Dreadnought – Worth the journey

One of the best selections of beer makes this pub a must visit.

Feb 28, 2024

When it comes to great pubs and great beer in Leith, we’re spoilt for choice. Head down the Walk or along the Shore, and you can’t move for great establishments (I’ve written about many of them in this newsletter).

But for some of the best cask beer in Edinburgh, it’s worth heading that little bit further up the Forth to Newhaven. There you’ll find the excellent Dreadnought. It’s unmissable: Just look for the brightly painted rainbow Pride Bridge and the pub is right next door.

The Pride Bridge has been in the news recently, as a public consultation has opened over its future. Closed since December 2021 when it was found to be too risky for pedestrians and cyclists to cross it, Edinburgh Council are now calling for ideas from the public on what to do next.

The Dreadnought will play a part in this. The pub is a proudly LGBT+ friendly venue, with rainbow bunting complementing the driftwood hanging from its ceiling. Nautical-themed pictures share wall space with posters making it clear that all types of people are welcome here. Events catering to queer and trans folk are common – as are the usual pub quizzes and music nights. It’s a community hub. In the summer, it’s able to put tables out next to the bridge to create a welcoming outdoor space.

Among the eclectic mix of wall art, old features from the pub’s past remain. A piece of stained glass, separating what must have been the women’s section back in the day, looks like it is part of the original pub, while the stanchion behind the bar must be left over from the pub’s days, pre-Dreadnought, when it was known as The Halfway House.

What brings me coming back again and again is the quality and selection of the beer. At any one time they might have up to 20 beers on, including four on cask. Each time I have been, it’s been a totally different cask selection, but I can guarantee that each time it will be an exceptional pint. The prices aren’t too bad either (£4.20-£5 for a pint of cask beer).

During my last visit, a 3% table beer from Queer Brewing got me started before I moved on to a Hazelnut Mild from Brass Castle. I ended with one of the best beers brewed in Edinburgh right now: Campervan’s Extra Black on keg. It’s a reliably wonderful pint wherever you go, but here it was elevated to another level: deep, creamy and malty, it was everything you could ask from a great porter.

Most recently I was there to watch the football on TV on a Sunday afternoon. I joined a few other footy fans in the front section of the pub, but the telly doesn’t dominate and there were just as many non-football fans around the corner. As the evening went on, the pub filled up nicely, and by the end of the match there were more people who weren’t watching the footy than those who were.

In the past few days, it has really felt like we’re finally seeing the back of winter. The evenings are getting longer, the days brighter. There might still be clouds in the giant Newhaven sky which stretches out over the water towards Fife, but you can almost taste spring. So take that stroll along the waterfront, then nip into the Dreadnought for a pint. It’s some of the best beer you’ll find on this side of town.

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The chaser

Three links for you in today’s chaser.

Here is a great article from someone who grew up next to The Halfway House, as it was then. It includes the story of how some homophobic graffiti led to the pub’s Pride event, Gayz Onley.