Tourist wins 'free beer for a year' after buying millionth pint at Edinburgh Fringe

A tourist has won “free beer for a year” after buying the millionth Innis & Gunn pint served at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Alexander Mezgar was serenaded by confetti cannons and a Mexican mariachi band on Monday at The Mound after buying the millionth pint of the beer, recently named Scotland’s best lager at World Beer Awards, sold during the Fringe.

It came after the 51-year-old was handed a ‘Golden Ticket’ for free Innis & Gunn beer for a year – as well as Tattoo tickets Edinburgh Fringe show vouchers, and bottomless steak frites.

The visitor will also be able to drink and eat to their heart’s content at the Innis & Gunn taproom on Lothian Road before returning back to Germany.

Alexander said: “We’ve been here since yesterday, and we’re flying home again tomorrow so I can’t believe the luck that I’ve had to get the millionth pint.”

“I never win anything. It’s such a great moment, I’m still not sure what happened!”

Founder of Innis & Gunn, Dougal Sharp, hailed the first fortnight of August as being ‘like Christmas’ for the company.

He said: “People come to The Fringe for a cultural extravaganza so we wanted to give our winner the ultimate experience. Our lager has been crowned the best in Scotland and it shows, as we’ve served over one million pints in just the first few weeks of August.

“A huge congratulations to Alexander and what better way to celebrate the big win than with the amazing Rapido Mariachi and Innis & Gunn Lager. This has been an incredible month so far for Innis & Gunn, and we’re only just over halfway through – it’s like Christmas.

“We look forward to welcoming thousands more Fringe-goers in the coming weeks.”