Calvin McDonald, BrewDog’s head of Australian operations, said that within three months of opening DogTap Brisbane has become Brewdog’s top performing bar globally.

“It’s been the top performing BrewDog bar for four to five weeks in a row now,” he said.

“We are really grateful and humbled to the people of Brisbane and South-East Queensland for coming out to support us.”

McDonald said his goal for 2020 is to make sure the rush is sustainable and build confidence in their current facility and its production capabilities.

“We are already looking at doubling fermentation capacity based on the opening three weeks of the taproom.”

The company’s Brisbane DogTap initially planned to include a 50hL brewing kit although this was later revised to 25hL.

McDonald said that decision was made to provide more flexibility.

“We have learnt from starting with a really huge kit where we ended up sitting on stock, and it doesn’t allow for great liquidity in the business.

“This does not mean our output is going to be any less, it’s just a more sensible size to start from.”

Despite unexplained delays during its construction process, McDonald said DogTap missed the planned open date by about two weeks, which wasn’t a major issue.

He also cleared up confusion surrounding the $30 million figure, which many media outlets have attributed to the brewhouse, saying this figure was based on a long-term proposition.

While DogTap Brisbane position as its Australian headquarters is still in its early stages, with only McDonald and general manager Lindsay Crawford there full time, he said it will take time to see the full investment come to life, along with the proposed 235 staff.

McDonald told the Beer is a Conversation podcast that they have quietly started to brew on site. DogTap currently has two Brisbane-brewed beers to its name, the Australian brewed Punk IPA and a 3.5% Australian Pale Ale.

“The canning line is in place and is being commissioned next month,” McDonald said.

“Hopefully in March you will be able to see BrewDog beer out in the market, or at the very least be able to buy a slab from the brewery.”

Listen to the Beer is a Conversation podcast with Matt Kirkegaard for more from BrewDog’s Calvin McDonald.