Craft beer from independent brewery hits shelves in Aldi for Scottish Beer Festival

Craft beers from an independent brewery have hit Aldi’s shelves in a first major supermarket deal, just in time for the launch of the Scottish Beer Festival.

Cold Town Beer signs first major supermarket deal with Aldi

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Two years after setting up in the capital, Cold Town Beer will see a selected number of their products appear on shelves across all 98 of Aldi’s Scottish stores from today, as the budget chain launches its 25th Scottish Beer Festival.

The independent brewer was established in 2018 to pay homage to Edinburgh’s renowned brewing roots. It’s crafted in the suburb of Calton Hill, formerly known as Cauld Toon and the birthplace of Britain’s first brewery back in 1835.

They will make their debut in Aldi Scotland with Chocolate Cake Stout, Hopped Up Wheat Beer, Porn Star Martini and Pride As Helles products, all available from £1.49.

Known for innovation, the brewery experiments with different flavour profiles to create distinctive products which appeal to all types of craft beer drinkers. The brewer scooped three awards at the Scottish Beer Awards 2021, including Excellence in Branding and Best Beer Bar for the renowned Cold Town House bar which sits beneath Edinburgh Castle.

Ed Evans, head brewer at Cold Town Beer, said: “The craft beer market has become increasingly competitive in recent years, and it is easy to get caught up trying to create the ‘hoppiest’ ‘freshest’ or ‘tastiest’ product. Cold Town Beer was launched purely with the intention of making a really good beer, that we love to create, and our customers love to enjoy.

“We started out making beer for our bars, but there was so much demand that we realised we had something special that could have wider appeal. We love experimenting with different ingredients and flavours, and all our products are tried by our customers in the bars before they are offered to retailers.

“Scots have been able to purchase our craft beer products in some limited convenience stores, but this has mostly been in the Edinburgh area. This deal with Aldi Scotland is huge for us, giving us national reach and a chance to bring our products to more people across the country.

“Aldi Scotland has long been a champion of independent Scottish producers, and the support and guidance of the team has been indispensable as we embark on this next chapter in our journey. To feature as part of the 25th Scottish Beer Festival is a huge achievement for us, and something we are incredibly proud of.”

This year will see Aldi open its 100th store in Scotland. Currently, the retailer has 96 Scottish stores stocking some of the finest and best value locally sourced food and drink. This year it will invest a further £20 million in six new stores, including Hermiston Gait in Edinburgh and Thornybank Industrial Estate in Dalkeith.

Graham Nicolson, group buying director for Aldi Scotland, said: “Cold Town Beer are a wonderful example of the innovation, creativity and passion driving the Scottish craft beer industry, and we are glad that we can use our position as one of the UK’s largest supermarkets to give them a platform for growth.”

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