BrewDog, the Scottish brewer and pub operator, which last month acquired Draft House, is believed to be eyeing a further acquisition that would add a craft cider producer to its portfolio.
MCA understands that the James Watt-led company is in talks in regards to acquiring a small craft cider producer, with Hawkes Cider, the South East London-based business, believed to be one of the businesses it has run the rule over.
The speculation of a further acquisition by the company comes as it has launched a direct-to-consumer ‘beer club’ called Fanzine to showcase three brews every fortnight.
The beers will be made in small batches at BrewDog’s Aberdeenshire base, but specifics will not be revealed until they are delivered to customers. Each trio will then become available in BrewDog bars as a flight.
“A beer club like this has never been done before,” said BrewDog co-founder and chief executive Watt.
Last month, BrewDog acquired the 14-strong Draft House in a deal believed to value the brand at c£15m.
BrewDog takes ownership of the entire Draft House estate with BrewDog Bars managing director, David McDowall taking the reins from founder Charlie McVeigh.
BrewDog said it was planning to invest in the current Draft House sites and may look to expand on them in future. It added that “the beer selection will be different from BrewDog bars, but with the same focus on independent craft beer from around the world”.
Earlier this week, MCA revealed that BrewDog was to trial a cashless operation at its Clerkenwell site and is mulling a rollout of the scheme across its estate.
The group is understood to be looking at the feasibility of converting the whole of its c60-strong bars estate to a cashless system if Clerkenwell proves to be a success.
