You might need to tack on an extra day to explore the Scottish capital\u2019s<\/a> seaside suburb properly, but you\u2019ll go home feeling you\u2019ve tasted enough on your trip to stuff you with the vast variety Britain\u2019s beer scene, from traditional cask ales to brightly-hopped IPAs and surprising sours, has to offer.\u202f<\/p>\n Other cities might provide a similar variety, thanks to the craft revolution that\u2019s brought new breweries and new beer styles to almost every corner of the UK. But I found Edinburgh<\/a> to have the strongest sense of place. Whichever pub or bar, or taproom you\u2019re in, you never forget you\u2019re in Edinburgh.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a certain level of service there, a care for the customer and the beer, that I found to be consistently a notch above the rest. These are the venues that confirmed to me why the Scottish capital <\/a>outshines all other towns and cities on a beer tour of Britain. <\/p>\n Arriving at Edinburgh Waverley Station, a short stroll across Princes Street will take you to the Guildford Arms<\/a>, a pub that\u2019s lost none of its late-Victorian opulence. Glance up at the gorgeous rococo ceiling before turning your gaze to the bar, where the range of cask and craft beers will make you feel you could spend all day here.<\/p>\n But no. Because you\u2019re not far from Rose Street, New Town\u2019s pedestrianised artery, once the city\u2019s most famous pub crawl and still busy with bars and restaurants. The pick here is the Abbotsford<\/a>, where the grand, island bar bristles with handpumps and taps.\u202f<\/p>\n Then on to the Oxford Bar<\/a>, haunt of Inspector Rebus (along with his creator Ian Rankin, who you might even bump into here) and further into the backstreets, the criminally under-celebrated Kay\u2019s Bar<\/a>, a quirky hideaway bathed in red light and frequented by friendly locals.\u202f <\/p>\n Beneath the tourist-mobbed Royal Mile, the Salt Horse<\/a> is a modern little beer caf\u00e9 that provides a haven from the crowds as well as a terrific range of craft on tap and in the fridges. <\/p>\n Sandy Bells<\/a>, behind the National Museum<\/a>, is a more traditional local, well known for its folk sessions, while Cold Town House<\/a> spans three floors of a former church on the corner of Grassmarket. Climb up to the roof garden for a view of the Castle while you sip on Cold Town\u2019s own brews.\u202f<\/p>\n Near the greenery of The Meadows, the Cloisters Bar<\/a> is housed in an old parsonage, while next to Haymarket station, you can drink in the Edwardian splendour of Ryrie\u2019s Bar<\/a>. Around the corner, behind a narrow shop front, you\u2019ll find the Wee Vault<\/a>, where you can sample a wide range of Vault City Brewery\u2019s sour beers.\u202f<\/p>\n It\u2019s at this point that you feel that swelling, glorious realisation that you\u2019ve still got a layer of Edinburgh beer venues to explore.\u202f <\/p>\n Leith, of course, has its own identity, serving as the port for Scotland\u2019s capital where the waters of the Firth of Forth flow into the North Sea. <\/p>\n If walking rather than taking the tram, you can break for refreshment at the bright and airy Old Eastway Tap <\/a>or detour via the beer garden at gluten-free Bellfield Brewery<\/a> \u2013 and if your luck is in you\u2019ll see what The Proclaimers meant when they sang about Sunshine on Leith as the late afternoon light gleams on the still harbour waters.\u202f <\/p>\n Leith is home to no fewer than four craft breweries. Newbarns<\/a> is probably the best-known, found down an unpromising alleyway behind Bob\u2019s Garage, where you\u2019ll find all the hip folk chilling in the taproom.\u202f<\/p>\n Moonwake<\/a> occupies an old warehouse deeper into docklands, the colourful taproom on a mezzanine overlooking the brewhouse, while Pilot<\/a> opens its doors for tours and tastings on Saturdays.\u202f<\/p>\n Campervan<\/a> began business brewing in a campervan \u2013 craft beer is full of tales like this \u2013 and now not only has a proper brewery and taproom but a bar on the waterfront called Lost in Leith where it ages beers in giant oak barrels known as foeders.\u202f <\/p>\n Leith has great pubs, too. The quirky Carriers Quarters,<\/a> the comfy Malt & Hops<\/a>, Teuchter\u2019s Landing<\/a>, which seems to lean out over the water\u2019s edge, Innis & Gunn <\/a>and best of all The Dreadnought<\/a>.\u202f It\u2019s a little walk, heading away from Leith\u2019s main attractions, to what looks like an ordinary corner boozer. But the beers are better than that, featuring ales from County Durham\u2019s Brass Castle Brewery (run by the landlord\u2019s brother). It also has a thing for customising pumps in weird ways.\u202f <\/p>\n There\u2019s a warm welcome here. Too warm for some, who smeared the walls with homophobic graffiti in anger at the pub daring to serve the full complement of sexualities and genders. True to its name, the Dreadnought stood firm against bigots and shouted about it, too.\u202f <\/p>\n These are the wonderful kind of places that beer takes you. While researching Beer Breaks<\/a> in Britain, each destination revealed its own unique character, and it\u2019s impossible to love one more than another. Until someone really twists your drinking arm.\u202f <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_250014474.jpg\")
The Malt and Hops in Leith (Photo: Visit Scotland)<\/p>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_250288253.jpg\")
Phil Mellows is the co-author of the new book\u00a0Beer Breaks in Britain: 30 places to explore and drink good beer\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_250288249.jpg\")
Leith on the outskirts of Edinburgh (Photo: Phil Mellows)<\/p>\n![\"Teuchters](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_199043911.jpg\")
Teuchters Landing in Leith (Photo: Visit Scotland\/Kenny Lam)<\/p>\n