Cross Borders Brewing Company Ltd

★★★★★

“We used to visit here regularly when they had visiting street food vendors and that worked really well. The atmosphere was great, the food was always cracking and the beers were good. The novelty of a tap room inside a working brewery and the relaxed atmosphere are good. Now that they're doing their own pizzas, supplied from Dough Boys, the whole offer has gone downhill. The pizzas are nothing better than something out of the freezer which you might cook at home for the kids, which felt like poor value for £11 each. The beer selection was limited and there was no atmosphere inside. Tables outside are good with friends, even though you're sitting in an industrial estate car park right next to a train line. I understand it must be challenging to run essentially a part-time bar in a location like that and to consistently book high quality street food vendors but overall, we were really disappointed and I'm not sure we'll be back in a hurry.”

★★★★★

“Industrial estates are not usually associated with a good time. You typically wouldn't pop down to one on a Saturday evening, unless you have a particular and peculiar idea of a night out. But we did, and a good time was had. Not because we are particularly peculiar, but because tucked away in this unassuming corner of Dalkeith is the Cross Borders Brewing Company. But still why would you visit a brewery on a weekend evening. Did we just stare in the window and sniff the hoppy air. Oh no, as much fun as that might be, the Cross Borders Brewing Company have been very clever and opened their doors to guests. When the weeks work of mashing, boiling and fermenting are over attention turns to the other side of the unit, where a set of beer taps pour out the fruits of the labour. Possibly the freshest beer in the Lothians is yours for the drinking just yards from the tanks from which it was born. But it's not just about beer, it's a full bar with spirits and soft drinks, so even non-beer drinkers will be catered for, but you'd be missing out if you don't try just a little sample of one or two. The decor is ‘industrial chic”, but the service would put some of the best bars in Edinburgh to shame, friendly, efficient and obviously very knowledge. The atmosphere was the highlight, relaxed and friendly, the sort of place where someone turns up with a guitar and people just sing along, there's table tennis if you fancy some exercise, and tables and chairs if you just want to sit and chill out with your pals. What could make this destination even better? How about a pizza oven, I mean pizza makes everything better right? Cross Borders Brewing Company obviously think so because they've let Wood Oven Wonders set up camp outside and offer freshly fired pizza. Proper good pizza too, Nduja and MacSweens Black Pudding was an excellent choice, salami piccanti equally fab. If you fancy something a bit different, only a few minutes walk from Eskbank railway station then check out Cross Borders Brewing Company's Facebook page or website for more info.”

★★★★★

“Visited as part of an event. The brewery should be the ideal place to experience the Cross Borders range. Unfortunately the beers were not only completely flat but also tasted really wrong, dirty lines / taps I suppose. This seemed to be true across the selection. I appreciate this isn’t really a full time bar as such but it is very sad to see they aren’t taking any pride in their own product in their own brewery. I really hope they can make a big improvement here otherwise I would recommend getting your Cross Border beers literally anywhere else.”