Independent craft brewer BrewDog is bringing an innovative new marketing campaign to the streets of Manchester this week, courtesy of agency Amplify.

It has set up a ‘Punk State’ in the city centre, in order to promote its flagship beer Punk IPA. This will take the form of a roadblock at Spinningfields from today, 13 July, until Saturday 14 July.

Visitors to the ‘state’ will be issued a ‘punk passport’ and visa stamp, as well as a cold can of Punk IPA. Foot-operated can crushers will be available on site in compliance with the brewery’s no waste policy.

BrewDog will also be touring Manchester in branded vans, offering free beer to those they deem ‘deserving’. Mancunians who tweet @BrewDog using the hashtag #PunkState have a chance of being visited with some free beer drop-offs.

BrewDog hopes the campaign, which they call a ‘mass conversion exercise’, will bring in new long-term supporters and advocates of the craft beer movement.

BrewDog co-founder James Watt said: “Punk state is the culmination of the craft beer revolution. We are putting Punk IPA directly into the hands of the masses and placing faceless megabreweries on notice. Manchester has been one of the UK’s ever-growing craft beer movement and we hope Punk State helps add to the ranks of passionate fans.”

BrewDog was founded in 2007, and has expanded rapidly in the last decade. Their ‘equity for punks’ crowdfunding campaign has raised more than any other on record, reaching £60m over five rounds.

The ‘Punk State’ campaign will be taken to the rest of the UK in the following weeks. It will visit Bristol from 19 – 22ndJuly, Birmingham from 26 – 29 July and Liverpool from 3 – 6 August.