The Craft Beer Experience is coming to Edinburgh from November 15 to 17, taking over all three floors of the Assembly Roxy.
The event will run for five sessions over the three days, with beers from more than 20 breweries. Some beers will be appearing from Scottish taps for the first time.
The event is not just aimed at beer geeks, though. It will be a celebration of 5,000 years of Scottish brewing, with food and drink from some of the country’s best producers.
On the beer side, from Edinburgh and Leith will be the unfiltered offerings of Pilot, and just beyond the bypass, braw seasonal stylings from Cross Borders in Dalkeith.
Looking past the Lothians, pico-brewery Ride Brewing will be representing Glasgow, with larger brewers Tempest and Six Degrees North also bringing bars.
Completing the line-up from Scotland will be Alechemy, Barneys, Brewtoon, Fallen, Late Night Hype, Stewart Brewing and more.
Downstairs and in the venue’s atmospheric Snug Bar, the rest of Britain’s best breweries will be on show. From the North off England will be Northern Monk and Magic Rock, with The Kernel and Camden Town Brewery representing London and the South. Tiny Rebel will represent Wales, with Boundary flying the flag for Northern Ireland. London based Cidersmith’s cider will also be available.
The seven breweries will make their own mark on the space, bringing classic pub games for entertainment including a pub quiz during each session. Behind the bar and Scottish drinkers will be able to taste beers they never have before, with brews making their way north of the border for the first time.
Next door to the Snug Bar in the Basement Theatres, drinkers will be able to enjoy a full programme of beer themed workshops and masterclasses. There will be experiences related to food pairings, meet the brewer sessions, and homebrew masterclasses. The Upper Theatre will showcase Belgian and German brewers.
The man behind the event, Richard Servranckx (pictured below), said: “Brewing has enjoyed a huge resurgence in recent years and it really has felt like a revolution, the dawning of a new era of beer.
“But we’re living in that craft era now, the revolution has done its job, and it’s time to move on to the next stage, where we just get to drink the beer and enjoy the experience!”
Across the three day event brewers from Scotland will be put to the test in Edinburgh Craft Beer Experience’s ReplicAle contest; a tournament of taste where brewers must create their own beer using ingredients provided by Scottish Maltster Bairds Malt in a brilliant display of the versatility of the drink and its creators.
Beers will be judged in a blind tasting on flavour and aroma, and tested for its ABV and measured against the IBU scale, an international scale of bitterness in beer, to find the best balanced brew.
• Tickets and more information at www.craftbeerexperience.co.uk
