THE water came from the pure crystal springs deep beneath Edinburgh Castle’s rock, and the thirsty customers from around Scotland to trade goods or just watch a good hanging. 

For centuries, Edinburgh’s Grassmarket was a hub for brewing beer, and became, arguably, the classroom for one of the industry’s leading figures. 
Last orders for the area’s long brewery heritage appeared to have been called in 1900, when its Heriot Brewery was sold. 

Eventually Edinburgh’s national reputation as a city fuelled by breweries – with their distinctive hops and malt aroma, and smoky chimneys – would go flat.

Now, however, the age-old tradition of turning water into ale is set to return to the Grassmarket, with a £4 million investment in a new brewery and bar. 

READ MORE: Edinburgh craft brewer’s restaurant plan lodged

Signature Pub’s Cold Town House bar and brewery is due to open later this month in the former 19th-century Robertson Memorial Church, directly in the shadow of the castle and steps away from the entrance to the original Heriot Brewery. 

The opening brings full circle a brewing heritage for the area which stretches from the middle of the 16th century, when the Grassmarket’s trading area and public executions made it the focal point of city life.

The Herald:

The Grassmarket is a popular cityspot

The new brewery will feature eight 500 litre beer tanks behind floor to ceiling glass walls and rotating windows, enabling drinkers to watch the brewing process and breathe in its distinctive aroma.

Nic Wood, owner of Signature Pubs, said: “Cold Town House is something completely new for Edinburgh and we’re excited to bring this iconic building back to life, as well as restoring the Grassmarket’s history of brewing beer.”

READ MORE: Discovery of 13th-century catapult ball sheds light on Edinburgh Castle siege​

The monks of Holyrood Abbey had been brewing beer for more than 300 years by the time the earliest known brewery appeared at Heriot Bridge in the city’s Grassmarket in the 16th century. 

Heriot Brewery is thought to have drawn its water from the clear springs below the Castle’s rock, and later from the 18th century Crawley Tunnel, which ran directly underneath the site and which piped Edinburgh’s water supply three miles from Comiston Springs to the city centre. 

It was bought by brothers John and David Jeffery in 1837, whose John Jeffery & Co. Ltd brewery continued to brew their pale ale at the site for over 70 years. 
Among their employees at the Grassmarket brewery was their nephew, William McEwan.  

The Herald:

How the Grassmarket would have looked like in the 16th Century (Pic Smart History)

One of the most famous names in Scottish brewing, he learned his trade at the Grassmarket brewery, one of several brewhouses scattered throughout the Old Town at Canongate, Holyrood and Cowgate. He later left to establish his own brewery business at Fountainbridge in 1856.

READ MORE: Hoskins bids to create courtyard extension to Grassmarket gem

McEwan’s would go on to dominate the Scottish market, and develop an export business that saw its ale exported across the British Empire.

At its peak at the turn of the 20th century, Edinburgh had at least 35 breweries – led by McEwans and William Younger – their success said to be in part down to the city’s ‘hard’ water being particularly suited to brewing of pale ale.

Edinburgh’s underground springs with their crystal clear waters were key to the production of ales which were said to be far superior to their Glasgow rivals.

Dense clusters of breweries sprang up in what was dubbed the “charmed circle”, in the Old Town, at Craigmillar and in the Dalry and Slateford areas.

While the smoke from the brewery foundries brought pollution, the industry also delivered jobs: around 4500 people were employed in the city’s 17 breweries in the run up to the Second World War.

The Herald:

But the city’s brewing heritage was dealt a killer blow in 2014, when S&N decided to close it Fountainbridge brewery, with the loss of 170 jobs. The Caledonian Brewery, founded in 1869, is the only Victorian-era plant still operating in the city although recent years has seen small micro-breweries emerge.

The new Grassmarket brewery will produce its own Cold Town Beer, named in honour of the city’s Calton Hill Brewery, the first in Britain to brew lager in 1835.

The brewery was situated in the Edinburgh suburb, Caldtoun, at the bottom Calton Hill.

It’s believed the launch will return brewing to the Grassmarket for the first time in almost 120 years.  

Mr Wood added: “This project has been a long time in the making. We launched Cold Town Beer in 2018 and it has gained a loyal following; we’re thrilled with the progress.”