Aberdeen Berlin Tokyo Barcelona red neon sign at Brewdog Castlegate, Union Street, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

BrewDog was founded in Fraserburgh in 2007 by James Watt and Martin Dickie. In 2010, BrewDog opened their first bar, in nearby Aberdeen. At the end of 2018, the company operates 50 bars in the United Kingdom and 24 international bars. In 2011, BrewDog was described as "one of the prime movers" behind the campaign which changed the law in 2011 to allow new beer measures in Britain. 2011 also saw the company offered crowdfunding shares totalling £2 million, the equivalent of 8% of the capital of the company. The shares were sold at £23.75 and accompanied several benefits such as discounts in their bars and online purchase of their beers, and the opportunity to attend their annual shareholders meeting. The main brewing moved from Fraserburgh to nearby Ellon in 2012. In February 2016, BrewDog open-sourced its beer recipes to the public, making them a form of Free Beer. Private equity firm, TSG Consumer Partners acquired a 22% stake in the company for approximately £213 million in April 2017. In February 2018, BrewDog announced that it plans to build a $30 million production brewery and tap room on an 11, 000sqm greenfield site in the Metroplex complex at Murrarie, in Brisbane, Australia. BrewDog's provocative marketing has been a key aspect of its business, and has gained them substantial international coverage. In 2008, BrewDog were challenged by UK drinks industry watchdog the Portman Group. Portman had claimed BrewDog to be in breach of their Code of Practice for the labeling of the Dead Pony IPA. BrewDog denied these allegations and countered that Portman was impeding the development of smaller brewing companies. In December 2008, after an 8-month long dispute and a preliminary adjudication which had ruled against the company, BrewDog were cleared of all breaches of the Code of Practice and were permitted to continue marketing their brands without making any changes to the packaging. In protest to their targeting, BrewDog introduced "Speedball"