Craft beer behemoth BrewDog has turned its gaze to the spirits market with the launch of new brand LoneWolf.
The brewer wants to “redefine an entire industry and establish a new standard for spirits production,” it said today, as its new LoneWolf vodka and gin hit the market (rsp: £32/70cl).
Plans were similarly underway to expand into whiskies and other spirits in future, it added.
BrewDog spent two years building LoneWolf’s new distillery, which is near its HQ in Ellon, Aberdeenshire and features the world’s only triple-bubble still and an 18-metre tall rectification column, it claimed.
“Our new purpose-built facility takes craft distillation to new levels. The huge amount of copper contact that our stills and columns give to our spirit delivers unparalleled quality,” said LoneWolf MD Doug Bairner.
“It is commonplace for spirit brands to bulk-buy their base alcohol from a supplier and redistill with their own botanicals. We are custodians of our liquid at every stage of its creation and believe that our exacting processes give the best possible spirit.”
LoneWolf is also set to release its own tonic and soda lines, which were “specifically formulated to be paired with its drinks” and would ensure “the perfect drinking experience,” it said.
“When three-quarters of the most popular pour for gin and vodka is made up of tonic, we can’t understand why no other spirits brands have developed dedicated mixers,” said Bairner.
“Our mixers accentuate the unique flavour profile of our spirits - allowing us another dimension of control to deliver the best possible drinking experience.”
The new LoneWolf line-up is currently only available from Brewdog’s online shop, but it is understood the brewer will target “quality-led spirits retailers” in future.
Craft spirits
Total craft spirit sales grew 42% year on year over the past 12 months, with category value rising from £51.2m to £72.2m. They now account for a 1.8% value share of the total spirits market, having doubled over the past two years [Nielsen 52 w/e 25 March 2017].
“Craft spirits, perhaps unsurprisingly, come with a higher price tag, and we’re seeing a general move towards more higher-priced products in spirits, as with other BWS categories,” said Helen Stares, client business partner at Nielsen.
“Over 50% of craft spirits’ volume is gin, which is also currently the star performer of the spirits category overall.”
There was no sign of this growth slowing down, with the category increasing thanks to retailers widening their repertoire of brands and increasing rates of sale, she added.
“London and its surrounding area is particularly important to craft spirits, and as we often see, trends which start in London then spread to the rest of the country, so there’s clear potential for this to grow further.
“We would expect craft spirits to break the £100m barrier in a little over a year.”
But while craft beer’s rise has been accompanied by a decline in mainstream lager sales (-0.4% value), non-craft spirits are still growing (1.8%), albeit slower than their trendy counterparts [Nielsen].
It comes as The Grocer revealed this week that BrewDog also plans to tighten its grip on its beer supply chain with the launch of a new chilled transport network this year, to ensure its beers arrived to retail customers “colder and fresher, and with no reduction in flavour”.
Founder James Watt also marked central Europe as a key area for BrewDog’s international expansion over the coming months, announcing the impending establishment of a separate BrewDog distribution network in Germany.
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