The new owners of Bath’s only craft brewery, the award-winning Electric Bear Brewing Company, have pledged to invest in the business to grow it further.
David Horner, managing director of Bath-based asset management firm Chelverton, his wife Mary and their family have lived and worked in Bath for more than 20 years.
David has nurtured an ambition to own a craft brewery for decades so when he discovered the Electric Bear Brewing Company was seeking a new buyer just before Christmas, he jumped at the opportunity.
The firm, based on Brassmill Lane, had been launched in 2015 by former home-brewer Chris Lewis, who named it after the 19th century Bear Brewery in Bear Flat, described in 1893 as “undoubtedly one of the most noteworthy breweries in the West of England”.
It has since brewed enough beer, it estimates, to fill all the baths in Bath. Each month it brews four new craft beers and during the recent Covid lockdown period, demand increased dramatically, boosting online sales by more than 400%, and resulting in it winning a coveted Feefo Gold Trusted Service award for brewing and distributing 120,000 cans during the most challenging trading conditions.
David Horner, pictured, far right, with the Electric Bear team, said: “I’ve always wanted to own a brewery and have missed out on a number of occasions over the years, so when I heard that Bath’s only craft brewery, right here on my doorstep, was available, it was too good an opportunity to miss.
“Electric Bear is hugely popular among locals, who have queued round the block for the weekly taproom sessions, [pictured] and love the fun, eye-catching can designs.
“The brewery has so much untapped potential and an excellent brewing team, so we are very much looking forward to further developing the brand over the next few years.”
The sales team is currently being expanded and a University of Bath graduate has been hired to help develop the brewery’s sustainability objectives.
The Horners are investing in new brewing equipment and working with several Bath businesses on their mission to make Electric Bear one of the best-known craft breweries in the region.
“We have lots of exciting plans in the pipeline and would like to invite the owners of local pubs, restaurants, bars, off licences, farm shops and, of course, local beer-lovers, to visit us at the brewery and discover our fantastic range of delicious beers,” David added.
Head brewer Ian Morris said the brewery strived to create “great, innovative, and delicious beer that delivers on that ‘glad to be alive’ vibe”.
“We are particularly well known in the trade for our core range of most popular beers, including our 4.6% gluten free Helles lager Mixtape, 4.2% American pale ale Werrrd! and the latest addition, our 5% pale ale Tondo.”
The brewery also supplies kegs, casks and cans to pubs, restaurants, bars, bottle shops, retailers such as M&S and via its online shop and taproom.
The brewery has made humour and fun an important part of its brand and there is fierce competition among the team to come up with the best names for its new beers, such as Inspector Remorse, Bless you on the 5th and All the Best Names Get Vetoed, which have been exported to Belgium, Italy and as far afield as Australia.
It has also produced several collaborative beers with Bath businesses, including Mokoko Chocolata, a 5.2% stout featuring coffee from café roastery Mokoko, and Furever Home for the Bath Cats & Dogs Home charity, which featured images of individual cats and dogs on the cans to help raise funds and find the lonely pets their ‘furever’ homes.
Electric Bear’s taproom is open from Thursdays to Sundays, with regular street food, DJs, live bands and a large sports screen, while its shop is open seven days a week.
The original 19th century brewery on Bear Flat, and the much older Bear Inn alongside it, were destroyed during the Bath Blitz of 1942. The pub was later rebuilt but not the brewery.
The ‘electric’ part of the name comes from how the brewery first powered its brewhouse kettle, using a ‘copper’ to boil the wort – the pre-fermented beer ‘starter’ comprising malt extracted from the grain mash and water.
