5 things we did which sounded like an April Fool… but were actually real
April Fool’s Day is crap.
Seriously. It’s ALWAYS crap. It’s harmless enough: loads of tabloid newspapers doing horribly obvious gags which appear designed to make your nan chuckle. But it’s still, fundamentally, crap.
Here at BrewDog, there’s an additional reason the whole thing makes no sense. When we come up with something that sounds daft enough to be an April Fool, we tend to… just do it. Here are five moments in BrewDog history which all sound as blatantly made up as an April Fool. Except that we did them all… for real.
WHEN WE INTRODUCED ‘PAWTERNITY LEAVE’
We were born dog friendly (the clue’s in the name). Dogs have been welcome at our bars since day one. And crew members can take their furry friends to work. In 2017, we cranked it up a notch - one week’s paid leave for all employees who adopt a puppy or rescue dog. Sound like a joke? Nope. Just some gentle little leg pulling and tummy tickling.
WHEN WE SENT A BEER INTO SPACE
Man has fired rockets at the moon. Been into orbit. Stepped on the lunar surface. Why not a beer? No, seriously. To launch our Berlin brewery and tap room we literally launched a beer into the cosmos. The first, and possibly the last, PUNK in space. One small step for beer. One giant leap for beerkind.
WHEN WE DECIDED TO SERVE A BEER THROUGH A POLAR BEAR (OR A SQUIRREL)
When America withdrew from the Paris Accord we did what we do best, brewed a beer. Hijacking Mr Trump’s catch phrase along the way. ‘Make Earth Great Again’ was brewed to draw attention to climate change. It was served from a life size replica Polar Bear in our Shoreditch bar. Having a giraffe? No.
WHEN WE MADE A BEER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE NORTH SEA
We love our beer names and we love alliteration. What rhymes with PUNK? ‘Sunk’ we hear you cry. And from our beer names a world is spawned. In this case an underwater world. We brewed this beer in the North Sea off Fraserburgh. The kit was complete with a (laughing) gas escape valve. No, really. Tasted good too.
WHEN WE DELIBERATELY MADE A BEER THAT TASTED LIKE PARMA VIOLETS
Food pairing has been around about as long as craft beer. So how do you shake it up? Two Shires unite in this slightly cuckoo candy coated concept. Parma Violet flavoured beer. Shouldn’t work, right? Wrong (despite what SOME food critics may say). It worked like a dream. And was available in Tuck shops (OK Tesco’s) all over the land. Most wouldn’t go there. We did.
