was one of more than 40 breweries in Edinburgh, Scotland, when it opened in 1869. Known then as Lorimer and Clark’s Caledonian Brewer, like other breweries in the city it was able to draw its famed brewing water from a series of underground wells known as the Charmed Circle. Today, “The Caley” is the only one of these breweries to have survived.

A Victorian tower brewery, Caledonian is the last brewery in Britain to have direct-fired open coppers (kettles), which have a hand-beaten inner dome that concentrates the heat and develops a constant churn and roll of the boiling wort. Connoisseurs say that the direct heat and vigorous boil impart distinctive toffee-like malt flavors to the beers. The flames are now from gas jets, but coal was used until the late 1980s.

The brewery survived two disastrous fires in 1994 and 1998 and was rebuilt. In 1919 it was sold to the English brewer Vaux of Sunderland. In 1987 Head Brewer Russell Sharp led a management buy-out with former Lorimer & Clark Managing Director Dan Kane. When Vaux ceased brewing operations altogether in 1999, Caledonian bought back the rights to the Lorimer & Clark name.

The brewery site and part of the equity was bought by Scottish & Newcastle in 2004, after S said it was going to close its nearby Fountain Brewery and was looking for somewhere to brew its McEwan brands.

In 2002 the company’s Deuchars IPA won the Campaign for Real Ale’s Champion Beer of Britain award. In 2006 Caledonian bought the Harviestoun brewery on the retirement of its founder Ken Brooker. In 2008 the company fell into the ownership of Heineken as part of the joint takeover of S’s worldwide operation by the Dutch brewer and Carlsberg; Harviestoun sprung loose and became independent once again. Deuchar’s IPA, a pleasant beer, is not actually an IPA at all, but Caledonian 80/- (80 – Shilling) is considered a fine example of Scottish ale.

See also edinburgh, scottish & newcastle brewery.