Craft beer firm BrewDog is expanding its network of bars with the launch today of its first in the financial district of Canary Wharf.

It is the Aberdeenshire-based firm's tenth bar in London, 38th in the UK and 70th worldwide, with more in the pipeline that potentially includes one in Kirkwall in Orkney.

New locations for BrewDog franchise bars also include Ayr, Oban, Edinburgh Airport and North Berwick.

The new London bar will be Brewdog's first to accept Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash and joins Clerkenwell in becoming a cashless bar.

The firm said it plans to expand cashless and cryptocurrency payments across its fleet of global bars in the near future.

The Herald:

Referencing Canary Wharf’s position as a financial hub, the brewer is launching a draft beer for which the price correlates with the movement of the FTSE 100.

An electronic dot matrix affixed above the bar will relay the latest day’s trading results, and the correlating price fluctuation of the "Hop Exchange" beer.

The Herald: James Watt, BrewDog

James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog, above, said: "Our Canary Wharf bar further strengthens London’s claim to be the new craft beer capital of the world.

"The demand for better beer keeps growing every month and it reaches every community in the city."

He also said: "We’ve always prided ourselves on our desire to keep innovating.

"We’ve done it with beer, we’ve done it with our business model, and now we are championing a new way of paying for a pint."

Mr Watt claimed: "Our Canary Wharf bar is the bellwether of a payment revolution."

The Herald:

In its fifth round of crowdfunding, which closed this week, the Ellon firm raised more than £26m.

The company said it had been "blown away by support from over 90,000 awesome craft beer crusaders" who have helped raise more than £65m in total.

The brewery announced its first-half trading update in August showing total revenue at £78m, up by 55% on the same period of the previous year.

An event aimed at people interested in taking franchises is being held at its HQ next month.