BrewDog Is Sold: The End of an Era for Craft Beer Worldwide
The Scottish brewery was sold to Tilray for £33 million, leaving nearly 500 workers without jobs and 200,000 retail investors empty-handed — a brutal turn for something that once symbolized the entire craft beer movement.
From a Garage to a Movement
Back in 2007, the co-founders set up shop in Ellon, Scotland. What they built went way beyond a normal brewery: they democratized investment through crowdfunding before most people saw the potential, branded themselves as anti-corporate rebels, and put loud-named, high-ABV beers on supermarket shelves dominated by industrial lagers.
That kicked off the craft beer boom across Europe. The IPAs and craft stouts you now see on Spanish supermarket shelves owe part of their shelf space to these pioneers shaking things up.
How It All Fell Apart
Building a myth eventually has to be backed by real numbers. The company kept opening bars worldwide — Tokyo, Columbus, São Paulo — plus hotels and resorts bankrolled by endless crowdfunding rounds and mounting debt. Allegations about the internal culture piled up. Leadership changed hands in May 2024. Financial reports revealed £59 million in losses that year; 2025 added another £37 million in losses despite marginal revenue growth.
Bar closures followed in July 2025. Assets bought under all that environmental messaging got sold off below value. March 2026 brought the fire-sale acquisition by a drinks-and-cannabis conglomerate.
Is Craft Beer in Trouble?
Claims that the whole sector is dying deserve some skepticism. What's actually declining is one specific model: craft operations bankrolled by venture capital chasing exponential growth regardless of profitability, putting brand visibility ahead of product integrity.
Genuinely independent breweries — the ones with real owners who keep a direct relationship with their customers — are holding up just fine, often coming out stronger once consolidation clears out better-funded competitors.
Rock N Hopz keeps a curated selection of 283 independent producers from around the world, each one vetted individually. The moment Tilray took control, we pulled BrewDog off our list. It wasn't a symbolic move: losing independence signals a philosophical mismatch with what we stand for.
The industry is alive and well. What's dying is mismanaged expansion.
BrewDog Alternatives in Tenerife
So What Do We Drink Now?
If you were a BrewDog fan, we get it. Punk IPA was the gateway beer that got millions of people into craft. Elvis Juice taught you that grapefruit and hops are best friends. And the Hazy IPAs from their experimental line blew your mind. But BrewDog isn't BrewDog anymore — and the good news is there are beers out there that don't just fill that gap, they beat it.
Here are our straight-up recommendations, all of them on our menu right now:
If You Loved Punk IPA
- Ghost Ship — Adnams (UK, 4.5% ABV) — A British pale ale with citrusy character and a clean finish. Less aggressive than Punk IPA but with the same session drinkability that made it famous. Perfect if you want hops without your tongue getting torn up.
- Lucky Jack — Vocation Brewery (UK, 4.2% ABV) — Born from the legacy of the British craft revolution, Lucky Jack is a session IPA with a light body, balanced bitterness, and tropical aroma. What Punk IPA wanted to be when it grew up.
If You Loved Hazy IPA
- Arpus DDH IPA — Arpus Brewing (Latvia, 6.5% ABV) — If BrewDog introduced you to hazy beers, Arpus is about to change your life. This Latvian brewery makes some of the best NEIPAs in Europe: cloudy, juicy, pure tropical explosion. Hopped on a whole other level.
- Arpus TDH Pale Ale — Arpus Brewing (Latvia, 5.5% ABV) — For anyone who wants something a bit smoother but just as aromatic. Triple dry-hopped with Citra and Mosaic — tropical fruit juice in beer form.
If You Loved Elvis Juice
- Lucky Jack Grapefruit — Vocation Brewery (UK, 4.2% ABV) — Real grapefruit, not artificial flavoring. If Elvis Juice was your summer beer, this one slots right in — except the flavor's more honest.
- Lucky Jack Mango — Vocation Brewery (UK, 4.0% ABV) — For anyone who wants tropical fruit without losing the beer character. Real mango on a well-built pale ale base. Refreshing with a craft soul.
If You Loved Craft Lager
- Budvar Original — Budweiser Budvar (Czech Republic, 5.0% ABV) — The real deal, aged 90 days in Bohemia. If you were drinking BrewDog's Lost Lager thinking it was something special, wait until you try a Czech lager made the way it's been done since 1895.
All these beers — and plenty more — are available at Rock N Hopz, C. Hernán Cortés 2, Local 33, La Tejita, Tenerife. Check out our full menu of 286 craft beers from independent producers around the world.
BrewDog closed a chapter. We're still writing the book.
