much they were truely missing out on when Stone passed us up in favor of Virginia.

Stone didn't come out and say that our ABV cap played into their decision but realistically it's easy to see that it must have.

So then when Stone passed on Columbus they said that they reccommended our city to BrewDog, as a sort of consolation prize to us (oh how lucky we are to have Stone's charity). So after Stone said thanks but no thanks and BrewDog came a-knockin' right after our fat cats removed the ABV cap (something we've been fighting for years) and gave them tax breaks to sweeten the pot. Because it was Stone that showed these old fogies in office that craft beer kids actually have money now.

When Stone was "shopping" around I never thought I'd say that I'd actually want them here, but of course that was before I knew that BrewDog was our alternative.

So to answer the question, I think our abv cap removal was a result of this short chain of events, but certainly not to do with the requests of our citizens.

 

I'm curious, what's your issue with Stone?

 

In Europe, just from a saturation perspective, they're like BW3 (franchise, not the most authentic experience for the city that you're in, but easy to find and servicable with a reliable tap list). There are Brewdog bars in most major UK cities, plus several in Italy, Germany, Belgium, etc. Although gimmicky, I liked their tv show and have been to a couple of their bars when I've been on the road and was curious to check them out.

 

Creep around the Ohio threads and you'll learn he has issues with just about everything.

 

As long as they support the market in Ohio, I could care less about their "marketing" I don't really see them doing any harm to the market. They are in a suburb of Columbus, so they aren't sucking away at the breweries downtown. They make pretty decent beer, at an affordable price, which can only hope to expand the craft beer business.

The hotel sounds cool, plus they are going to be getting into sours as well, which I think is a market that has room to grow.

 

They have the potential to bump smaller breweries out of shelves and taps across town with their sheer volume. I realize they offer guest taps at their bars but is that really enough to make up for the hundreds of other stores and tap rooms across the state?

Would you rather see BrewDog taps or say Masthead at your local bar or growler station?

 

I think you are pushing it here a bit.

BrewDog isn't just supplying Ohio, they are going to target supplying the whole country out of this location. I rarely see BrewDog on tap in Cincinnati, it might be different in Columbus, but I don't see them just running people off the shelves like AB and the boys.

 

They already have large stacks of their cans at every shop in town, even many gas stations that carry very limited craft offerings. Usually it looks almost like each store has more Punk IPA and whatever else than it can realistically sell.

Maybe they are selling it all and they are just good at keeping the stock fresh and available, I never check for freshness dates on BrewDog cans.

 

BrewDog have also said they plan to go public, so the idea of them forcing out competition might be pushing it now, but it most certainly won't be far fetched once they are publicly traded.

 

The (potentially 100% bullshit) story I was as told was that brewdog had garuntees that they would be allowed to brew +12% beer on site for distribution out of state. Then after construction started the fine print lawyers said that actually wasn’t legal. That’s when the sponsors of the bill got behind it and pushed it through very quickly after various other bills sat in purgatory for so long. But bar stories are even less reliable than internet stories... Actually, knowing brewdog, if they even had that level of involvement they probably would have done a big “your welcome Ohio” marketing campaign. Although that might be their first justified PR stunt.

 

It went through because the Ohio Craft Brewers Assoc made it a priority on their agenda. Once they did, it was able to happen fairly quickly. It had NOTHING to do with Stone or Brewdog making higher abv beers. I mean, as a new Ohio brewery Brewdog was certainly in attendance, but it wasn't about them. The volume and sales dollars don't make up enough of their portfolio for it to truly matter. It was much more about simply leveling playing field with spirits and wine. Beer as a category was at a disadvantage in the broader scheme of things.

 

This hotel will never happen in the U.S. Maybe in Scotland but not in the U.S. It's a pipedream.

As far as BrewDog being in Columbus. I'd say that's a good thing. Columbus isn't the mecca for much of anything and having BrewDog open a facility there I suspect is a very good thing for the local economy.

 

I'm not a big fan of their publicity stunts nor do I purchase their beer often, if at all. But I don't see how their presence in Canal Winchester does anything negative to the Central Ohio breweries. It brings in tax revenue and they've created some jobs. If you don't like it, don't drink it.