KNOPS Brewery, based at Archerfield Walled Garden, by Dirleton, has closed ahead of a major refurbishment of the site.

Knops moved into Archerfield and opened the brewery in 2013, occupying a third of the available space.

However, with refurbishment plans in the works and the brewery’s lease on the space up for renewal at the end of last year, rather than grant renewal, a decision was made to close the brewery, a decision described as the “most sensible” thing to do.

Robert Knops, owner of Knops Brewery, decided to close the brewery for good rather than carry on in a different venue.

Some of Knops’ most popular beers included Black Cork, California Common and East Coast Pale Ale.

Plans to overhaul Archerfield Walled Garden have been in the works for the past couple of years.

Ross McGregor, director of operations for Archerfield Estates Limited, said: “Those at the brewery have done a really fantastic job over the years.

“They’ve known about the closure for the past two years because that’s how long we have been planning this [refurbishment] for.

“Some of the plans on the table include re-doing the entire inside of the building and turning it into a garden shop along with updating our cafe and food market.

“The project is a major refurbishment and we hope to improve a lot of areas to make better use of the space we have, for example to help in dealing with events.”

He added: “This is a really positive thing for the area. The business has been growing over the last few years and now we are adding to that. We aim to make it slicker for the customer as well as a simpler and more beautiful place.”

Plans for the upgrade, which are still to be finalised, could see the walled garden take on an even greater garden and floral theme.

Other plans include an expansion to the cafe, with hopes the food used there could be grown on site.

The children’s area could also see a revamp with a covered outdoor area containing an extra 50-60 seats.

Planning permission for the renovation has been approved and work is set to begin either later on this year or early next year.

Mr McGregor said: “We are now working with the building contractors to decide on when this will be completed.

“I’m hoping it will be this year but it all depends on the building warrant and what timescale the builders come back with.”

The business will need to close for about two months when the work is going on but it is not yet known when this will happen.