Britain thinks of itself as young, stylish, and even a bit edgy. And Britain likes nothing more than a collective beer, or two. So it’s really not surprising that when the guys behind Aberdeenshire’s BrewDog brewery spotted a gap in the market, they went straight after it like a collie chasing a stick.

Recently, Tesco has begun to stock the company’s Punk IPA beer, eight months after Scottish Tesco outlets tried it out. ‘We’re now dealing with lots of different suppliers, and we’re exporting to ten different countries. So that’s jsut great, even if you are being stocked by someone like Tesco’, says James Watt, BrewDog’s managing director.

While microbreweries have become more numerous, even in a market dominated by the major players, BrewDog’s USP is the fact that it is ‘real’ beer aimed at a younger audience. ‘We’re quite unconventional. We want to package them in a way that we like! It’s not ‘manufactured’ in that sense. We’re working to make the best beer we can while staying true to ourselves’, says Watt. And with names like Hop Rocker, Hardcore IPA and Rip Tide (a ‘twisted merciless stout’), the rebellious spirit of the founding duo – Watt and Martin Dickie – shines through. ‘We were frustrated with beer in the UK that was only aimed at the beer-bellied 40 year-old male. No one had tried to make a cool, fully-flavoured beer aimed at the younger market.’

And certainly not someone with Watt’s background: ‘I was a fisherman until 18 months ago! But now the boat only goes to sea 6 to 7 weeks per year; it’s just not enough.’ Dickie, on the other hand, has experience working for a ‘major English brewery’, and so the pair tried for investment. ‘Twelve months ago the banks were easier to deal with!’, Watts jokes. ‘We also received help (soft loans) from PSYBT (The Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust) and Scottish Enterprise.’

Not yet 18 months down the line, the company employs 13 beer-loving staff, and although the branding is hyper-modern, it’s all about the beer, says Watts. ‘I’m the only one in marketing and sales, everyone else is involved in the brewing!’