Innis & Gunn brewery plan

Scottish craft brewer Innis & Gunn yesterday announced plans to build the first large scale brewery in Edinburgh for more than 150 years.

Up to 30 new jobs could be created in the move.

The existing Innis & Gunn brewery in Perthshire — acquired with the purchase of Inveralmond Brewery in 2016 — will continue to brew the Inveralmond Brewery range of cask and bottled ales and focus on small scale experimentation and limited edition barrel-aged beers.

Following rebranding, Inveralmond Brewery’s volumes have grown by 7% in the last 12 months.

Investment in the construction of a new brewery will also include high speed canning, bottling and kegging capability, and streamline several outsourced brewing and packaging sites to one single location.

Revealing the news to shareholders at the company’s AGM in Glasgow, founder and master brewer Dougal Gunn Sharp said: “Drinkers around the world are increasingly turning to the amazing quality and flavour of craft beer and Innis & Gunn is driving this trend.

“Building a new brewery will cement our Edinburgh heritage as well as creating a focal point for our beers in the capital. It provides the brewing, packaging and warehousing capacity we need as we continue to strive to meet the surging demand for our lager — which is on track to be the number one craft lager in the UK — IPAs and barrel aged beers at home and around the world.”

“Putting the brewery in Edinburgh, where we first brewed Innis & Gunn, feels like we have come home as a business.”

He added: “The brewery will have an annual capacity of 400,000 hectolitres and we will have volumes of 200,000 hectolitres when we open the doors there.

“There will be a taproom and visitor facilities for people who would like to come for a tour and a beer, and we are planning a line-up of events.”

Innis & Gunn founder and master brewer Dougal Gunn Sharp.