Bath Ales
What’s the product?
We’ve chosen two of Bath Ales’ brilliant beers for our range: the original Bath Gem, a full-bodied amber ale with a soft, smooth bitterness, and Lansdown, a contemporary west-coast IPA with hoppy layers and tropical fruit notes.
Who’s behind it?
Bath Ales has been brewing since 1995, and was founded by Roger Jones and Richard Dempster, who then brought on local publican Rab Clark because he was willing to sell their first beer! The brewery team has continued to grow ever since, and in 2016, Bath Ales was acquired by Cornwall’s St Austell Brewery, an independent, family brewer and pub company. Luckily, Bath Ales continues to be brewed in Warmley just 11 miles from Bath.
What’s the story?
Bath Ales is a proper local success story – starting with a tiny brewery in Wincanton, Somerset, their first beer, Bath Gem, was an instant hit, and quickly led to larger premises in Bristol and the first Bath Ales pub, the Hare on the Hill. This in turn made the team’s original ambition of a pub in Bath a possibility, and in 1998 the company’s ‘flagship pub’ (and TOB team favourite) The Hop Pole opened just outside the city centre. There are now seven Bath Ales pubs in the local area, all with their own unmissable charms, and we highly recommend you check them out!
The acquisition of Bath Ales by St Austell Brewery in 2016 was a match made in heaven – St Austell’s traditional brewing paired with Bath Ales’ fresh, inventive beers, paving the way for a huge investment in a new state-of-the-art brewery which opened in 2018 and for the launch of fantastic new beers, including our favourite Lansdown.
Why we love it…
Local independent business done good is our favourite kind of story! And it’s not hard to see why Bath Ales has been such a success – the original and best, Bath Gem is as deliciously drinkable as ever, whilst the newer beers prove that after thirty years this brewery is still at the top of their game.
