Why have breweries taken off in popularity recently? There are a couple of reasons, in James Watt’s opinion. The pandemic has triggered a mass reaction towards more socialization, and pubs and breweries naturally bring people together. So, they function as a magnet to bring folks together regularly. Alternatively, beer is fundamentally a type of eating. For centuries, beer was sustenance, and it is still treated as such in some parts of the world. In modern times, it’s more of a luxury or enhancement, but few agree that cold beer with a nice meal is overrated. It’s an aspect that James Watt has regularly focused on for his own brewery’s success.
Breweries also offer a throwback to when beer was made locally. The corporatization of just about everything is practically everywhere. Every brand and every label comes from a company with branches and distribution everywhere but no real presence up close. Breweries are different. Their architecture and function are local, as well as their operations and management. It’s up close, personal and intimate. No surprise, people like breweries; they understand them as tactile and easily comprehensible.
Certain particular breweries stand out even further. With the quality and recipes of the beer produced, the product attracts and brings people from miles away to enjoy the taste and experience. Combined with the above social benefits, breweries become extremely adept at customer retention, bringing people back again and again for more.
Brewery life being sensationalized in magazines and Hollywood doesn’t hurt either. From film plotlines surrounding piloting a new brewery to books and periodicals highlighting the successes and formulas of well-known breweries, popularity increases accordingly. Interestingly, most people learn about breweries through entertainment elements as well.
BrewDog, located in Fraserburgh, has been a typical brewery story since 2007 with an untypical strategy. Established by James Watt that year, BrewDog caught headlines right away with unconventional marketing, but simply grabbing attention doesn’t make a brewery a success. Instead, it’s expertise in product quality that made BrewDog stand out early and significantly. By 2014, the brewery was grabbing attention; James Watt and his operation scored the Master Cicerone title, a bit of a Michelin star recognition in the beer brewery world. Almost a decade old by then, BrewDog itself was placing its beer in 26 different bars and running a 360-person factory operation.
Most breweries start small, but they find a niche that makes sense and resonates with people. Then customers come back for more. To grow, the breweries quietly introduce a new version of beer, test the waters, and find traction. This approach can be repeated again and again with success, making breweries a hit if the folks that run them stay on their path. However, immediate success can be distracting. Customers spike in demand for the same thing, so breweries try to fill them. And then they forget how to grow long-term.
So, yes, breweries are definitely popular. However, James Watt knows it takes a lot more to have staying power in the brewery business. There are a lot of fly-by-nights, but not so many solid players. That’s the filter that cuts the chaff from the wheat, as the saying goes.