Two craft beer companies to open new city centre bars

Beer lovers will be able to raise their glasses to a pair of new craft brewery bars for Dundee.

Licences have been approved for local firms St Andrews Brewing and 71 Brewing to open pubs in the city.

The St Andrews bar will open on Shore Terrace, on a ground floor building in the Caird Hall.

Permission to convert the units, lying empty as former offices, was granted in 2015 – taking inspiration from how the grand hall used to be operated in the 1920s.

The council has awarded St Andrews with a licence to sell alcohol both on and off the premises and the bar should have capacity for up to 300 people.

Meanwhile, Dundee lager company 71 Brewing will open a bar at their brewery site off Blackness Road.

The pub, which will be known as the taproom, has been granted an off and on-sales licence so people can tour the micro-brewery and buy products.

Duncan Alexander from 71 Brewing said: “We are hopefully going to be able to open our new taproom to the general public within the next two weeks.

“We will be offering guided tours of the brewery, where people will have the chance to buy from our bottle shop to take home or buy to drink in our cosy bar. We will be selling vouchers for tours in January from today, just in time for Christmas.

“Our brewery’s location is quite unique for a modern beer company. We are fortunate to be in the city centre, or very close to it, which means people can take the bus or walk up before coming for a tour.”

Picture: Mhairi Edwards. Duncan Alexander of 71 Brewing.