Let’s talk about the BrewDog rebrand. When I first saw it, I thought it was fake news. The BrewDog brand has been so strongly ingrained – in my beer bubble, at least – that this just didn’t look right.

It’s hard to argue that it isn’t dialled back, more measured. The colours are less brash, the design more simplistic and generally speaking, it’s less in-your-face. Dare I say, it all feels a bit too sensible – a bit too safe for the beer brand synonymous with market disruption, stunts and their unique sense of beer anarchy. Their flagship beer is Punk IPA – and the new brand definitely ain’t punk.

Price of a Half Pint vs Full Pint – Logic vs Expectation

Beer Thoughts No Reply

In a recent Hopinions poll and podcast discussion, we learned that 83% of beer drinkers expect a half pint to cost exactly half the price of a full pint.

Makes sense, right? You’re getting half the amount of beer, so it should be half the price? That is the argument for this pricing structure, in its simplest form. READ MORE

Michael Wilson 22nd June 2018

Beavertown x Heineken – Our Thoughts

Beer Thoughts No Reply

You’ve probably heard the news by now, Beavertown have sold an undisclosed minority stake to Heineken for an estimated £40 million.

There’s been a lot of discussion on this already, some positive, mostly negative. BrewDog have stated they’ll no longer be selling Beavertown beers and won’t be attending Beavertown’s Extravaganza. Cloudwater have also pulled out of Beaverex – as did The Veil a few weeks back when the rumours reached their peak. A number of independent retailers including Hoptimism and Hop, Burns & Black have also decided to no longer stock their beers. READ MORE

Michael Wilson 17th April 2018

JD Wetherspoon – to Tweet or Not to Tweet?

Beer Thoughts No Reply

JD Wetherspoon announced yesterday that it would be closing all of its social media channels with immediate affect. Chairman, Tim Martin, told the BBC that he doesn’t “believe that closing these accounts will affect our business whatsoever” while citing that people are “wasting their time” on social media.

An interesting take from the Chairman and one which sparked national news coverage across print, radio and television. On last night’s evening news, one television channel covered the story by highlighting a recent photo tweeted by Wetherspoon’s pointing out that it only got three retweets. READ MORE

Michael Wilson 6th March 2018

BrewDog’s Pink IPA – Good Idea, Bad Execution?

Beer Thoughts No Reply

Today, BrewDog announced their ‘new’ beer – Pink IPA – a satirically dubbed Beer for Girls. Essentially, it’s Punk IPA, in a pink-labelled bottle. The beer has been launched to coincide with International Women’s Day. The intention behind the beer? To expose sexist marketing and highlight the gender pay gap.