BrewDog co-founder James Watt is hunting for brewing capacity for Second Best as the BrewDog buyback bid stalls

James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog, has confirmed that his new beer venture Second Best is actively looking at brewery acquisitions. The disclosure came through Watt’s LinkedIn posts, reported by trade media on 11-12 August 2026. Second Best is Watt’s first major beer venture since BrewDog’s UK and Irish operations were sold to Tilray Brands in a pre-pack administration deal worth £33 million in March 2026. That sale left the approximately 200,000 Equity Punk investors – who had bought stakes in BrewDog through its crowdfunding campaigns over the years – effectively losing their investments when the business collapsed.