Bath Ales set to open largest food-led pub to date

Independent south west-based brewer Bath Ales is set to open its 11th managed pub and its largest to date when the latest site under the Graze brand launches near Bath Spa train station.

At just over 5,000 sq.ft. the Graze Bar, Brewery and Chophouse will be double the size of any current Bath Ales site and will be the operator's third opening this year.

"This is a really exciting development for us," Robin Couling, Bath Ales’ retail director, said of the news. Couling also revealed the new pub would become a flagship venue for the Graze concept and the company as a whole.

"The existing Graze locations in Bristol and Cirencester have been fantastically well received and with a central location attracting both visitors and residents we are confident that Graze will be a welcome addition to the city of Bath."

The Graze venues all feature Bath Ales beers, which are brewed nearby between Bath and Bristol, and a wide brasserie menu including steak, burgers and fish cooked on a Josper charcoal oven.

Bath Spa

The 140-cover venue is the largest pub investment the brewer, founded in 1995, has made in the south west city. 

The pub forms part of a food quarter area in a £360m shopping centre development in and around the railway arches of Bath Spa station. The development is currently reaching its final stages and Bath Ales' new operation is expected to open before Christmas.

The bar and restaurant will occupy the whole of the first floor and will feature two separate outside areas, a large open plan kitchen, a meat hanging room and a small micro-brewery producing specialist craft beers.

Bath Ales, which last autumn kicked off an investment plan to double beer production volumes in the next two years, opened two new venues earlier this year in Oxford and Cirencester.