Brewdog investing down under

BrewDog is to open a £17 million brewery, restaurant and visitor centre in Australia.

The Scottish craft brewer has finalised plans for the site in Brisbane, with construction to start later this year and production in 2019.

It will be the company's third brewery after sites in Scotland and the US, and will serve the Australian market with the potential to export to Asia.

It asked Australian supporters to submit ideas for a suitable location for the new brewery and said it was inundated with hundreds of proposals, including a video pitch from the Government of South Australia.

BrewDog said it will invest 30 million Australian dollars (£16.9 million) in the Brisbane project, which will include a canning facility, taproom, restaurant and visitor centre.

About 150 jobs will be created over the next five years.

BrewDog co-founder James Watt said: “Australians are some of the most passionate and informed beer drinkers on the planet.

“The encouragement I received from the craft beer movement during my last visit in the country blew me away.

“I'm glad our Australian fans at home and in the diaspora were relentless in pushing for a brewery, and I look forward to sharing my first can of Aussie-brewed Punk IPA with them.”

The craft brewery, founded in Aberdeenshire a decade ago, has grown from two employees to about 800 and has opened around 30 bars across the UK and 15 more around the world.

Growth has been supported by regular crowdfunding share offers and the company said it will consider an Australian fundraising round to expand its presence across the country.

Queensland development minister Cameron Dick said: “BrewDog's choice of Brisbane over other interstate locations to open its first brewery outside of the UK and the US is a vote of confidence in our state from one of the world's most successful independent breweries."