New craft brewer aims to provide clean water to millions

The Foundation’s trustees are Social Bite founder Josh Littlejohn and Brewgooder founder Alan Mahon along with James Watt and Martin Dickie of Brewdog. Sir Tom Hunter’s The Hunter Foundation is on board as a philanthropic partner.

A crowdfunding initiative launches today with a view to raise an initial £50,000. Brewgooder is offering a range of perks to “founder members” who support the initiative on Indiegogo.com. These include six packs of the first cans of the new beer, limited edition artwork prints and the opportunity to co-sponsor water projects. Packages range from £5 to £50. Independent bars can also buy wholesale packages that include 750 cans of beer and marketing materials for £1,000.

“Fittingly, it was in the pub that we first had a conversation about using the social power of beer to try and make a better world,” said Mr Mahon. “It just seemed like there was such a natural symmetry between the two.”

Mr Mahon said as soon as the name Brewgooder was conceived the vision became tangible, but the idea was parked while Social Bite was expanded. It has now been almost four years since the chain launched, and in addition to bringing Edinburgh to a standstill with a visit from George Clooney, the firm has opened five units and grown its independent corporate catering division into one of the biggest in Scotland.

Last year Mr Mahon invested £1,200 in a small batch of beer, which he successfully trialled a beer during the Edinburgh Festival. “We sold out, people liked the beer, the idea,” he said. “That was milestone; we knew then we could sell it.”

That led the team to contact Brewdog boss James Watt, who quickly signed up to support the project. The launch brew, Clean Water Lager, was created and produced by Brewdog, and it launches exclusively in Brewdog bars.

“To reach the scale of production we want, the beer has to be outstanding. I don’t want people to see Brewgooder as a charity beer. We’ve been working with Brewdog for two months on the recipe. We wanted to make a great lager and have that social force behind it. And by plugging into Brewdog’s growing infrastructure, we can guarantee supply.

Mr Mahon expects an initial run of 200,000 cans featuring limited-edition artwork to go into production in May. “By plugging into Brewdog’s growing infrastructure, we can guarantee supply,” said Mr Mahon, adding that the crowdfunding launch is just the first stage of the project, with a push into supermarkets already in the works. “The initial ambition is to hit the crowdfunding target. If we nail that, we can get people talking about, and we can get to our five-year target of providing clean water to one million people quicker. We’re already quite far down the line with some great distributors, we just need the beer-loving public to buy into us and help get us there,” he said.

Co-founder Josh Littlejohn commented: “We wanted to build on the success of Social Bite and develop other models of using business to tackle social challenges. The ultimate ambition is to make a dent in a global water crisis that means 650 million people have no access to clean drinking water and 1,400 children die each day from water borne diseases.”

Earlier this year Mr Mahon and Mr Littlejohn visited the Nora Docherty School in a remote village in Dedza, Malawi. Brewgooder’s first project, to be funded by the initial £50,000 target, is to install solar powered water pumps in the village, which will bring water to the surface at the time when it’s most difficult to source. “The trip really hammered home the reason we are doing this,” said Mr Mahon. “When you see a village without clean water it reveals the scale of the problem – you can’t read about that or see it on a screen. Millions of people enjoy a beer on a Friday night – and we’re trying to harness the power of that.”