Cloudwater has said that it is ending its deal with Brewdog to supply its beers to the Tesco supermarket chain.
The Manchester brewery released a statement this morning, saying that it will wind down its contract with Brewdog early.
It's a further blow to Brewdog, following the airing of a documentary on the BBC last night in which co-founder James Watt was accused of inappropriate behaviour by a number of workers in its bars in the US.
Watt has denied any wrongdoing, and said that the allegations against him are false.
He said: "The BBC published claims which are totally false & they published them despite the extensive evidence we provided to demonstrate that they were false. Reluctantly, I am now forced to take legal action against the BBC to protect my reputation."
Speaking to the MEN, a spokesperson for Cloudwater said that the decision to end the contract had been 'in the pipeline for the last couple of months'.
They said they would not state the decision was anything to do with the allegations made against Brewdog's co-founder.
“At the very start of last year, we entered into a contract with Brewdog to supply Tesco stores,” Cloudwater said in a statement.
“When the contract was produced, the opportunities, outlook and the context for this agreement looked very different.
“Following a review of the situation, including consideration of alternative opportunities through grocery to support the breweries involved in the Beer With Big Ideas initiative, we have begun the process of winding down the contract with Brewdog early, and have notified Tesco of our decision.
“It will take time for both completion of remaining contractual negotiations and for long supply pipelines to clear.
“This is all we are able to say at the current moment.”
Cloudwater, founded by Paul Jones and James Campbell in 2014, announced in April last year that it was making four new beers in collaboration with Brewdog and four independent breweries.
All of the profits were then funneled into the Beer With Big Ideas initiative, which aimed to support indie beer makers Eko Brewery, Rock Leopard Brewing, Queer Brewing and Good Karma Beer Co.
Cloudwater has also produced other collaborative beers with Brewdog, including its New England IPA in 2019.
Watt founded the Brewdog brewery, located just outside Aberdeen, in 2007 with university friend Martin Dickie.
It now employs more than 2000 people, and has over 100 bars worldwide, including three venues in Manchester, one of which is also the ‘Doghouse’ hotel.
The Manchester Evening News has contacted Brewdog for comment.
