Where It All Began
As with all the best stories and adventures, Durty Brewing began over a beer. Well, several beers if we’re honest. And then a few more….
Founders Gordon and Paul first met in Edinburgh in the early 2000’s whilst running and drinking with the local Hash House Harriers groups. A shared love of the outdoors, bikes and mud led to them doing team fell races (Devil’s Burden), adventure racing (Hebridean Challenge, Kerrera Kapers, Wan Dae) and MTB races (inc. the legendary Strathpuffer as a Pair. Twice. Shudder).
They independently moved to the glorious Scottish Borders in the mid-2000’s, and carried on playing on foot and bikes and kayaks in the spectacular river, forest and hill landscapes that we’re fortunate to have here.
A mutual interest in good and interesting beer led to conversations about the creation of our own craft brewery. That came to a head over too many beers in the aftermath of a last-minute-cancellation of an off-road triathlon event (thanks COVID rules!) in September 2020. What we thought would be a one-year project in fact took three years to bear fruit.
We bought a used brewkit from Boot Brewing in Derbyshire and caused chaos loading it onto a 40′ trailer in the tiny village of Repton. Once transported north, it lived in a barn on a farm near Hawick for nearly a year. Meanwhile, a big restoration and conversion project was taking place at 4 Traquair Road, Innerleithen. In August 2023 (just in time for the Cycling World Champs, held down the road) our beautiful taproom opened – the interior designed by Paul’s partner Anne. We began brewing on-site in November 2023, and expanded our production capacity in early 2025.
Despite a keen interest, neither of us had brewing experience (making the decision to open a brewery even more unfathomable). Enter Adam… our Head Brewer – he brings a huge amount of knowledge, skill and imagination to the task, and just has great taste in making great beer!. Jack is the friendly face running the taproom, alongside the rest of our great, local team.
Durty Brewing has been inspired by the wonderful landscape of the Scottish Borders – and in particular the famous mountain biking trails of the Tweed Valley. Our beers are even named after local trails- come and ride the trails, then drink the beer!.
We see the brewery and taproom as part of the visitor attraction to this special corner of Scotland. There’s loads of good reasons to visit the Tweed Valley – come and see us for some life-affirming beer!
