Drink

“A bartender is just a pharmacist with a limited inventory…”  – Albert Einstein

Well that may have been true back in Alberts day but the joy of owning a free house is the amazing range of drinks available to us locally and from around the UK.

Having the freedom to champion grain to glass distillers, local breweries and farm gate sales are just some of the reasons we love what we do.

Championing Local

We have a wealth of gin and vodka making expertise in this country, though very few distillers take their product from grain to glass.

Well, here at The Grapes we stock nearly all of them. Ramsbury Single Estate London Dry and Vodka hails from their fields on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, Chase Rhubarb Vodka from Kent and The Oxford Artisan Distillery or TOAD, make a marvellous Physic Gin under licence from the cities Physic Gardens & their spicy Ashmolean Gin is inspired by exotic flavours in partnership with the Ashmolean Museum using heritage grains.

Closer to home we stock, amongst others, the amazing Scout and Sage London Dry, Pink Mermaid Gin using strawberries from the Isle of Wight and Bath’s own Rhubarb Hopped which is fantastic with some Franklin and Sons Ginger Ale.

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Our Range of Craft Beers and Real Ale

When you come into The Grapes, don’t expect the usual line-up you’ll find behind most bars in town.

We do pour a few familiar names — Asahi Super Dry for one — but our focus is on quality, character and a bit of brewing history. Pilsner Urquell, brewed in Plzeň since 1842, was the world’s first pilsner and still sets the standard. Weihenstephaner Hefe comes from the Bavarian State Brewery, which has been making beer for more than a thousand years.

Closer to home, we pour beers from Bristol Beer Factory, one of our favourite independents. Their crisp, Czech-inspired pils Gravity, the punchy Lazer Juice IPA, and their smooth, rich stout, Black Gates, all have a well-earned place on the bar.  Rounding off the line-up is Kettlesmith Brewery from Bradford-on-Avon, whose elegant Kölsch-style beer brings a perfect balance to the mix.

After our bar revamp earlier this year, we now have three traditional hand pumps showcasing a rotating selection of West Country real ales. Each barrel comes from a different local producer, so you never quite know what’s next — unless you keep an eye on our Untappd menu.

Fresh From the Farm

Nothing says the West Country quite like apples and most especially cider. From sparkling to traditional still, flavoured to not and including perry, we have a wide range of styles and flavours from local farms and estates.

Honey and Daughters supply our traditional still Midford Cider from the village of the same name just 3 miles from the city centre and our sparkling comes courtesy of Iford Manor using wild yeasts. Flavoured cider of draught comes from Bristol Cider’s Rhubarb and Honey’s Apple Black uses blackberries, while their Stony Bonk mixes cider with Ginger Beer.  If you really want to be in the know for some fun cider delights, ask the bar staff about our Faerie Juice or Princess Bubblegum….they’ll fill you in.

We also have a range of apple brandies from the Somerset Cider Brandy Co and their Kingston Black liqueur forms the basis of our Bath Bellini cocktail, a glass of prosecco finished off with a Morello Cherry steeped in brandy eu de vie.

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Sourcing Sustainably

From our energy sources, utilising wind and sun to our electric cargo bike used to source local produce and collect luggage for our visitors from the station, we are fully aware that the hospitality industry is resource intensive and do everything in our power to reduce our carbon footprint. That is why you will find wine on tap behind the bar, as well as more traditional bottled wines albeit from local vineyards now that temperatures in the South West are comparable to the famous wine regions of France twenty years ago.

There is no compromise on flavour though and you will find our kegged white wines deliver a delicious range from Northern Italy while our boxed red wine selection is sourced by local vintners Wolf Wine. Three Choirs, Dunleavy and Smith and Evans are all Somerset vineyards producing exceptional Whites, Rosé and sparkling wines for our cellar but you will also find some fine wines amongst the mix.