The beer business has had a tough time engaging with younger audiences, but Scottish brewery BrewDog may have come up with a solution by launching an SVOD platform that’s dedicated to beer and its lifestyle.
BrewDog craft brewery co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie began The BrewDog Network after their show Brew Dogs was canceled on the Esquire Network.
“Just as Netflix has pioneered mainstream streaming services, The BrewDog Network will be the first globally-recognized, passion-focused platform,” Watt said in a statement. “We believe craft beer can be the inspiration for the most popular content on the internet–maybe even more popular than videos of cats falling off walls or celebrity sex tapes.”
The BrewDog Network features 14 shows that cover craft beer, cocktails, food, travel, comedy and more. Watts and Dickie return with The BrewDog Show, which is a reinvention of the duo’s previous TV program where the two tour the world to drink beer and provide entertainment. Upcoming programs include Four Sheets featuring comedian Zane Lamprey—inspired by his previous show, Three Sheets—and Are You Smarter Than a Drunk Person, a game show where average people compete against inebriated MENSA members.
Other programs include Brown Bag Wine Tasting with William Shatner and The Nerdy Bartender featuring Canadian Actress Stacey Roy, who creates cocktails based on movies, comic books and other aspects of geeky pop-culture.
In a statement, BrewDog described the platform as “a genuine move to take the video-on-demand revolution to a new level. Driven by true passion and enthusiasm, we are doing exactly what we did with craft beer; raising standards and eyebrows in equal measure.”
To mark the launch of the service, the brewery created a specialty craft beer called Small Screen Hero, which is available both online and at global BrewDog locations.
The BrewDog Network launched worldwide on August 27 with both iOS and Android apps, and even though a Roku device can be found in its promotional imagery, the service has not yet announced any official partnerships with connected devices. The SVOD service costs $4.99 a month, which—as the company points out—is less than the cost of a pint of beer.
