Innis & Gunn to build new Edinburgh brewery

Scottish brewer Innis & Gunn has announced it is to build a new brewery in Edinburgh, the first large brewery to be built in the city for 150 years.

The site of the new brewery is yet to be fully confirmed but once planning applications are complete, the new brewery (once built) will be the new home for Innis & Gunn’s core range of lagers, IPAs and barrel-aged beers.

The new brewery will have a capacity of 400,000 hectolitres and is part of Innis & Gunn’s plan to push the brewery’s ongoing growth and aim of achieving a turnover of £40 million by 2021.

The new brewery will also bring under one roof several brewing and packaging operations that are currently being outsourced.

To that effect, Tennent’s released a statement announcing that it was ending its arrangement with Innis & Gunn.

The two breweries have had an agreement since 2014, with Innis & Gunn using the facilities at Tennent’s Glasgow site, Wellpark Brewery.

With Innis & Gunn’s new plans, Tennent’s has said that the brewing and packaging arrangement will come to an end from September 2020.

Patrick Morrissey, group operations director, said: “We are pleased that our world class facilities and brewers in Glasgow have played a major part in the development of Innis & Gunn beers and we wish them well for the future”.

Innis & Gunn’s founder and master brewer, Dougal Gunn Sharp, meanwhile said: “Building a new brewery will cement our Edinburgh heritage as well as creating a focal point for our beers in the Capital. It provides the brewing, packaging and warehousing capacity we need as we continue to strive to meet the surging demand for our lager.

“For me putting the brewery in Edinburgh, where we first brewed Innis & Gunn, feels like we have come home as a business.”

“Our fans can expect big things from us in the coming years. The brewery will have an annual capacity of 400,000 Hectolitres and we will have volumes of 200,000 Hectolitres when we open the doors there. There will be a taproom and visitor facilities for people who would like to come for a tour and a beer, and we are planning a line-up of events like beer and food festivals.”

“Our new brewery will be the beating heart of our vibrant craft beer business and I can’t wait to open the doors and show our fans around.”