Beer aficionados BrewDog are packing up their bottles and hopping over to Ellon in an exciting new development for the craft beer company.
Making alternative beers, ales and stouts since 2007, Scotland’s largest independent brewery is moving from its Fraserburgh plant to Ellon this month and investors will be the first to see the colossal building in an official opening next week.
The new brewery has been funded by Equity for Punks, BrewDog’s investment scheme, which sees the beer company’s supporters help to fund projects such as the new Ellon site.
Launched in July 2011, the scheme raised an incredible £500,000 in just two days, going on to pour £2.2million into the business before the deadline for investment in January 2012.
The new brewery will focus on creating the winner of recent prototype competition Cocoa Psycho, a Russian stout made with cacao, coffee and toasted oak chips. Runner-up Jack Hammer will also be brewed in Ellon and served as a guest beer over the course of 2013.
Other BrewDog favourites will line the production belt and will serve as a reminder of the incredible journey the brand has undertaken since its inception just 5 years ago.
Now the company would like to thank their supporters for making their dream of a new site a reality – with a launch day in the new brewery with plenty of tipples to toast the new venture.
Locally sourced food will be on the menu and Punks can rock out with a beer or two to a fantastic musical line-up, with local band The Little Kicks announcing they would be playing at the event via their website on Wednesday.
The band wrote on their site: "Yesterday we got asked to play a pretty unusual show that we couldnt really say no to!
"BrewDog have been really supportive of us (paying for flyers for tour, having us play the AGM) so it’s really nice to be asked back!"
Zarah Prior, who looks after the Equity for Punks members, said: "The opening will be an exclusive event for our Equity Punks. We’ll have a band, some great food and a brewery tour.
"It will serve as a kind of ‘hats off’ to the people who helped make the new brewery happen."
As the grand opening paves the way for the Ellon site to become the main BrewDog brewery, the original building in the Broch will certainly not go to the dogs.
Instead, the Fraserburgh site will become a science lab of sorts, allowing for small scale batches of test beers to be made, allowing the BrewDog brewers to experiment with crazy yeast strains and unique flavours.
Going into 2013, the brand has a few tricks up its sleeve and, along with the new prototype being prepared for brewing, Equity Punks will have the chance to visit the Ellon site and brew their own batch of the most popular tipple on their website following a vote.
