#PunkAGM2014

"Nothing like a little Dead Pony to start the day"

So began the 2014 Punk AGM. With those words, and a raised glass, CEO of Stone Brewing Company Greg Koch opened the fourth annual sudsy cavalcade of beer and music for our equity investors, held on Saturday at Aberdeen's AECC. More than 4,000 people came through the doors on the day (at least 3,851 more than our first AGM in 2011) and over the course of the ensuing twelve hours, depleted the bars of 93 different beers on offer. As the event went on, we also shared the outcome of our last twelve months, dropped sneaky previews of the year to come, shared tastings with some fantastic guest breweries and revealed which of James and Martin had milked a cow with their mouth.



It's been quite a ride over the last year, and our fans, supporters and investors have been right at the centre of it. In the last twelve months, we have:-

- More than doubled the size of the brewery
- Completed Europe's most successful crowd-funding initiative with the third round of Equity for Punks
- Opened new bars in Sheffield, Shepherd's Bush, Dundee, Gothenburg, São Paulo, and Tokyo
- Launched the first BottleDog, in King's Cross
- Filmed two seasons of 'BrewDogs'
- Opened a bar in China
- Maintained our position as the fastest growing food and drinks company in the UK


 
We now have a network of 18 bars around the world, employ 300 members of staff, are supported by 14,568 equity investors, and export our craft beer to fifty countries, having recently signed off on our 50th (hello Panama!). These numbers are amazing – but they reflect the continual dedication of our BrewDog team, our supporters, and the increase in production due to the new facility we built at Ellon. Our 100HL brewhouse was a huge investment, but as the people of Panama have shown, it's one that is needed to simply keep up with the escalating demand for our beers.



But, we aren't going to slow down anytime soon. In true Punk AGM-style, we laid down our plans and targets for the next twelve months, which include:-

- To brew 90,000HL of craft beer
- Increase our fermentation capacity to 23,400HL per month
- Establish an Investment Fund to support new craft breweries
- Open UK bars in Clapham, Cardiff, Liverpool, Brighton, Glasgow, Leeds, and more
- Launch BottleDog Birmingham, Leeds and Glasgow
- Open overseas bars in (amongst others) Berlin, Rome, Florence and Helsinki
- Launch a trading platform for our shareholders
- Release our new-look packaging for our bottled beers
- Bring 'BrewDogs' to TV screens in the UK
 
Expect more detailed announcements about all of these points (and more) in the months to come.


 
If you've been to one of our AGMs before – or even if you haven't – you can probably imagine that it wasn't exactly a typically grey business event for listless financial geeks. There was great music, Hello My Name Is Vladimir re-enactments, honeymooners, spontaneous renditions of Total Eclipse of the Heart, and the funniest Meet the Brewer event in history.









 
If you were unable to make it up to Aberdeen, here's what else went down at #PunkAGM2014, from the mouths of those who were there…
 


"I congratulate each and every one of you, for the work that is being done. Craft beer is changing the face of beer in this land. Without everybody's enthusiasm, we couldn't have got to where we are today; and thechange is amazing, is it not?"
- Greg Koch, CEO Stone Brewing Co
 
"The best beer today? It has to be Brew By Numbers Cucumber and Juniper Saison. It's amazing, that cucumber flavour. I really, really like it."
- Chris, Equity for Punks Investor
 
"We've got such an awesome partnership with our hop suppliers; we spend a lot of time to make sure we've got enough, but also that we've got the best hops that are available on the market."
- Martin Dickie, co-founder of BrewDog
 
"The investment fund for other breweries is a fantastic idea. Investing in others shows a massive amount of confidence in the industry."
- Calum, Equity for Punks Investor
 
"I had a pine marten living in my attic once."
- Craig Middleton, founder of Cromarty Brewing (and now stand-up comedian)
 
"Everything for us comes back to what's in the glass, what's in the bottle. Ultimately, the only thing we want to do is to make other people as passionate about great beer as we are, and that underpins all our plans, and it underpins everything we do."
- James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog and extreme cow-milker
 
Oh, and even guest-of-honour Simcoe had something to say…


 
PS. We understand that there was an unacceptable queue length for the bars at various stages throughout the day. For this, we are incredibly sorry. Our AGM has grown in size every year so far and we were blown away by the volume of attendees in 2014. It overwhelmed us, and we let you down, but we promise we will be 100% prepared for next year. Sorry to those who had to wait a little longer than they'd hoped to get their hands on some great beer, we will more than make it up to you in 2015…!