Innis & Gunn has announced plans to open its first brewery, and is turning to the public to invest.

The company, which has identified a site in South-East Scotland, has previously brewed at other companies’ breweries using its own vessels, materials and equipment.

The decision marks a turning point for the firm, which has spent its 12 years in business building the brand rather than “ploughing all of its available money into a brewery”.

Innis & Gunn said that the “time is right” for it to bring brewing, barrel maturation and bottling under one roof in a home of its own.

The business is encouraging the public to invest in the venture and is offering investors a ‘BeerBond’ initiative to commit.

The first is a cash BeerBond offering an interest rate of 7.25% (gross) per annum in cash, and a “BeerBucks” BeerBond offering an interest rate of 9% (gross) per annum in BeerBucks that can be redeemed at the company’s online store.

Dougal Gunn Sharp, founder and master brewer at Innis & Gunn, explained: “Over the years I have come to realise that those of us who work for Innis & Gunn are only one small part of a much larger Innis & Gunn community.

“That Innis & Gunn community is made up of those of you who enjoy our beer, blog about our beer, dream about our beer, chat to us on Facebook and Twitter and send us photographs of you drinking our beer. It is this community, male and female, of all ages, in dozens of countries who have made Innis & Gunn what it is today.”