INNIS & Gunn has chosen a famous location in Glasgow’s west end to open its first beer-focused bar and restaurant in the city.

The craft brewer is investing £600,000 to develop a Beer Kitchen on Ashton Lane, in a building which for many years was home to the Cul-de-sac bar.

And it revealed plans to ramp up the expansion of its Beer Kitchen chain around the UK and abroad, after smashing the investment target in its recent crowdfunding campaign.

So far it has opened outlets in Dundee, St Andrews and its home city of Edinburgh, with the Glasgow unit on track to be its fourth in two years.

David Hall, managing director of Innis & Gunn Retail, said the Glasgow outlet would be its biggest yet.

“We’re just really excited to bring the Innis & Gunn Beer Kitchen brand to Glasgow.” He said. “It’s going to be a flagship unit for us – it’s the biggest one to date [and] the first time doing on-site brewing for us in a bar. We start work in the beginning of January and plan to be open [at] the beginning of April.”

Innis & Gunn’s expansion plans are being powered by cash raised by a recent crowdfunding drive.

The company generated £2.5 million during the campaign, exceeding the target by £1.5m, which Mr Hall said has given it the impetus to build the chain around the UK and overseas. Canada, the biggest export market for Innis & Gunn beer, is one market under consideration.

Mr Hall, who launched Edinburgh venues Tigerlily, Rick’s and Opal Lounge during a long career with the Montpeliers group, said: “We’re very ambitious with what we want to do and where and how many we want to open. We want to open at least two, possibly three [in addition to Ashton Lane] next year, [and] another three or four in 2018.

“Once we get bigger, we’d like to accelerate more. We are going to grow this brand and take it down into England and maybe other parts of Scotland as well.

“We’ve now got the cash behind us to seize opportunities as they come along.”

The flagship Ashton Lane venue, which will employ around 40 staff, will be spread over three floors.

Mr Hall said the ground floor will be an “homage to beer”, with brewing taking place on site and beer served unpasteurised from tanks.

The brewing kit, which will include three two and a hectolitre tanks, will be used to make special edition and on-off brews, available for purchase in the bar.

Other supplies will come directly from Innis & Gunn’s Inveralmond Brewery in Perth.

Mr Hall said customers will be invited to take part in brew days and have a say in the kind of beers which will be sold. And he emphasised that the layout will be designed to ensure the brewing process is as “visual” to drinkers as possible. A display cellar will be one of the features.

Mr Hall pledged that customers will be able “touch and see” the brewing equipment.

“It’s not going to be behind a glass door or anything like that – it will be right in front of the customer,” Mr Hall said, noting that Innis & Gunn will again be working with Guy Morgan, of Edinburgh-based architects Morgan McDonnell, on the project.

Food will be served on the first floor, with the menu based on ingredients from small local producers and suppliers, such as Shaw’s Fine Meats, a Borders family butcher. With a focus on casual dining, the cuisine will be designed to match the beer, including dishes with a “twist” such as savoury haggis doughnuts.

The top floor of the venue, which spans a total of 6,000 square feet, will be pitched as a “late night” bar. Mr Hall said the space will be used for events such as comedy gigs.

Innis & Gunn is leasing the building from Stefan King’s G1 Group, echoing similar deals between the two companies at the other Beer Kitchens in Scotland. While G1 while provide some back-office support, Mr Hall emphasised that Innis & Gunn will have complete control over the operation of the venue. “It’s been fantastic to have that support behind [us], but as far as operating and deciding what we do and what we don’t do, that’s very much [an] Innis & Gunn team decision.”

Mr Hall added that the company’s brewing division has just recorded its biggest ever monthly sales, with more two million cases having been sold in the year to date. UK sales so far this year exceeded one million cases last week. “We’re going to end the year on a high,” he said.