BrewDog Bar Ireland

DelmarODonnell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118531387#Comment_118531387

They brew the beer themselves, how can costs possibly be so high that they would be required to sell if for almost 170% the price of Wetherspoons? I find it very hard to believe that Brewdog has staff costs that much higher, while also getting their kegs of Punk IPA at cost price.

And if you want food you shouldn't be going to Brewdog either, the burger is 15-16 euro before you even add chips on. I work close to the area and would tend to leave the area for Beer, Food anyway.

Shedite27

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118531613#Comment_118531613

It's a completely different business model. You've comparing a Holiday Inn with a Boutique hotel. Both have beds

Speak Now

Spoons punk is 5.2% and definitely tastes inferior (not €3 a pint inferior lol).

Is it still the original 5.6% in the brewdog bars or has it reduced to 5.4% like the cans?

BeerNut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118531613#Comment_118531613

The amount you pay for any beer has very little to do with the cost of producing and serving it.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118531613#Comment_118531613

Based on their local living wage claim, and generally higher staff levels, I'd expect Brewdogs staff costs to be vastly higher than the scant, near minimum wage staffing in a 'spoons.

They are also paying a very significant, boomtime negotiated rent for their unit whereas Wetherspoons usually buy outright.

Their operating costs are not comparable, and they make up a lot more of the price of a pint than the wholesale margin on a keg does.

On food, price is not the comparison. Wetherspoons food is absolutely and utterly awful. If you find Brewdogs food dear for what it is (it is) you cannot possibly think that Wetherspoons is worth the price (its not worth paying for at all)

Shedite27

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118531696#Comment_118531696

Punk draft is 5.2%

DelmarODonnell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118531865#Comment_118531865

Clearly this is the case when the price difference is so vast, but that was L1011's argument, not mine.

My argument is just how difficult I would find it to go to a Brewery's pub to drink their own beer that can be bought for 70% less of the price in a pub 500 metres away. It also wouldn't make me go to Wetherspoons, but it certainly stops me going to Brewdog.

I mean, I couldn't bring myself to go to Porterhouse Temple Bar to drink their €6.20 Wrasslers if a pub down the road was selling it for €4.

BeerNut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118534088#Comment_118534088

Understandable. Though if it was just about the liquid and the pricetag on it, pubs wouldn't exist at all.

Black Sheep

The 'desk dog' deal they were running seemed to pretty good value, I must say, the daily cost largely "worth it" on the basis of the pint at the end of your work day. I presume the gamble was that you would eat lunch on the premises and stay for more than the one beer at the end.

L1011

Definitely, and I'd expect most did at least one of those - although you'd get a cheaper lunch in Fresh.

Effects

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118531302#Comment_118531302

I'd rather drink a can of Punk at home, than get a pint of it in a Weatherspoons. Zero soul to their pubs.

At least Brewdog has a fake manufactured soul.

I go to Brewdog about once every six weeks. I like trying what they have on their various taps, and there's good conversation and interaction with their staff. You just don't get the same thing in Weatherspoons.

The food isn't cheap, but it's nice. But you can get meal deals, as well as discount if you sign up as a "shareholder".

I've yet to watch the BBC documentary.

bennyineire

Does anybody have any idea where the new Dublin and Cork bars are going to be?

Shedite27

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118534088#Comment_118534088

It's the same the world over really, The Snug and Long Hall are around the corner from each other, one has pint of Guinness €5.50, one has it for €3.50. Both do good trade to different customers.

Black Sheep

I've been to Brewdog twice in Dublin twice, the main thing that holds me back is accessibility... It's convenient for the office crowd they're targeting in the docks area, but no one else. If it was handier to get to I would go though, yeah.

Why?

Buzzy, nice setting.

Friendly crowd, which makes for a nice night out.

Certainly plenty of beers worth drinking, last time I was there I ended up sharing a series of large bottles, can't remember but basically various experimental and wild beers. I suspect if you go in there and drink Punk you'd be kind of missing the point anyway, even on tap there would be more interesting options.

Is it expensive? sure. But the people that that genuinely puts off are not their target market, they were always going to go elsewhere. I'm not trying to be snobby here but that's the reality. It's all relative anyway, to make a different example, some Irish people won't go to Center Parcs because it's expensive/bad value, but is it really? Plenty of people have the money and like it, even though you do pay a lot for what it is. There's always going to be different price points in any industry, and the value is relative to people's income and the premium they place on things like convenience.

DelmarODonnell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118534938#Comment_118534938

Perhaps you would be missing the point by only drinking Punk in there but I would bet it is by far their biggest seller. As you said, it has more things going for it than just the beer selection to attract groups of people there and in many cases, quite a few of those people will like dipping their toes into craft beer and not much else.

Looking at their menu on untappd, there doesn't seem to be much that wouldn't rival any of the better craft beer pubs in the city. I wouldn't be rushing to venture back unless I was very close by, or perhaps when warmer weather has come back, because the outdoor area is fantastic.

Hey look, I think you are right about Center Parcs and the relative value. Each person puts their own value on an experience.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118534934#Comment_118534934

Are some people willing to go into the Horseshoe Bar in the Shelbourne to drink an 8 Euro pint of Guinness? Yes. Am I willing to do that? Absolutely not. Would I pay the extra 2 euro to sit in the Long Hall drinking a pint? No, I'd go to the Long Hall and make sure to drink a pint of Beamish instead :)

L1011

From the shareholder forum - Dublin #2 is going to be in Dublin 2, the Charlemont Square development. Cork is apparently underway now, and is marked as being a franchise bar, expected to open June/July - not been in Cork since December so no idea where.

BeerNut

bUT wHEn aRe wE gEtTiNg A bReWDoG oN tHe NoRtHsIdE???

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118820272#Comment_118820272

After me explaining to someone that it being "Dublin 2" on their list meant Dublin, pub 2 and not that it is going to be in Dublin 2; they go and put it in Dublin 2.

Manager of the existing pub has confirmed the location of the new.

calnand

This ad points to mutual enterprises being the franchisee. So that probably means the grand Central/old bailey will be the location.

https://jobs.brewdog.com/vacancies/803/general-manager--cork--new-opening.html

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118821384#Comment_118821384

And it is:

https://www.corkbeo.ie/culture/food-drink/brewdog-confirm-cork-city-bar-23482864

Shedite27

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118826566#Comment_118826566

That's what used to be The Bailey yeah? Opposite the courthouse?

L1011

Yes.

Black Sheep

Had a couple of pints in Brewdog last night.

The place was absolutely rammed, full to the gills inside and outside. The age profile is very much young and trendy, and looked to be having a great time. At 40-50 in my group we were the oldest by a country mile.

Beers-wise they had several listed as being brewed on the premises, and all the usual Brewdog staples.

From what I saw, most people in there order Punk as a default, which I have trouble understanding considering that's the one beer you could potentially drink in a number of other places, whereas the broader Brewdog range or guest beers, not the case.

I ended up just having some Trouble Brewing Ambush. Price-wise pints started at 7.25 and, for reference, two pints of Ambush and a glass of red wine came to 23 euro.

One of my party had a chicken burger with sweet potato fries, that actually looked really good, proper k-style chicken cutlet.

My main grievance with the place remains accessibility, but if they're pulling most customers from local accommodation and businesses I guess that's a non issue for them.

the beer revolu

€7.25 for punk and ambush??

Krikey!

Black Sheep

Yeah I could stand corrected but that was the cheapest I saw on the board.

Hotblack Desiato

Boom is back baby.

Then again, there are some places in Temple Bar charging more than that for watery pints of Arthur's "finest".

Effects

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118914115#Comment_118914115

It's been back a while in that area. I went to the Ferryman in 2014 I think, and was shocked at the price of a Guinness. It was €6.

L1011

Lots of the regular customers have paid ~30 quid for a 5% discount which pays itself back if you are actually a regular and get food. Good bit slower if you just drink there - would be ~80 pints!

There's also a stacking shareholder daytime discount of 15% til 5 / 12:30 on weekends which makes lunchtime food / early finish after work pints somewhat sensible (5.80 for Punk on that pricing)

Weekend in Manchester late last summer where, due to a festival and football matches (and an Orange Order march!) the normally priced pubs were full of awful people* caused our group of 3 to eat two meals and have another pints only trip to two different Brewdog pubs and I'm fairly sure the share was paid back in that weekend alone.

*I'm fairly sure a lot of the people in the Brewdog pubs were also awful, the lads dressed as crusaders who went out to cheer the OO parade for instance, but the pubs weren't rammed

Effects

I signed up for one share, which cost me €20, and came with a free pint of punk straight away. So that's just €12.75. I don't drink there very often, but it didn't take long to even out on initial "investment".

I've been there a few times where the staff member has given me the 10% discount, just out of friendliness, as well as getting the daytime discount a few times.

I didn't even know there was a higher discount until I was asked one day what my discount percentage was, and I replied 50%. She laughed, explained the levels, I told her I had one share, but she gave me 10% anyway for trying my luck.

Pen Rua

https://news.sky.com/story/brewdog-to-give-workers-50-of-bar-profits-and-shares-worth-120-000-12604800

Brewdog has announced that it will share half of its bar profits with all bar workers and give 750 members of staff shares worth £120,000.

The craft beer firm said its 1,500 bar staff, who are paid by the hour, can expect to receive an extra £3,000 to £5,000 a year in cash, based on last year's figures.

Founder and chief executive James Watt also said he will give almost a fifth of his stake in the company to salaried employees - which include wholesale and manufacturing staff, as well as bar and kitchen managers.

They will own 3.7 million shares, which amounts to 5% of the company.

Mr Watt stressed that the reward scheme was not about repairing relations with staff, which came under strain after former workers accused the company of having a "culture of fear" last summer, with "toxic attitudes" towards junior staff.

The value of the shares will be worth about £30,000 a year over four years for those who are eligible, based on the company's recent valuation of £1.8 billion.

'A new hospitality model'

The awards totalling nearly £100 million will start in June and pay out each year for four years, but staff will only be able to cash in the shares if there is a sale or change in ownership - or when the group makes its shares public, which Mr Watt said is unlikely to happen in the next year.

The chief executive said an initial public offering is "very much" part of his plan in the medium-term and could happen in 2023.

He said he hoped the reward schemes would act as a "blueprint for a new type of hospitality model" and said he was focused on "building the best company we possibly can".

Brewdog was publicly criticised last year by a group of 60 employees who published an open letter alleging the business was built upon a "cult of personality" around its founders, Mr Watt and Martin Dickie, with a focus on "growth at all costs".

They claimed a "significant number" of ex-employees suffered "mental illness" due to working conditions and were left "burnt out, afraid and miserable".

Mr Watt said the firm had already made changes after the letter was published.

He said the new schemes "will help with every element of our company - recruitment, retention and team engagement".

"We want our team members to act as business owners and incentivise them as if they are business owners," he said.

Brewdog has breweries on three continents and operates more than 100 bars in the UK.

Black Sheep

I doubt that’ll reduce any internal giving out, if that was his goal.

Either he goes or they go, only way this drip feed of complaints about him stop.

Doodah7

I would reckon he is clinging on until the IPO and then he will cash out his chips and move on. He is suing some randomer in the UK at the minute:

BrewDog CEO brings prosecution against a woman for ‘fraud’ | BrewDog | The Guardian

Black Sheep

Strange, I assumed she was a one of the staff complainants against him but it reads more like she was either just trolling him or trying to defraud him by claiming she had info in relation to those people. An odd case either way.

BeerNut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119019333#Comment_119019333

Not just some randomer, it turns out:

https://www.goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines/2022/5/6/brewdog-ceo-files-fraud-lawsuit-against-woman-he-paid-for-information

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119024280#Comment_119024280

Page delisted due to legal threats by Watt.

Hotblack Desiato

Wayback Machine has it.

Effects

https://web.archive.org/web/20220506113604/https://www.goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines/2022/5/6/brewdog-ceo-files-fraud-lawsuit-against-woman-he-paid-for-information

L1011

Sounds like the plot of an awful crime novel.

Effects

I got about a minute in and then realised I was wasting my time.

Black Sheep

Bizarre, why didn’t he hire a professional?

Hotblack Desiato

My ma would have said "yer man is as odd as two left feet"

Effects

Went to Brewdog last week as I was passing and had some time on my hands. Ordered what was listed on the board as 2/3 pint of a strong stout, as well as some chips. Got my stout and went outside.

Chips arrived, and I asked for vinegar, and was told "no, we wouldn't have that here", while he looked at me as if I'd asked for petrol to put on my chips.

Then realised they'd only given me a 1/3 pint. Had only taken one sip from it anyway before I realised.

Went back to the bar, and I was told that it only came in 1/3 serving, and when I pointed out the 2/3 on the board I was told that was wrong. I asked her to double check, their system was down, so she had to find a different member of staff, who I presume confirmed it was 2/3.

She then asked if I wanted it topped up to 2/3. Which was the least I'd expect.

Poor enough service from staff, which I've never found in the past there. Maybe the whole covid slow down meant they let staff go and new staff aren't to the same standard.

L1011

EFP forum rumours that Cork opens 8th July (7th for EFPs); not confirmed.

Dublin II is not on the 2022 opening graphics at the minute.

Pen Rua

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119228591#Comment_119228591

They are promoting 22 July as their official opening date at the minute.

I'll probably go by over the opening weekend out of curiosity, and will keep an eye on their Untappd to see what guest beers they get in (if any). I don't foresee it becoming my regular.

Doodah7

Drove by the new Cork pub last Sunday evening. The door was open but it seemed bereft of life. I don't know Cork City very well but it seems to be situated in a very quiet backwater of a street with not much passing (foot) traffic.

Same could be said of the one in the Docklands, to be honest. At least they get the office crowd down there.

Pen Rua

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119402698#Comment_119402698

Washington Street is one of the main streets of Cork, and a direct route between UCC & the city. Hardly a backwater street.

I was in on Saturday in the late afternoon (c. 4.45pm) and it was quiet enough with some tables free. By the time we left (c. 7:30pm) there were no free tables and it was loud.

Going there after work today, early, so will be interested to see how it ebbs and flows.

Pen Rua

So Brew Dog was near empty from around 3:30pm till 5pm, which is not unexpected. It got a little busy after 5pm but was still only 25% full, I would estimate.

Went to Impala after @ 5:30pm and it was packed.

🤷‍♂️

Patsy167

Good Ship BrewDog is a 6 part podcast series by the BBC on the work culture created by the CEO of BrewDog and is well worth a listen if you are into podcasts.

Citizen Six

Does it go as far as covering the recent employee profit share scheme?