Jaw Brew has its roots in the local community – both in Bardowie and in Milngavie. With both the brewery and our sister company Bardowie Gin, we have always had a strong sense of place and a deep connection to the history and heritage of what we are doing.
Jaw Brew is made to encourage connection. To be a social tool that brings people together. Beer has long had a bad rep as being an anti-social driver of bad behaviour and this couldn’t be further from the truth. It helps people to find common ground, to reach out within their communities and to make connections - this has never been more necessary than throughout this unique lockdown year.
Jostling to find space within the craft beer market is no joke, and the hard truth is that in Scotland most taps are brewery-tied leaving only 15% shared (or competed for) by the smaller craft breweries. We at Jaw Brew decided not to fight against our craft colleagues and made the unusual step of opening our own pub. The Jaw Brew micro pub was opened with great pride just before Xmas 2019 and we were delighted with the local support. In fact, our greatest ever weekend came the week right before lockdown descended across the nation for the first time!
In our pub there are no screens. There’s no juke box, no fruit machine, no distractions.
It’s all about conversation. There are some board games but the focus is on connection and socialising. We opened the day after the last General Election as a public service essentially and have never looked back from this sense of community engagement and support. Our local area supported us right from the very beginning and the micro pub has served to be a hub for neighbours to communicate and get to know each other. This is what we set out to create from the beginning – to foster relationships and encourage conversation where it might not otherwise have existed. Obviously, a tricky ask with the doors closed for most of this year but the ethos and our intention remains the same for whenever things might return to “normal”.
Our proximity to the train station means we have a wide demographic who can reach us and safely travel to and from the premises and our neighbours will be able to wander back when the restrictions are lifted. Life has been complicated, complex and somewhat isolated for many throughout this strange year, but we look forward to a time coming soon when we can get back to what we love to do best – get that conversation started again.
Not only are we located in the heart of our beautiful town, Milngavie, we also are at the start (or the end – whichever way you go) of the West Highland Way. Start or End your journey with a cold beer, or buy some to take with you on the trip, even buy some as a memento of your long distance accomplishment.