Gordon McKenzie and Emma McIntosh, who both previously brewed at the Kernel in London, founded Newbarns with Jonny Hamilton and Freddie Bjerkseth in 2019 and opened a taproom on Jane Street in early 2020. The brewery favours sessionable, lower-strength beer over high-ABV releases, working from manual kit built along lines closer to a 1970s brewhouse than a modern automated plant. Core beers include a pilsner, an oat lager and a mild, alongside rotating pale ales and porters poured from eight taps in the taproom itself. Collaborations with breweries including Omnipollo and Rivington Brewing Co appear alongside the house range, and the room doubles as a venue for film screenings and other events on quieter nights. The taproom sits a short walk from Leith Walk, open Thursday to Sunday only.
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