Campervan Brewery is an independent brewery based in Leith, Edinburgh. Founded by Paul Gibson, it began with a garage, a homebrew kit and a 1973 Volkswagen campervan called Olive before opening a permanent brewery in 2017. Campervan now operates an expanded modern brewhouse, an onsite taproom and beer garden, and the nearby Lost in Leith bar and barrel-ageing project.
Brewery story
Campervan Brewery began with founder Paul Gibson brewing in his garage alongside a 1973 Volkswagen campervan named Olive, which ultimately inspired the brewery's name.
After serious illnesses affected his wife and daughter, Paul took a career break and reassessed the things he cared most about, including beer, classic campervans, travel, the outdoors, food and family life. Brewing became an important creative outlet during this period.
The early Campervan beers were produced through a mixture of garage brewing and mobile brewing connected with Olive, with the campervan continuing to feature at events even after the business developed into a permanent brewery.
Campervan Brewery formally opened its Leith brewery in 2017, establishing a 10-barrel production facility in Edinburgh.
The brewery subsequently opened Lost in Leith, a specialist beer bar on Commercial Street showcasing Campervan beers alongside a changing range from breweries around the world.
Lost in Leith also became home to Campervan's barrel-ageing programme. Three 10-hectolitre oak foeders made by Allary Tonnellerie near Cognac provide the brewery with dedicated capacity for fermentation, maturation and more experimental beer production.
Campervan returned to producing cask-conditioned beer in 2022, adding traditional cask releases back into a range otherwise strongly associated with keg and packaged craft beer.
A major expansion took place during 2023 and 2024, with Campervan investing in a new state-of-the-art brewhouse to increase capacity, consistency and efficiency.
The expanded brewery features a fully automated three-vessel brewhouse comprising a mash conversion vessel, lauter tun and kettle-whirlpool, alongside four new 6,000-litre fermenters. Total fermentation capacity increased to around 40,000 litres.
The expansion was developed with BrewStar Systems, Bespoke Brewing Solutions and Fermecraft and was designed to allow the brewery to produce larger volumes with less manual handling while improving control over the brewing process.
Alongside the expanded brewery, Campervan opened a new onsite taproom and beer garden at its Jane Street home. The taproom serves the brewery's regular beers alongside limited editions and exclusives, with local food pop-ups and events forming part of its programme.
In 2025 Campervan gave renewed attention to cask beer with another relaunch of Nomad, its cask pale ale, continuing the brewery's balance between modern craft beer production and more traditional formats.
Today Campervan operates across its production brewery and taproom on Jane Street and Lost in Leith on Commercial Street, combining larger-scale modern brewing with experimental barrel ageing, hospitality and events.
Taprooms
Campervan has 2 taprooms to visit. Explore each location for addresses, directions and opening-time information.
Taproom 1
112 Jane Street, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 5HG
The Campervan Brewery Taproom and beer garden sits alongside the brewery in Leith and serves Campervan's core beers alongside limited releases and taproom exclusives. It also offers wine, spirits, soft drinks and snacks, with regular appearances from local food vendors and pop-ups. The venue is child and dog friendly.
Taproom 2
82 Commercial Street, Edinburgh, EH6 6LX
Lost in Leith is Campervan Brewery's specialist beer bar and kitchen on Commercial Street. It serves Campervan beers alongside an international guest selection and is also home to the brewery's barrel-ageing programme, including three 10-hectolitre oak foeders used for fermentation and maturation.
