New brewery to serve up craft beer and events on tap

The latest addition to Edinburgh’s burgeoning craft beer scene opened its doors recently – with exciting plans to become a quirky city centre events venue.

A short, 10-minute walk from the Scottish Parliament building – or an even shorter bus ride to Meadowbank –  Bellfield Brewery tap room in Abbeyhill offers visitors award-winning beers on keg and cask, fresh from the brewery just metres from the taproom.

Visitors will also be able to book in for tours of the 12 barrel/2,000 litre brewhouse with one of Bellfield’s two brewers and enjoy tasting the beers, at the end of their tour. 

The taproom and brewhouse are wheelchair accessible and Bellfield welcomes families with children and visitors with friendly dogs. 

A suntrap when the weather is good, the outdoor yard has beer tables and benches and offers train enthusiasts a close-up view of trains from the south, including occasional sightings of the Flying Scotsman and the LMS Black Five steam locomotive.

With a capacity of 130, Bellfield hopes the tap room will also become an unusual venue for meetings, away days, private parties and performances.

Future plans include a series of regular events – quiz nights, book clubs, film and music nights and visiting, pop-up food trucks.

Bellfield Brewery brews exclusively gluten-free and vegan beers and has won a number of mainstream beer awards including being named UK winner in the 2019 World Beer Awards last week for its Session Ale [see note 5].

The tap room opening comes at a busy time for the fast-growing brewery which has also this year, strengthened its team with three hires including a UK Sales Manager, an Assistant Brewer and an on-trade specialist, who is helping Bellfield to secure listings for cask and keg within the on-trade across Central Scotland. 

Speaking about the Bellfield’s recent developments and the new taproom, Alistair Brown, MD, said: “First and foremost, we aim to brew beers that taste great while also being gluten free and vegan, so everyone can enjoy them.

“Many microbreweries like ourselves – including Barney’s, Campervan and Stewarts in Edinburgh – now have tap rooms where visitors can enjoy a beer that’s super fresh, brewed on site. 

“We are a short walk from the city centre, so we hope beer tourists, locals and craft beer enthusiasts will seek us out.

“Abbeyhill is fast becoming another lively Edinburgh ‘village’ with some great food and drink on offer such as our lunchtime favourite, The Safari Lounge.”

Over the last 12 months, Bellfield has been exporting its beer to the Netherlands, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malta, UAE and Switzerland.