It was such a great story. Young partners dabble in brewing from their garage in Scotland. Together they win a brewing contest and secure a large order. They grow their business. They become dominant in the U.K. and expand to Columbus, Ohio.
Then, just nine years after the Columbus expansion…
U.S. cannabis and craft drinks firm Tilray purchased Scottish ‘punk’ brewer BrewDog, in March of 2026, for the bargain basement sum of $40 million, thus ending a Cinderela story with the most tragic of endings.
“A company does not lose 97% of its value in the space of nine years without catastrophic mismanagement,” offered a Unite trade union spokesperson, the largest trade union in the UK and Ireland.
Brewdog hadn’t been profitable since 2019. They had suffered $148 million in losses over a five year period. The craft beer market had become intensely competitive. Brewdog had expanded way, way too fast, taking on mountains of debt. A buyer was sought. No takers for a company once valued at $1 billion.
Tilray was called the “buyer of last resort,” according to Beervana, having grown their company portfolio recently for pennies on the dollar. With BrewDog they got the BrewDog brand, intellectual property, UK brewing operations and eleven bars in the UK and Ireland. Both companies confirmed that thirty eight bars would close and 484 jobs would be lost, but 733 jobs were saved.
A Unite spokesperson offered this blistering assessment: “the way in which senior management have conducted themselves throughout this sales process has been nothing short of a national disgrace – both the press and Tilray announced the deal before workers were told.”
And to add insult to injury, more than 200,000 ‘Equity of Punks’ investors were left with nothing. ‘Equity for Punks’ helped save co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie back in 2011 when the company was struggling financially. Watt had come up with the idea on an overnight flight home from the U.S. Offer Crowdfunding to a very small but passionate group of his most loyal patrons.
The offer – for a minimum investment of 95 pounds (approximately $125) – would get you a lifetime 20% discount online, a lifetime 10% discount in all BrewDog bars, a membership card, an exclusive first purchase opportunity on all new BrewDog beers, a birthday beer and more.
He presented the idea to seven different law firms who all said it couldn’t be done. The eighth law firm he talked to said maybe it could be done but it was gonna cost him 100,000 pounds. The company, at the time, had absolutely no money in the bank. Watt decided to gamble the company’s future on this idea.
BrewDog raised fifteen million pounds from loyal customers and investors all over the world. They became the brewery’s biggest ambassadors. The company, in the process, added 30,000 new members.
BrewDog’s assets in the U.S. and Australia, which includes its U.S. anchor in central Ohio, are still in the negotiating stage. Word is there may be an announcement as to its fate soon.
Two significant locations in Columbus were closed earlier this year – taprooms in Franklinton and the Short North. Still operating are the DogHouse brewery in Canal Winchester, a location in New Albany and at the John Glenn Columbus International Airport.
The ‘Punks’ helped fund the construction of BrewDog’s $30 million American flagship operations in March 2017 on forty two acres just outside of Columbus. The campus features a taproom and restaurant, a 100,000 square foot brewery, complete with canning and distribution, the company’s North American corporate headquarters, a visitor center and a dog park.
The Canal Winchester operation has yet to be affected. The tap room – DogTap which is open for lunch and dinner daily – features 10,000 square feet with 24 brews on tap – six Brew Dog selections and Ohio craft beers. The production facility brews a full line-up of beers, including their popular Punk IPA, Dead Pony Club and Jackhammer.
In 2017, the private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners acquired a 22% stake for approximately $264 million. They, unfortunately, are a big loser in this tale of corporate failure as well.
The next year, Brewdog opened the 32-room DogHouse Hotel on site, offering a complimentary beer at check-in. It marks the first hotel inside of a brewery. You can order a 64-ounce growler when booking a room.
The trouble began in 2021 when sixty former staffers accused Watt of flaming a ‘culture of fear’ and having ‘toxic attitudes’ towards staff. The following year, the BBC aired a troubling documentary from more former employees. BrewDog’s fortunes quickly spiraled downward. In 2024, Watt stepped down as CEO, though he still maintained a large ownership stake.
Watt did offer 10 million pounds to buy back the company after it was put on the market, but that deal fell through. James Watt had a net worth of over 425,000 British pounds ($574 million) just twelve months ago, according to the London Sunday Times, however, most of his wealth was based on a 21% stake in BrewDog.
In March 2025, at 42, he married 30-yr-old British television personality Georgia Toffolo and presented her with an eight-carat triple-diamond studded band estimated to be worth 200,000 British pounds ($268,000).
As we await word on the fate of BrewDog’s Canal Winchester operation, central Ohio can’t help but feel a bit like a spurned bride after a whirlwind love affair, with our Scottish brewer leaving a financial mess and a future that is anything but certain.
Sources: ‘Introducing the Next Unicorn’, James Watt, YouTube; ‘The Apple and the pin badge’, www.jameswattbrewdog.com; ‘BrewDog, Canal Winchester’ by Nicholas Dekker, Ohio Magazine, Feb 2019, ohiomagazine.com; ‘BrewDog USA Airport Bar Lands at John Glenn Columbus International Airport’, May 21, 2014, hmshost.com; ‘Getting punky with BrewDog’s Martin Dickie’ by April Pishna, Dec 20, 2022, livingastoutlife.com; Georgia Toffolo flaunts her toned abs’ by Jessica Janes, August 23, 2025, The Daily Mail; www.dailymail.co.uk; Business for Punks by James Watt, 2015; The BrewDog Show, www.brewdognetwork.com; BrewDog’s DogTap pub opens today in Canal Winchester by Gary Seman, Feb 20, 2017, Columbus Dispatch, www.dispatch.com; BrewDog brewery, pub to open Monday, Feb, 2017, www.lancastereaglegazette.com; BrewDog opens brewery in competitive central Ohio beer market by Ben Garbarek, Feb 20, 2017, www.myfox 28columbus.com; BrewDog announces US expansion in Canal Winchester by Rebecca Wagner, June 10, 2015, www.columbusunderground.com; BrewDog is launching a craft distillery out of its Canal Winchester brewpub by Jack McLaughlin, Sep 21, 2021, www614now.com; BrewDog USA aims for April to begin brewing beer in Columbus by Keith Gribbins, Jan 4, 2017, www.craftbrewingbusiness.com; The Rise & Fall of BrewDog’s James Watt, Aug 1, 2025, American Craft Beer, www.americancraftbeer.com; Unite the Union, https://www.unitetheunion.org; Tilray acquires BrewDog for pocket change, Mar 2, 2026, www.beervanablog.com; BrewDog bough by US cannabis and drinks firm for 33 million pounds, costing nearly 500 jobs by Rob Davies, Mar 2, 2026, The Guardian, www.theguardian.com; BrewDog sold; two Columbus taprooms close, dozens of others, hundreds lose jobs by Sav McKee, Mar 4, 2026, www.614now.com; BrewDog’s US operations sold to new owner by Bob Vitale, Columbus Dispatch, Mar 16, 2026, www.finance.yahoo.com; From 2 billion to 33 million: the shocking fall of BrewDog with Babs Neilan, Jamieson Law, Mar 2026, www.youtube.com; 33 million for BrewDog???, Mar 2026, The Craft Beer Channel, www.youtube.com; Featured picture of Brewdog co-founders Martin Dickie (left) and James Watt (right) taken in 2007, courtesy of dailymail.com.