Pilot

Microbrewery in Leith, Midlothian, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Associated with 2 Venues

Established in 2013

Contact
Unit 4B, Stewartfield, Leith, EH6 5RQ, Scotland
Description
Pilot was born when Matt Johnson and Patrick Jones met while studying for masters degrees in Brewing & Distilling at Heriot-Watt University in 2012. A shared view that there was something different to be done in brewing – not traditional real ales, but not just another U.S. craft beer clone either – led to home-brewing together, which eventually led to buying a second-hand brewhouse and moving to the heart of cosmopolitan Leith, commencing brewing right at the end of 2013.

We’ve never done things the easy way. We dismantled the plant ourselves. We moved it to Leith and rebuilt it ourselves. We dug out the drainage (pro-tip: pay real men to do that), installed the flues and built the cooling system ourselves. We design, brew and drink the beer ourselves. We are Pilot.

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7/10
Tried on 20 Sep 2015 at 11:53

7.3/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 4 Overall 8
Keg at the hanging bat... Massive soft basil .. Zezty orange fruits nose... Juicy zezty citrus fruits.. Juicy toffee.. Light soft basil... Nice but too fizzy... All told this is quite nice but these guys are idiots and this is a summer beer, so no idea why its on sale now.
Tried on 17 Sep 2015 at 11:00

7/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
Keg at the Hanging Bat. Pours hazy gold with a thin white head. Aromas of basil, lemon. Taste is more on the lemon peel side, more basil at the back. Interesting.
Tried on 16 Sep 2015 at 08:08

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Keg at spitfire. Pours hazy orange, nose is floral, citrus, herbal, taste is dry, bitter, juicy orange, light basil.
Tried on 12 Sep 2015 at 03:38

7.4/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Keg at Drygate. It pours lightly hazy orange - amber with a small white head. The nose is soft, juicy, fragrant, tangerine, creamy orange, lychee and toasty grain. The taste is crisp, bitter, piney, grapefruit action, tangerine, blueberry, bread and toasty grain with quite a dry finish. Medium body and fine carbonation. Well rounded and just very drinkable. Tasty stuff.
Tried on 28 Aug 2015 at 09:19

7.1/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
Cask at GBBF 2015. It pours cloudy dirty gold with a decent white head. The nose is soft, juicy, oily, tropical fruits a plenty, orange rind, grapefruit, mango, papaya and watermelon. The taste is crisp, juicy, clean, orange rind, passion fruit, mango, nectarine, papaya, bready and some peppery spice with a smooth finish. Medium body and soft carbonation. Very juicy and crazy smooth. Nice one.
Tried from Cask on 21 Aug 2015 at 07:04

7/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 8
Cask at GBBF 2015, day 1 - London. Pours murky gold with a bubbly white head. The nose holds rindy and pithy citrus, some pine needles. Light sweet flavor, moderately clean, with melon, grapefruit, more pine needles. Light bodied with fine carbonation; OK condition. Somewhat rindy on the finish, with more melon, lemon zest, pale bread. Nice beer.
Tried from Cask on 19 Aug 2015 at 13:39

7.3/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 8
Cask (gravity) @ Nottingham Robin Hood Beer Festival (2014), Nottingham Castle, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England NG1 6EL. [ As Pilot Beer Mochaccino Milk Stout ].Clear dark brown color with a small, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, chocolate, wood, vanilla, dark malt, moderate roasted. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and moderate bitter with a average to long duration, chocolate, roasted. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft to flat. [20141008]
Tried from Cask on 18 Aug 2015 at 13:53

7.1/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
Cask at GBBF 2015, Olympia, London. A hazy straw coloured pour with a medium white head on top. Hoppy, malty, tropical fruit aroma. Tastes similar, hoppy, malty, tropical fruit. Drank loads of this at GBBF, enjoyable session ale.
Tried from Cask on 18 Aug 2015 at 11:47

6.8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
Cask at GBBF ’15, day 1, 11/08/15. Murky orange yellow with a moderately appointed off white cap. Nose is tangerine, citric sherbets, melon, grass, toasted malt. Taste comprises mandarin, orange pith, melon, soft bread dough. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close with a hoppy linger. Decent sessioner.
Tried from Cask on 16 Aug 2015 at 11:23