Malt & Hops
Fresh hop bines go up in the ceiling every harvest, and the cask list is written on the mirror behind the bar.1
Why go
CAMRA's branch record dates the bar to 1747 and describes one low-ceilinged room by the Water of Leith with a real fire, walls of mirrors and prints, and a ceiling hung with pump clips from long-lost breweries, water jugs and those bines.1 The buying has a direction: smaller breweries, with a stated lean toward the Lake District, and Hadrian Border's Tyneside Blonde as the one fixed line. Time Out counted eight ales on tap from all over the British Isles.4 Imran Rahman-Jones counted at least six casks in April 2025.3 Cask and total tap are different measures and neither source says which it means, so both counts stand with their dates.
CAMRA's Scottish heritage inventory lists the interior as EDN/427 at Candidate, Local, which is the entry tier of that list.2 It grades the room, and says nothing about what is in the glass.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Tyneside Blonde if you want the permanent line, or read the mirror. Rahman-Jones drank the Blonde and then a Murphy's Stout, and noted that beers from both sides of the border are common here.3 Sunday is the night to time it for, because that is when the live music runs.
- Avoid: coming for a quiet drink.
Malt & Hops is always loud, and while the music could probably be turned down a touch, it brings a good atmosphere.
3
What locals & experts say
- Imran Rahman-Jones, Edinburgh Pub Reviews (30 April 2025) on the cellar:
The beer is always good here, with at least six casks on.
His verdict on the pub as a whole:It serves good beer, no gimmicks, the friendly staff match the lively customers.
He stayed for a second pint when a jazz duo of guitar and trumpet started up.3 - Time Out Edinburgh on what the room is:
One room, dried hops hanging from the ceiling beams, eight ales on tap from all over the British Isles, one working fireplace and the Water of Leith flowing by outside. And crisps.
4 - The Skinny, 2026 Edinburgh guide:
This wonderful pub down by the Shore feels like being invited into a friend's front room.
5
Good to know
- Timing: noon to 11pm Monday and Tuesday, noon to midnight Wednesday and Thursday, noon to 1am Friday and Saturday, noon to midnight Sunday.1
- Booking: none to make. Walk in, and the snug inside the front door is the seat to aim for when the outside tables have gone.
- Getting there: on the Shore itself, with the water on the other side of the road. Restaurant Martin Wishart is at number 54.
- Drinking outside: people take pints out in plastic cups and sit on the waterfront with their legs over the edge.3
- Hygiene. The Food Hygiene Information Scheme rating is a Pass inspected 19 July 2018, eight years old and past the point where it describes current practice. No second food business is registered at 45 The Shore.6
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: Not one of my saves.
Verdict
should-visit — This is a one-room bar on Leith Shore that CAMRA dates to 1747, hangs fresh hop bines in the ceiling every harvest and writes its cask list on the mirror behind the bar. The buying leans to small breweries and to the Lake District, which is a stated policy and not a coincidence, and Imran Rahman-Jones found at least six casks on in April 2025 and said the beer is always good here. Time Out counted eight ales from all over the British Isles beside a working fire, and The Skinny's 2026 guide describes being let into somebody's front room. Sunday brings live music, and a jazz duo of guitar and trumpet is what kept Rahman-Jones for a second pint. That is a serious cask pub with a room worth sitting in, and the Water of Leith is on the other side of the door. It falls short of the top rung because it holds no award of any kind, its CAMRA heritage grade is the list's entry tier rather than a star, and the hygiene rating on the door was inspected in 2018.