Caledonian Brewery to close - your views online

Edinburgh’s historic Caledonian Brewery has announced it is closing, after over 150 years of brewing in the Capital.

Fiona McCluskey

Very sad, iconic building. Lived opposite for seven years and attended many Caley beer festivals, which were great fun. Also fortunate to have had two tours around the whole brewery to see the beer making process - so interesting. Surely the building can be saved you would think.

Bruce Wilson

While not living in Edinburgh anymore I still keep any eye on all things Edinburgh and this is very sad news. I had a flat just along the road and was a regular visitor to ‘Taste Good’ as well as enjoying a pint of Caley 80. Was once fortunate to have a tour round and also remember the venue at the back for ceilidhs. Happy memories!

Greig Ewins

Typical of Scottish & Newcastle/Heineken after what they did to Fountainbridge. Would be good to see Innis & Gunn buy it, returning the brewery to their family after their dad helped save it in 1987.

Jon R Heckerman

Great cities should include great commercial breweries and not just brew pubs which come and go. Sorry to see this news.

Ally Middleton

Gutted. I always felt they could've opened it up for brewery tours for some extra revenue since it's easily accessible from the city centre and part of Edinburgh's industrial history. Hopefully the building is retained in some capacity and not knocked down for yet more student flats.

Stewart Parker

Hope someone can take it over. Great opportunity for someone to make craft beer on a larger scale.

Louise Cameron

Really sad to hear this. When I was wee, I once asked my mum "why does Edinburgh smell like tinned tomato soup?" She replied "that's the malt." Although I often feel Edinburgh is lost to me these days - it's changed so much - that warm, comforting, completely familiar smell of malt as you rock up to Waverley, always brings past arrivals to mind, restoring the anchor of family, familiarity, that city of mine. I will really really miss that. But I won't forget it.

Sarah Sutton

Oh no! Please don’t let this iconic building be bulldozed and turned into student flats! Make it into a museum at least.

Neil Warden

End of an era, and extremely sad. I remember performing a good few gigs with Tam Whites Shoestring, Boz Burrell and Fraser Speirs there. Magical place with Deuchers IPA on tap for free in the VIP Sample Room including free pies. This is the era of living in Edinburgh I enjoyed most. I hope it doesn't get turned into student flats.

Jackson Balfour

It’s so sad that Scotland’s brewing history is almost a forgotten icon. We have small breweries like Belhaven who do us proud, but when you think of the breweries we had in Edinburgh –nine alone in Craigmillar. There were dads, uncles, brothers and family relations and myself in Drybroughs, Deuchars, Murray No 1 and 2, Maclachlan. Brewing is changing but so is our heritage. Our familiar breweries get bought over then the axe falls, with lots of jobs lost and pubs. All I can say is the breweries of Edinburgh RIP. Former hop boy and bottling hall chargehand in Drybroughs.

Alannah Juchniewicz

Noooooo - it’s the smell of the brewery - that's the West Side of Edinburgh, takes me back to my younger years!

Elaine Stewart

Tragic! I had the pleasure of working for Russell Sharp back in the day and helped run those famous Caley beer festivals on the bowling green lawn. Memories never to be taken away…. The famous fire …. Rising from the ashes with the Phoenix ale. Sad day for sure.

Elaine Anderson

This has been in slated for over 100 years. Is there no sense of retaining history anymore? We are just wiping out our brewing history. Look at Fountainbridge – anyone under 25 won’t have a clue what used to be there. C'mon Scottish government and help out here rather than vanity projects like trams and cycle lanes.

Richard Elam

A sad fate awaiting an Edinburgh landmark bought over by a giant multinational in S&N which was subsequently bought over by a bigger competitor. The Caledonian Brewery became a small ballbearing in a giant cog and now it will be lost and that’s a shame.

Woodstock Taylor

That's really sad news. I remember the excitement when Russell Sharp and Dan Kane took over in the 80s, and good times at jazz and blues festival gigs there. It'll be a sad loss.

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