Big Light Brewing
Edinburgh, Scotland
Big Light Brewing feels like a brewery built by people who genuinely love simple well-made beer and got slightly tired of everything becoming overcomplicated. Founded in Edinburgh by an Italian and a Scotsman during the aftermath of lockdown, the brewery started as a small passion project before gradually growing into one of the city’s newer independent brewing names. Their own slogan, “Unapologetically Simple,” tells you quite a lot about the whole approach really. No endless gimmicks, no pastry stout madness involving breakfast cereal and marshmallows, just modern approachable beer brewed with balance and drinkability front and centre.
The brewery itself operates on a genuinely small scale, more nano-brewery than industrial operation, which gives everything a very hands-on and personal feel. What started during Covid as an idea between founders Massimo Babetto and Jordan Deaves slowly developed into a proper brewery focused on producing beers people actually want to drink repeatedly rather than merely rate online once before moving on to the next hype release. There’s something very refreshing about that philosophy in modern craft beer.
The beers lean heavily into classic modern styles with a clean straightforward identity. Their lineup includes beers like Rhûn, a New Zealand IPA packed with bright tropical hop character, Red Panda, a modern take on Scottish ale, Moloko milk stout and crisp pilsners like 1842 and Scopa. Across the range there’s a noticeable focus on clarity, balance and repeat drinkability rather than overwhelming intensity. Even the hoppier beers tend to stay polished and restrained enough that you could happily drink more than one without your palate filing a formal complaint halfway through.
Part of Big Light’s charm is also how closely it feels tied to Edinburgh’s wider independent beer culture. The brewery sits within a city that has one of the richest brewing histories anywhere in the UK, from historic names like McEwan’s and Caledonian through to the newer wave of independent breweries reshaping the city’s modern beer scene. Big Light fits naturally into that newer generation, smaller scale, community driven and strongly connected to local bars, bottle shops and taprooms rather than giant supermarket shelves.
