is Scotland’s capital city, home to a brewing culture for many centuries. A crag adjacent to volcanic rocks (known as “Arthur’s Seat”) supports Edinburgh Castle, near which the Augustinian Holyrood Abbey was founded in 1128 ce. Sheltered by the Pentlands Hills, with rich coal seams, fertile soil for grain, and pure water springs, the Abbey was a prime area for the brewing of ale. As the population of Edinburgh increased, many successful breweries arose. By 1598 the Edinburgh Society of Brewers was founded.

The brewery William Younger & Co was founded in the Canongate, in the center of Edinburgh, in the mid-18th century. By acquisitions and mergers it became the Holyrood Brewery, the largest brewer in Scotland, producing 400,000 barrels by 1891 and exporting to the Americas, India, and Australia. The late 19th century saw a demand for low-gravity, pale, bright beers. A higher hop content permitted these beers to travel efficiently, creating a high- quality beer for export. The export beer evolved into India pale ale (IPA)—a high-alcohol, heavily hopped beer that traveled well, particularly to the Indian subcontinent. IPA had its genesis in a London brewery and although brewed in Edinburgh in the early/mid-19th century its production was soon centered in Burton-Upon-Trent.

William McEwan’s brewing operation also grew rapidly through mergers and an excellent export trade. Younger’s (Abbey and Holyrood) and McEwan’s (Fountainbridge) breweries merged in 1931 to form Scottish Brewers, although each retained a measure of autonomy until a full merger in 1959. They were most famous for Younger’s Tartan Special, McEwan’s 80/-, Younger’s pale ale, and McEwan’s Export beer. In 1960 Scottish Brewers merged with Newcastle Brewers to form Scottish and Newcastle Breweries Ltd. See newcastle brown ale, scottish & newcastle brewery.

By 1937 Edinburgh was the second most important brewing center in Britain, with 23 working breweries.

Scottish & Newcastle Brewery no longer has a production presence in Edinburgh. In 1998 the site of the Abbey Brewery and adjacent land were chosen as the site for the new Scottish Parliament, leading to the demolition of the brewery buildings in 1999. Today Edinburgh only has two full-scale production breweries: the Caledonian Brewery in the Slateford area, founded in 1869, and Stewart’s Brewery, founded in 1995.

See also caledonian brewery, scotland.