BrewDog has sold its 9,300-acre Kinrara estate in the Scottish Cairngorms, marking the quiet end of its much-publicised “Lost Forest” rewilding project — once central to the company’s pledge to become carbon negative. The property has been acquired by Oxygen Conservation, a UK-based carbon-credit specialist that aims to become the country’s first GBP 1 billion (USD 1.27 billion) seller of carbon offsets.
The brewer purchased the Kinrara moorland on the banks of the River Spey in 2020 for about GBP 8.8 million (USD 11.1 million) and promised to plant three million trees by 2025, partly financed through sales of its Lost Lager brand. However, by 2023, roughly half of the 500,000 trees planted had died following a severe summer drought, according to data obtained by environmental campaigner Nick Kempe of Parks Watch Scotland. Critics blamed the company’s “mounding” planting technique for drying out peat soils and releasing carbon rather than capturing it.
The failed rewilding project added to a series of setbacks for the Scottish craft brewer. In 2024, the UK Advertising Standards Agency ruled that BrewDog’s carbon-negative marketing claims were misleading, and the company later abandoned its offset-based strategy. It also reported a loss of nearly GBP 37 million (USD 46.7 million) for 2024, its fifth consecutive annual loss, as its beers disappeared from nearly 2,000 pubs across Britain, reducing its UK distribution by more than one-third.
Local landowners, including Jamie Williamson of the neighbouring Alvie and Dalraddy estates, criticised the environmental oversight of the Kinrara scheme, describing scenes of excavators disturbing peatlands “supposedly all to achieve carbon credits.” Campaigners said the project’s collapse left both ecological and reputational damage.
The estate’s new owner, Oxygen Conservation, now oversees 12 UK properties covering more than 20,000 hectares. The company did not disclose the purchase price but is reportedly liable for GBP 2.1 million (USD 2.65 million) in reforestation grants originally awarded to BrewDog, which must be repaid if the replanted forest fails to take root.
A BrewDog spokesperson said the sale allows the firm “to hand over the reins to an organisation that specialises in protecting and investing in natural capital.” The company insisted that decarbonisation remains a strategic goal but will now focus on emissions reduction across operations and the supply chain rather than large-scale land projects.
BrewDog, founded by James Watt, is also repositioning its product portfolio, shifting marketing efforts from its iconic Punk IPA to lower-ABV beers such as Wingman, in line with the UK’s growing demand for moderation and alcohol-free options.
