James Watt & Martin Dickie
Brewdog

Not only have James Watt and Martin Dickie set up Scotland’s largest independent brewery at an incredibly young age, but they have achieved it in an unbelievably short space of time.

Brewing only began at BrewDog in April 2007, when Watt and Dickie were 24 years old. September saw a doubling of capacity at the brewery. In March this year capacity trebled. Neither Watt nor Dickie entered the company with any experience of beer sales or the running of a brewery. With all of the company’s equity still held between the two, the company now exports to eight countries, and has listings with Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Oddbins.

The beers themselves are in no way conventional, with the range including Paradox Islay aged Imperial Stout, and IPAs entitled “Punk” and “Hardcore”. A cask-only range is also available.

BrewDog’s range of craft beers has already been recognised in a number of awards. The pair’s business achievements were what really impressed judges, however.

Comments about BrewDog’s founders ranged from “interesting, innovative stuff” to “vibrant” and “quirky”. Of particular importance to the judges was the realisation that “there is a fairly big dichotomy between traditional beers, with drinkers that are male and over 50, and then a new beer drinker who is below 30 years old.”

Judges also commented on the fact that there are currently very few craft breweries like this in the UK, while they are relatively common in the US.

It is, of course, still early days for the brewery, but there is a significant amount of potential for the future.

Click to see the award presentation at this years ceremony