This week we have a special edition of Beer is a Conversation featuring BrewDog co-founder Martin Dickie.

BrewDog is an interesting case. Makers of undeniably good beer, they are unquestionably savvy businesspeople and hype-generating geniuses. They have also secured almost £70 million – that’s almost $128 million to you and me – from more than 107,000 investors around the world in a way that enables them to avoid the same level of scrutiny that privately listed companies face.

They also received considerable support from the Queensland Government to set up their operations in Australia, in competition with locally-grown and funded businesses that – to date – have not received the same level of support.

As such their business and their public statements warrant a level of attention above that of your average suburban BrewPub.

Regular listeners will know BrewsNews been watching with interest as BrewDog announced its plans for an Australian brewery, and has asked questions as the timelines dragged out and the plans changed.

It has been frustrating that the ‘radically transparent’ BrewDog has tended not to respond to inquiries, or given answers about the project that have not held up for long, as well as given incorrect information to Equity Punks in briefings.

But this week we got to ask Martin about all that and more over a beer and you get to sit in and listen as we do. We discuss BrewDog Brisbane and their plans for Australia, but also look at the challenges of growing a ‘punk’ brand to scale globally while keeping its relevance as it goes increasingly mainstream. I ask about its plans for the future, including looking towards an IPO and public listing and the valuation placed on BrewDog.

Martin is a nice bloke and good company and we hope you enjoy this conversation.

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