BrewDog to Open Giant ‘Carbon-Negative’ Bar on Las Vegas Strip

Posted on: October 27, 2022, 01:42h. 

Last updated on: October 27, 2022, 02:28h.

Corey Levitan Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

BrewDog, the Scottish brewer known for its bold beer and bolder claims, is opening its first Las Vegas brewery in typical style. It will be “the first ever carbon-negative bar in Las Vegas,” according to the company’s marketing materials.

The rooftop bar opens Friday, Dec. 2 above the Showcase Mall. The shopping center, known for its 100 foot-tall Coca-Cola bottle, will now also be known for its 4,000 square-foot LED BrewDog cube sign.

“This is going to be one of our most epic locations that we’ve ever created, and we can’t wait to be opening our doors,” the company’s website promises.

The 30,000 square-foot Las Vegas BrewDog will feature an onsite brewery with 10-barrel brewing system, an event space, a retro game zone, and full-size shuffleboard tables. According to vegas.eater.com, BrewDog incurred $2.65 million in construction costs alone.

Among the bar’s 96 beers on tap will be a special edition of BrewDog’s Elvis Juice beer, a citrus-infused American IPA with a caramel malt base and notes of pine, orange, and grapefruit. Its menu will offer not only bar food, but pizza, tacos, lobster, and Wagyu beef burgers.

On opening night, according to the company, a raffle will be held to award a $1 million bar tab.

Low-Carbon Beer?

Though the company announced the inclusion of “an urban forest” in its Las Vegas bar, achieving carbon negativity through a smattering of rooftop trees is a dubious claim. Most likely, the company means that the new bar’s carbon emissions will be offset by other company-wide activities. In 2020, BrewDog announced it officially had become carbon-negative – removing twice as much carbon from the atmosphere than it adds – thanks to its green investments. These include purchasing 2,000 Scottish acres on which it announced plans to plant 1 million trees.

“Huge change is needed right now, and we want to be a catalyst for that change in our industry and beyond,” BrewDog cofounder James Watt said at the time. “We fully acknowledge that we are a long way from perfect. However, we are determined to rapidly and fundamentally change everything as we work hard to ensure we have a positive impact on the planet.”

BrewDog – which has opened more than 100 bars in the past five years – is known for its  provocative claims and business moves. In 2010, it produced 12 bottles of a beer called “The End of History.” Consisting of 55% alcohol by volume, it was the world’s strongest beer at the time – a title that has since been usurped. In 2018, BrewDog introduced Pink IPA, a limited edition bottling of its Punk IPA coinciding with International Women’s Day. The bottle’s label featured the slogan “Beer for Girls,” igniting a backlash which, two years later, Watt called “justified.”

Last June, more than 100 former BrewDog employees published an open letter criticizing the firm’s business practices and treatment of its employees. The letter cited a “culture of fear,” and claimed the company was “built on a cult of personality” under Watt. Watt later apologized on Twitter, stating that his business was focused “not on contradicting or contesting the details of [the] letter, but to listen, learn, and act.”