The Caledonian Craft Beer Merchant

27/09/2026

***Final Dunfermline Big Swally on sale 31/10/26***

You won’t give me peace in the shop about Dunfermline 2027 so here’s your on sale date. To be fair we’ve normally sold it out by now so I get you all being twitchy!

Our much loved Dunfermline party has been amazing, but 2027 will be the last of The Big Swally festivals, at least for a while. I’m going to give myself a break from putting beer festivals on due to some other stuff we have going on, but hopefully it’ll come back one day down the line.

To be honest I was going to call it a day after Edinburgh next month, but Heather quite rightly told me it needs to end where it started, and that’s at the Glen Pavilion. So put your eggs back in their boxes and don’t bother pelting the windows. 😄

So, tickets on sale only from The CCBM, Saturday the 31st of October. Let’s make it one to remember!

(Probably fuzzily through pictures on our phones and phoning mates to find out what happened. 😂)

26/09/2026

Need to start catching up a bit, deep breath.......

BEARWOOD BREWING: (1st birthday collabs)

• One 8.4% DIPA x Azvex
• One 6% passionfruit, mango, banana sour x Gravity Well
• One 12% Bourbon and vanilla imperial stout x Emperor's Brewery
• One 6.8% NEIPA x Pipeline
• One 5.8% TDH IPA x Bracket Brewing

NEW BRISTOL BREWERY:

• Cinder Toffee 4% Stout
• Jungle Is Massive 7.4% DIPA
• The Joy Of Sesh 4.2% IPA
• Tropical Fusion 4.8% NZ Pale

VAULT CITY:

• Dripping In Mango 5.5% Milkshake ale
• Jaisoor 5% sour
• Common Ground 11.6% Affogato imperial stout and barleywine blend

DARK REVOLUTION:

• Hedonism 8% DIPA

POMONA ISLAND:

• These Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty % Stout
• Power Sappingly Mundane % Blackcurrant, raspberry and redcurrant gose

POLLY'S:

• As Above, So Below 8% DIPA

OTHERWORLD:

• Bellow % IPA

AZVEX:

• Temporal Viewing Device 8% DIPA

WASTED DEGREES:

• DIPA 7.5%
• Can't See The Wood For The trees 4.3% IPA

NEON RAPTOR:

• Fruit Rascals 5.5% blackcurrant and strawberry sour

11am to 6pm today!

25/09/2026

Well, you wanted something silly as the welcome beer for next month. Vault City have delivered. 🤣

Get tickets here -

https://www.ticketebo.co.uk/the-ccbm/the-big-swally-edinburgh-2026

Here are your welcome drinks for THE BIG SWALLY EDINBURGH 2026 ⚡️

DAY SESSION: MELTED TROPICAL CREAMSICLE
Peach + Mango + Pineapple + Vanilla Ice Cream + GLOOP
An outrageously thick cream sour, brewed for maximum GLOOPINESS.

EVENING SESSION: BA GLOOP
Imperial Stout + Madagascan Vanilla + Milkshake + GLOOP + Rum Barrels
Our first ever barrel-aged Gloop stout.

We're back at the Corn Exchange, and there are only a few evening session tickets left 👀

📍 Edinburgh Corn Exchange
📅 Saturday 24th October
⏰ Day Session: SOLD OUT
⏰ Evening Session: 17:30 - 22:00
🎟️ Tickets via the link in bio

25/09/2026

The weather’s starting to change, is this a sign that stout season is starting? Let’s hope so, we’ve been starved long enough!

We have a couple of new imperials in this week including Stacks, a collaboration between Beak and Evil Twin with cacao nibs, coconut, vanilla and marshmallows. Brought a can home last night but things ran too late to sample it, I’ll hopefully resolve that tonight…….

Both these breweries will of course be at The Big Swally Edinburgh, and speaking of which there should be an exciting announcement incoming!

24/09/2026

We should’ve had all three of the Flux collaborations between Track & Verdant last week, but the couriers decided to smash the crap out of two of them.

Never mind though, the guys at the brewery have sent out replacements for the wounded they’re all here and chilling in the fridges now!

• Phase 7 - 5.5% Pale ale

• Phase 8 - 6.5% IPA

• Phase 9 - 8% DIPA

A trio of beers made between two of the biggest names in UK craft beer, I’m looking forward to trying these myself. Come grab some today between 12-6pm.

23/09/2026

Heather is back from Canada now so my posts this week might be slightly less unhinged than they were last week, I'll let you decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. 😂

While I'm here today doing all the menial stuff and waiting for deliveries, I might as well let you know how the tap list will kick off for the week, though a couple of these shouldn't see it through the weekend.

• Wylam - Jakehead - IPA 6.3%

• Tempest - Modern Helles - Lager 4.1% (GF)

• Rivington - Broken Amps - DDH Pale 5.5%

• Vault City - NY Cheesecake - Berry & rhubarb cheesecake smoothie sour 5.3% (NEARLY GONE)

• Track - Pure Nectaron - Gold Top DIPA 8.4% (NEARLY GONE)

• Tempest - Lowlander - 80/- 4.4% (FRESH KEG)

The Gold Top will be replaced by a Rivington DIPA when it goes, and I think we'll stick an Amundsen impy on when the Vault City keg kicks.

Back at it tomorrow from 12-6pm. We've got new beer in or due from Floc, Bearwood, Beak, New Bristol, Otherworld, Track and more.

20/09/2026

A couple of new kegs on yesterday, and I’m a bit concerned about one of them…..

It’s a bit mad considering how many of Track’s Gold Top DIPA cans we sell, but I think the Pure Nectaron Gold Top DIPA keg that’s just gone on is our first ever from the series on tap, and it’s a belter.

My worry is that it was getting battered yesterday and I might not get a cheeky glass or two of it for myself. 😄 (Often we’ll take Heather’s car on a Sunday and I get a wee end of week drink 😬)

As well as that 8.4% treat, we have a new 5.5% Rivington DDH pale ale on, Broken Amps. The last keg of Tempests Low Lander 4.4% 80/- has also been tapped, which has been one of our most popular pints lately, but we’ll get more ordered.

Lots of other kegs in the wings waiting to go on from the likes of Pomona Island, Polly’s, Rivington, Amundsen and more, so we have our six rotating taps covered.

The shop and taproom will be open as usual today from 12-4pm. DO NOT DRINK ALL THE GOLD TOP. 🤣

19/09/2026

One of the other reasons I’m a bit distracted this week is it’s now full on organisation mode for The Big Swally Edinburgh, in collaboration with our pals at Vault City Brewing. It’s FIVE WEEKS TODAY. 😳

• 21 fantastic breweries from the UK, Europe, USA and Canada.

• Over 150 beers pouring on the day over both sessions. Some really incredible stuff this year with tap list announcements coming soon.

• Delicious street food, and did we mention the Vault guys are doing beer infused ice cream? 🤣

• Live music with the return of the Broclaimers from year one!

• This years free welcome beer is surprise, surprise, a bit mad. Details coming soon.

Tickets for the evening session are still available on the link below, come and join us at the Corn Exchange next month for what’s sure to be another epic day!

https://www.ticketebo.co.uk/the-ccbm/the-big-swally-edinburgh-2026

18/09/2026

Did you know about my rule that I never drink while Heather’s home in Canada?

Did you also know that in sub-section four, page 826, paragraph three of the Good Husband Handbook it also clearly states -

“In the instance that any husband receives a pallet of beer from Rivington Brewing Co, which contains three or more new double IPA’s in a single delivery, it is both expected and mandatory that the no drinks in spousal absence rule is rendered null and void.”

Now I know what you’re thinking, “what are the odds a rule that specific to Colin would be in the handbook?”. Well let me tell you, that’s what it says, verbatim, and there’s absolutely no need for you to google it to verify otherwise. It’s 100% legit. And say what you want about me, but rules are rules, so I had to have a can.

The legally sanctioned beers are -

• Pick & Axe 8% West Coast DIPA

• Elm Street 8% DIPA

• Serial Rabbit 8% DIPA

• Out Of My Mind 6.5% DDH IPA

• Candy Green 6.5% DDH IPA

Don’t care about rules? They’re all in the fridges for you today, 12-7pm.

*Photo posed for comedy value, just in case aforementioned absent wife is reading this in Canada. 🤣

17/09/2026

Let me start the week with a wee story.

I’d like to make it clear first though that in no way is this a cover up for not having taken any beer photos yet again. And just because my lovely wife is in Canada visiting her family, there’s no way that my brain is melting trying to get my ever lengthening to do list sorted out, causing me to forget my photographic duties.

Wait, come to think of it, I don’t actually have a wee story. Look at that cool image below though, “CANS”. I even wrote it in italics so it would be fancy. Maybe read it to yourself in some aloof European accent and it might even seem arty.

Jeez I’m sh*te at social media.

Anyway, I’ve bought in 40+ beers for this week that weren’t there last week from this lot -

Rivington
Azvex
Dark Revolution
Track
Beak
Pomona Island
Polly’s Brew
Vault City
Neon Raptor
Swannay
Wasted Degrees

As well as a selection of Oktoberfest beers, but they’re in bottles, and I can’t be bothered to change the image to “CANS & BOTTLES”, so let’s just brush that under the carpet.

There you go, absolute professionalism.

Open 12-6pm by the way.