Pubs and Pints in Edinburgh

“Edinburgh, where have you been all of my life?” That was my very first thought when I stepped off the train at Haymarket Station on that sunny autumn day. The stone buildings, bustling thoroughfares, and convivial pub terraces overflowing with people reminded me of London. But the further I got from Haymarket Station, the more Edinburgh revealed its own unique charms, by turns cosmopolitan and whimsical.

Edinburgh’s narrow wynds, vaulted stairways, and covered alleys are like a cross between going down Alice in Wonderland’s rabbit hole and entering J.K. Rowling’s Diagon Alley. You’d half expect to meet a wizard down one of those lanes after a few too many pints at the pub.

As for those pubs, Edinburgh’s drinking establishments are a testament to when the city was one of the world’s premier brewing centers. Edinburgh boasted around 280 breweries in its heyday during the early/mid-nineteenth century.

Pubs, Pints, and Drams

What a wonderful world of Scottish beer you’ll find in Edinburgh. Blond ales, red ales, red rye ales, copper ales, rich porters, strong bitters, and not more than a few beers that would find a place on any craft beer menu. The city may well be one of the most underrated beer destinations.

And those pubs! Some are opulent palaces that recall the gin houses described by Charles Dickens, others are more homey affairs. Edinburgh is blessed with an abundance of traditional pubs, pubs that haven’t been retrofitted to suit the tastes of the moment. Most serve cask-conditioned real ale, and most serve an impressive range of single-malt whiskies — perfect for that “hauf an’ a hauf,” a half pint of beer and a dram of scotch. Go one step further and order haggis to accompany your beverages. Where else in the world can you order haggis, an ale, and a whisky in one go?

I. Classic Edinburgh Pubs

Nothing if not ubiquitous, Edinburgh’s pubs bear witness to life’s celebrations and lend solace to life’s misfortunes. Like the Wirtshäuser (tavern-inns) of Central Europe, “locals” were Edinburgh’s living room. They continue to play an important role in Edinburgh’s communities, serving as venues for after-work drinks and Sunday lunches.

The Blue Blazer

With its bare wooden floors, cozy fireplace, and friendly bar staff, the Blue Blazer is a laid-back antidote to the designer excess of so many of the world’s contemporary drinking establishments. It caters to a loyal clientele of real-ale enthusiasts and sports a fabulous view of the castle from its front door. When I visited, Blue Blazer was in the midst of a tap takeover by Loch Lomond Brewery. The brewery’s offerings tend toward American-inflected craft, but their Silkie Stout (a tasty oatmeal stout) keeps the brewery firmly anchored in the U.K.

Halfway House

Nestled into a building near the bottom of a narrow stairway alley running toward Waverly Station, the Halfway House is easy to miss. The plaque outside notes that a tiny pub has been on this site since the eighteenth century. Previously the area was an abattoir, and then a fish and poultry market. Nowadays, this relaxed and casual pub still exudes a workaday vibe where your proverbial average Joe and Jane gather for a pint or dram. Placards from the interwar period adorn the walls of this compact tavern, its low-beamed ceilings a throwback to the days before the opulent pubs of the Victorian era. To some, the place might look dated. But to me, if the proprietors can resist the urge to renovate this vintage classic, Halfway House will remain a heritage pub that bears witness to a particular time during the decades following WWII.

The White Hart Inn

Once the city’s main execution site, the broad square known as the Grassmarket is now ringed with a lively coteries of restaurants and pubs. One of those is the White Hart Inn, which the proprietors claim is “the city of Edinburgh’s most ancient tavern.” The low-slung and well-worn ceiling beams don’t dispute the fact. And those ceiling beams, more recently inscribed with literary snippets, leave little doubt that this was once a redoubt of writers. With more than seventy whiskies on the menu, it’s also a perfect place for a hauf ‘n a hauf. You could do much worse than a Dalmore Cigar Malt replete with notes of shortbread, crème brûlée, bourbon vanilla, hazelnuts, luscious chocolate, and sandalwood. Mighty fine, this dram. If you’re hungry, the Wee Haggis with Neeps and Tatties and Whisky Sauce is divine.

No. 1 High Street Tavern

Just half a mile down the Royal Mile from the castle, No. 1 High Street Tavern is worlds away from the hustle and bustle near St. Giles Cathedral. But that wasn’t always the case. This relatively quiet section of the Royal Mile was once the heart of the publishing district and a meeting place for Edinburgh’s Cape Society, which was founded in the early 1700s to support the Scottish militia. If the group counted literary and artistic luminaries like Robert Burns and Sir Henry Raeburn among its number, other infamous members included Deacon William Brodie, the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde.

Nowadays you won’t have to worry about Mr. Hyde interrupting your quiet pint in this classic old-style pub with its impressive gantry and soothing mahogany. Seven hand pumps dispense a range of beers, including Game Bird from Born in the Borders Brewery, whose motto is “from plough to pint.” Luscious and elegant, this amber ale boasts aromas of spice, rose, and heather layered over biscuits, toffee, and a light autumn honey sweetness balanced by pleasant bitterness.

II. Victorian and Edwardian Opulence

Generally speaking, there are two kinds of historic pubs in Edinburgh. The first is the workaday variety, the descendant of the dark, heavy-beamed taverns that brought merriment to the poor during the Middle Ages. During the Victorian and Edwardian eras, upmarket establishments began popping up in the city, catering to businessmen and serving as informal meeting spaces. Interestingly, these were built during the height of the temperance movement, some say as a means of countering temperance complaints against houses of ill repute. They stood as a statement of upscale respectability, their grand interiors a marked contrast with cramped and dingy pubs where the ceilings were so low a person could reach up and touch them.

The Guildford Arms

You can’t miss the arched windows and blue signage beckoning you to enter the Guildford Arms. The Guildford Arms’ impressive interior features an arched gantry* lined with spirits, mahogany as far as the eye can see, and a magnificent ceiling that presides over it all. Ten fonts dispense cask-conditioned ale from across Scotland. A highlight is the wonderful Fathom, an inky black ale from Jaw Brew in Glasgow that’s like chocolate chip cookie dough in liquid form.

*The gantry is the area behind the bar where bottles of spirits are kept for use or for display. Historically, gantries were supporting frameworks for barrels and casks.

Café Royal

Passing through Café Royal’s revolving doors is like stepping back into Victorian times — warm mahogany wood, brass railings, marble floors, sparkling shelves of spirits, glistening handpumps, and Doulton tile portraits of famous Victorian inventors. Beer choices include Greenmantle, a classic Scottish ale from Broughton in the Scottish Borders. Biscuit, bread crust, and toast envelop flavours of nuts and floral-spicy hop cones, all accented by a beguiling green apple note. Refreshing and light, it’s the classic session beer with just enough complexity to keep things interesting.

The Abbotsford Bar & Restaurant

Established in 1902 and named after Sir Walter Scott’s country house, the Abbotsford has long been a meeting place for actors, journalists, and writers. Its splendid mahogany island bar is what CAMRA’s pub guide calls “perhaps the finest example of typically Scottish island-style servery.” Red velvet curtains add that certain je ne sais quoi. I had what was one of my favourite real ales of my trip at the Abbotsford: Vital Spark from Fyne Ales in Argyle, an intriguingly hoppy ale occupying a space somewhere between stout, porter, and mild. The food is fab, too: haggis bon-bons with a whisky chutney. If that doesn’t say Scotland, I don’t know what does.

Bennets Bar

It was the inviting green frontage that hooked me. That, and the Art Nouveau stained-glass windows. Even today the remarkable glasswork draws in patrons with ads for beers from bygone days like Bernard’s Mild & Pale Ales. Cozier and less profusely opulent than other classic Edinburgh pubs, Bennets Bar exudes a charm that’s more down to earth, starting with the mahogany of the Victorian fittings and the wooden chairs set across from red leather nooks. And then there’s the bar, crowned by a magnificent five-bayed gantry running nearly the length of the pub. Other notable fixtures include two brass water taps on the bar for your whisky. Last but not least, the tiny snug* with its stained-glass panels is a rarity.

*A Victorian-era holdover, the snug is a private area with access to the bar via a separate door.

Bennets has three handpump beers on tap, along with another eight keg taps. I opted for a pint of Red Rye from Barney’s, an Edinburgh brewery founded in 2010. Like so many other Scottish ales, it packs tonnes of caramel, dried fruit, and breadcrust flavour into a beer low in alcohol. Bennets also presides over a collection of single malt whiskies over a hundred strong. A whisky, then? asked the bartender. Why not. I splurged on a 1996 Glenallachie from the Highlands that send me merrily out into the evening.

III. New Directions

Holyrood 9A

Near the university and at the foot of Calton Hill, Holyrood 9A is a study in contrasts with Edinburgh’s historic pubs. In general, the clientele is much younger than at the classic establishments, which is no surprise given Holyrood 9A’s proximity to a large reservoir of students. But this isn’t your typical student dive. Backlit shelving for spirits and an unburnished stainless steel wall of taps lend a stylish, contemporary feel to this dark and cozy candlelit pub.

Like the Hanging Bat, Holyrood 9A is known for its selection of craft beer from across Scotland. Jarl, a Citra blond ale from Fyne Ales, is a session beer with bright colours of tangerine and tropical fruit daubed onto a subtle malt background. The Unforgiven Red Rye, a unique smoke beer from Tempest Brewing Co., took me in a completely different direction with a complex blend of aromas and flavours reminiscent of a smoked meat sandwich on rye. Prosciutto, root beer, campfire, smoked ham, a whiff of peated whisky, and a dusting of rye pepper — it all sounds a bit daunting. But don’t let the smoke scare you off. Unforgiven is a forgiving beer subtle enough that you can easily drink it in quantity.

The Hanging Bat

A few blocks north of Bennets Bar in the direction of the Old Town, the Hanging Bat is Edinburgh’s hip destination for all things craft. It was Halloween when I went, and I sampled plenty of stellar Scottish craft beers, including rich stouts, dark ales, and peated ales, all served in two-third-pint portions. Like Holyrood 9A, the pours are pricier than at the classic establishments, but consider it your tradeoff for a fine introduction to the wide world of Scottish craft beer beyond BrewDog.

Addendum: Sights To Check Out During Your Pub Explorations

Edinburgh is a city of hills. Castle Rock is the most famous, its brooding black mass crowned by the Edinburgh Castle visible from just about everywhere in the center of the city. Edinburgh owes its existence to Castle Rock, an extinct volcano that afforded a prime defensive position guarding the coastal route from northeast England into central Scotland. Castle Rock was known as Dun Eiden (“Fort on the Slope”) until its capture by invaders from the kingdom of Northumbria in the seventh century. The Northumbrians took the Gaelic “eiden” and combined it with their Old English word for fort, “burh,” which yielded Edinburgh.

The Royal Mile stretches east from Castle Rock through Edinburgh’s Old Town and past St. Giles Cathedral with its gossamer crown steeple. A cobblestoned lane running through the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, the Royal Mile is where Edinburgh’s vitality and bustle begins. Vaulted stairways and narrow lanes meander down to the tidy Georgian order of New Town on one side of the ridge, while others cascade down the other side to the Grassmarket, site of Edinburgh’s cattle market right up into the early twentieth century.

Postscript

I wrote this piece on Edinburgh’s pubs during the depths of the pandemic but didn’t post it because, well, no one was sitting in pubs back then. Now seems a better fit, not least because it’s the time of year when we’re heading indoors to ward off the chill of frigid evenings. And with the new year upon us, it’s an ideal time to start thinking about which places and pubs you’ll “resolve” to visit this year or next.  

A brief note: I visited Scotland well before the pandemic. All the places I visited then are still going strong. What may have changed in the intervening years is the beer selection.

Related Posts and Spotlights

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A Pint of Prose and a Dram of Poetry in Edinburgh’s Old-Style Pubs

Prague: A Jewel in the Crown of Beer Culture

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A Few of My Favourite Things: Belgian Beer Cafes

Sources

Geoff Brandwood, Britain’s Best Real Heritage Pubs: Pub Interiors of Outstanding Historic Interest, 2^nd ed. (CAMRA Books, 2016).

Neil Wilson and Andy Symington, Lonely Planet Scotland (2015).

A Story to Tell: Scotland’s Pubs and Bars (for the history of No.1 High St. and its environs)

The plaques on pubs are also a wealth of information.

Special thanks to Simon of Bennets Bar for getting me up to speed on those pub terms like gantry and snug that I had never managed to encounter in several decades of drinking. You learn something new every day.

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