The Hanging Bat
The biggest glass in the house is two thirds of a pint, which is a policy about tasting rather than a shortage of glassware.1
Why go
Time Out found a cavernous room standing unpretentiously amid what it called a peculiar mix of tanning shops, bookies and bargain warehouses, where sampling is encouraged and beer knowledge traded
.1 There is a brewery on the premises producing the house's own ales, and the bar says its spirits and wine lists rotate and its drinks menu changes weekly.2 Time Out's 2024 write-up said cocktail menus are forgone here, and the house's own 2026 page advertises a cocktail programme, so the offer has moved in the two years between them. The bar made the fifteen-strong Best Pub longlist at the 2025 Edinburgh Bar Awards, which is a nomination and not a win.3
Order this / avoid
- Order: whatever the onsite brewery has on, in the two-thirds glass.
- Avoid: the food. The kitchen at this address is separately registered and currently holds a failing hygiene rating.
Good to know
- Address: 133-135 Lothian Road, at the Tollcross end.
- Hygiene, and read this before you order food: the bar and the kitchen here are two separate registrations, both inspected on 7 June 2026. The bar holds a Pass, FHRSID 1938181. The kitchen holds Improvement Required, the failing result in the Food Hygiene Information Scheme, FHRSID 1948949, with no reinspection pending as at 7 August 2026.4
- Booking: walk-in.
- Hours and price: nobody publishes either.
Verdict
could-visit — Edinburgh's craft beer bar of record on Lothian Road, with a brewery on the premises and a tap policy built for tasting. Time Out found a cavernous room amid tanning shops and bookies where sampling is encouraged and beer knowledge traded, and where the biggest glass is two thirds of a pint, which tells you the whole intent. That 2024 write-up also said cocktail menus are forgone here, and the house's own page now advertises cocktails and a drinks list it changes weekly, so the offer has moved since. It made the fifteen-pub Best Pub longlist at the 2025 Edinburgh Bar Awards, a nomination rather than a win. Now comes the part that decides the tier. The address carries two separate statutory registrations, both inspected on 7 June 2026: the bar passed, and the kitchen holds Improvement Required, the failing tier of the Scottish scheme, with no reinspection pending as at 7 August 2026. Drink here. Eat elsewhere until that rating moves.