Innis & Gunn has revealed its new brewery will be at Heriot-Watt University’s Research Park in Edinburgh. Subject to planning permission, it will be the first major brewery built in Edinburgh for more than 150 years. The tie-up is the UK’s first major collaboration between a full-scale brewery and a university.
The research park on Riccarton campus also houses the International Centre for Brewing & Distilling and students will gain hands-on experience once the brewery becomes operational in 2021. The company has also extended its £3m fund-raise on crowdfunding platform Seedrs to Friday, 31 January. The campaign, under the banner This Is Beer Money, is offering 1.96% equity in return for the investment, giving the company a pre-money valuation of almost £150m. So far, 1,443 investors have pledged £2,183,817.
Innis & Gunn founder and master brewer Dougal Gunn Sharp said, “We are creating a centre for brewing, collaboration and applied learning on the world stage. Working with the International Centre of Brewing & Distilling opens up endless opportunities by combining our creative abilities and the talent pool at the university with a world-class brewery. We hope to be able to research new beer and brewing techniques and develop pioneering carbon and water-saving technologies. We are especially proud to be part of the revitalisation of Edinburgh as a world centre for brewing.”
