Photos via BrewDog

Irreverent craft brewery, BrewDog, today officially lands in the American craft beer scene with the launch of its first US bar, DogTap Columbus. With its brewery in Ohio on the verge of launch, DogTap will whet the appetite of beer aficionados across the state, teeing them up for the highly-anticipated opening of BrewDog’s first international brewery, which will open in Spring. BrewDog’s second US bar, located in Franklinton, is also due to open late Summer 2017.

The Scottish export started life on the rugged north east coast of Scotland when James Watt and Martin Dickie set out on a mission to make other people as passionate about great craft beer as they were. Fast forward ten years, and the company now employs nearly 1000 people worldwide, exports from Scotland to 60 countries, and operates 50 bars around the world.

The founders also hosted 3 seasons of ‘Brew Dogs’, the longest running beer TV show, which aired on American television. The new brewery in Ohio has been partially funded by BrewDog’s crowdfunding programme, Equity for Punks, which has raised in excess of $50 million for the UK company since 2009.

Located at 96 Gender Road, DogTap will not only be BrewDog’s first offering in America, but also its biggest bar worldwide.

With 300 seats, two shuffleboard tables, pin ball and arcade machines, the newest venue for those evangelical about great craft beer will provide the ideal haven of hops and retro gaming.

Its food menu has been carefully crafted to pair big flavours with the range of beers on tap, and will be available from launch.

“The craft beer scene in the United States is an amazing thing to behold. Over 5,000 breweries dot the landscape from sea to shining sea, with tens of thousands of different beers finding their way into the hands of millions of people. It is inspirational, energising and a bastion of creativity. And now in the biggest project over the ten-year history of BrewDog, we have arrived to play our own small part in it. We have finally touched down and are ready to rock and roll.” Brewdog wrote on their website.

The bar will feature a growler machine, and of the twelve draft lines in the bar, six will run BrewDog’s biggest, boldest headliners. The other six will serve up guest beers from local Ohio breweries, Rhinegeist, Rockmill, Seventh Son, Land Grant, Fat Heads, and Jackie O.

Known for championing the craft beer scene at every level, BrewDog is famous for hand-picking local craft beers for every location it throws open its doors, providing a platform for peers in the industry and making its beer selection as eclectic and exciting as possible.

“At opening we will be pouring Dead Pony Club, 5AM Saint, Jet Black Heart, Elvis Juice, Cocoa Psycho and, of course, the beer that started it all – our flagship Punk IPA. Plus we will be serving up a range of wines and liquor, sodas from Boylan’s Bottling Company, and freshly roasted barista coffee. We have dialled in a Colombian Iquira Yellow Bourbon as our house blend from the amazing local Columbus roaster One Line Coffee.”

BrewDog’s brand new, state-of-the-art 100,000 square foot brewery in Columbus, Ohio, which will be one of the most technologically-advanced and environmentally-friendly breweries in the world, will open in mid-2017.

Once up and running, DogTap Columbus will sell fresh BrewDog beer, served on draft and packaged on the new canning line on site.

Expansion into the US has been made possible by BrewDog’s innovative business model, Equity for Punks, which is the most successful crowdfunding scheme of any company on record.

The brewery made international news last week when it announced it had introduced ‘Puppy Parental Leave’, whereby all its staff can benefit from 7 days paid leave when they get a new dog.