Scotland in Bloom : Pubs

WOW what a year.

Ive been big into beer since 2007, and the scene in the Edinburgh and Scotland has fair changed since then, but its really been this year that the market has bloomed.

In the second part of this Year in Review i look at Pubs

Well we cant start the review with out mention the much mentioned Brewdog. This year was the Year that the dog opened both the Edinburgh and Glasgow Bars. Ok they dont have Cask beer, and i still think its down right weird to cripple yourself in that way, but saying that its still AWSOME. Its great for them as they have a great outlet for there core beers, but where it really shines for me, is the chance to try there premium beers on draught, there guest beer in both tap and bottle. In many way the BD bar offers beers that are just not available else where. What really highlights just how important this bar is, is the fact that just a few years ago i had to Trade with people in the US to get many of the beers that i can now get on my door step.

But its not all about Brewdog, the changes have gone well beyond that. The range of beers appearing in my Regulars the Bow Bar and Cloisters and their sister pub the Stockbridge tap is just amazing. All three of these bars have held Tap take over nights in conjunction with  great Scottish breweries. They are holding festivals regularly where there selling higher ABV beers that they would have struggled to sell a few years back. There is nothing finer than walking into a pub and finding Highland Orkney Porter on the Bar. They are also getting in more interesting bottles with Cloisters recently featuring beer from Old Chimney one of my favourite English breweries.

Then there the new pubs opening. The Red Squirrel has been a great addition to Edinburgh and the same company having just opened a bar in Glasgow last night. The launch beers for bruadarbar would make any beergeek salivate.

Finally a Pub that never really impressed me the Brauhouse in Edinburgh has come on in leaps and bounds. While it has always had a huge number of beers, i have always previously found the selection quite week, but more and more they seem to be venturing further afield and pulling in a much better class of beer.


All told Pubs seem to be able to carry a wider range of beers, sell higher abv beers and charge more for their beer. (The last one is a positive thing as great beers often cost more to make and its only to be expected that they should be able to charge more for these products).

I dont get to pubs outside Edinburgh much but the future looks Rosy for GOOD pubs in Edinburgh.