John Dunsmore, ex-CEO of Scottish & Newcastle and C&C Group, has founded a new craft brewery in
his home city of Edinburgh. Combining the ‘head’ of a career at the UK’s biggest brewer with the ‘heart’
of a family-run start-up, the new brewery will bring Edinburgh inventiveness, open-mindedness and
playfulness to the beer scene.
Housed in a converted industrial unit in west Edinburgh, Edinburgh Beer Factory is an unashamedly
modern, urban microbrewery. For the Dunsmore family, Edinburgh is home and inspiration – the best of
Scotland in all its creativity and international outlook – and ‘Factory’ is a tribute to two ‘commercial
creatives’ and personal heroes, Andy Warhol and Tony Wilson, founder of Manchester’s Factory Records.
The Dunsmores have excitedly followed the growth of craft beer, and when John’s experiences with
innovative small food and drinks businesses and family-owned Fuller’s convinced him of the benefits of
private ownership and start-up mentality, it was time to go it alone.
“Innovation can happen in big companies, but it happens despite being big, not
because of it. I’ve been excited by the creativity and agility I’ve seen in the
smaller companies I’ve been working with in the past few years; it’s spurred me
on to create something from scratch. With a family-owned business there’s no
compromise driven by external shareholder pressure; you can make the right
decisions based on strong values and a long term perspective. Scotland can be
great if it makes things happen, and this is exactly the right set-up to do just that:
small and nimble; young and old; male and female.”
John Dunsmore, Edinburgh Beer Factory
John’s wife Lynne and daughter Kirsty are also founding members of Edinburgh Beer Factory. They’re
joined by fresh brewing talent from local Heriot-Watt university, Head Brewer David Kemp and Mike
Meletopoulo; ex-Tennent’s and Harviestoun sales manager Gregor Harris; and colleague from HotHouse
investments, Rosie Nicholson, herself from the family behind the historic Sunderland-based Vaux
Breweries. Whether born and bred or (mostly) having adopted Edinburgh as home, the whole team has
been inspired by Edinburgh’s creativity and cosmopolitanism; it’s that they hope to promote over thistle,
tartan and bagpipes.
Hence their unlikely brewery muse, Scots-Italian Eduardo Paolozzi. The
Edinburgh-born inventor of Pop Art deserves better recognition, and
Edinburgh Beer Factory hope to help achieve that in his home city and
beyond. His eclectic and collaborative approach, international outlook and
fascination with combining art and science sum up what the
team are all about.
Their launch product is a tribute to this Great Scot. A reinvention of a beer often
overlooked – or even sneered at – ‘Paolozzi’ is a 5.2% lager based on a historic
Munich style but created with contemporary Italian brewing technology. The result is
an exceptionally refined beer with a perfect bitter-sweet balance and fabulously
sparkling appearance. In Paolozzi’s words, it’s something “sublime in the everyday”.
Eduardo’s artwork ‘Illumination and the Eye’ is displayed on
the bottle and fount, and EBF will be showcasing other
artworks at the brewery when it opens next year to the
public. The beer is endorsed by the Paolozzi Foundation,
and the brewery will pay a charitable donation for every
bottle and pint sold to promote Paolozzi’s work and ideas to
the general public.
“We’re delighted to support Edinburgh Beer Factory in this project, which will
help bring alive both the artwork and the ideas of Paolozzi in his native
Edinburgh and beyond. Eduardo was fascinated by art meeting science, and he
would have been quite amused by having a beer named after him”.
Adrian Barr-Smith, Trustee and Secretary, The Paolozzi Foundation
‘Paolozzi’ lager is launching in Edinburgh and Glasgow this month, with plans to expand across the UK
over 2016. Edinburgh Beer Factory will open to the public in time for summer 2016, providing a visitor
attraction for Edinburgh locals and international tourists, local employment and brewery-fresh beer.