Our History

As authentic as Victorian distilling may be - there's a very distinct smell to the process. And so it's no wonder that Edinburgh was known as “Aulde Reekie” in the 1800s, given that there were over 40 breweries in very close proximity to one another clustered in the city centre. Whilst beer was the drink of choice (over water) for the working man at the time, high demand was not the only reason for the concentration of breweries...

... a pure supply of water (as one of the chief ingredients in brewing beer) was, and in Edinburgh it was known as the Charmed Circle of Brewing Wells.

The Caledonian was one these breweries and was opened by George Lorimer Jr. in 1869. It was as a result of two things: the death of his father and his love of the golf course. On the links he befriended many eminent Edinburgh brewers. Robert Clarke being one of them and when he inherited his father's estate, the two of them opened Lorimer and Clark's Caledonian Brewery on the current site.

Where you see this icon, click on the image to open up a much larger version in a new browser window.

In 1919, the brewery passed into the hands of new owners and was subsequently operated by Vaux Breweries. Eventually Vaux decided to brew locally in Sunderland, consequently putting the brewery under threat of closure.

However after a management takeover in 1987 brewing focused on cask conditioned ale, unusual in in Scotland at the time, as this was traditionally an English practice.

Given that you're reading this today it means that the rest is history.