BrewDog Bar Ireland

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?