Bath's beer scene is smaller than Bristol's, but it's genuine rather than an afterthought. Electric Bear Brewing Co runs the city's best-known taproom, on the western edge of town in Newbridge, open Thursday to Sunday. The Bath Brew House brews on site at its own city-centre pub. And the Star Inn, a heritage-listed pub dating to 1759, is the main outlet for Abbey Ales, Bath's longest-running independent brewery.
Bath doesn't have Bristol's density of breweries, and it doesn't try to. What it has is a handful of genuinely good, genuinely local options, worth seeking out rather than stumbling into, and worth adding to a wider evening out alongside our best pubs in Bath guide.
Electric Bear Brewing Co: the jewel in the crown
Founded in 2015, Electric Bear brews from Brassmill Trading Estate in Newbridge, on the western edge of Bath, and is widely regarded as the standout of the city's craft beer scene. The taproom is open Thursday to Sunday, with around ten of the brewery's own beers on at any time, spanning easy-drinking ales through to heavily hopped styles, all brewed on site. Weekends often bring street food, live music, quizzes or art exhibitions on top of the beer, so it's worth checking what's on before you go if that's part of the appeal. Newbridge is a bus ride or a longer walk from the centre, so treat it as a destination trip rather than a stop on a wider day out.
Bath Brew House: the brewpub option
For something more central, the Bath Brew House is a brewpub in the city centre that brews its own beer on site and serves it alongside classic British food. Its signature beers, Emperor and Gladiator, run year-round with seasonal cask and keg beers rotating alongside them. It also runs brewery experience days for anyone who wants to see the brewing process rather than just drink the result. Because it's a full pub with food rather than a stripped-back taproom, it's the easiest of the three to fit into an evening that also needs feeding.
The Star Inn: Bath's oldest brewery, in its natural home
The Star Inn has been the principal outlet for Abbey Ales, Bath's only established brewery, since around 2001. First licensed as a pub in 1759, it's listed by CAMRA as a rare and unspoiled historic pub interior, with four separate small drinking areas rather than one open room, including a bench known locally as "death row". Abbey Ales itself was founded in 1997 by Alan Morgan, the first new brewery in the city in over fifty years, and its flagship Bellringer, a golden, hoppy best bitter, has picked up awards over the years. Guided tours of the brewery are available if you want to see beyond the pub itself.
Beer shops if you'd rather not go out
If a night out isn't the plan, Bath has a couple of dedicated beer shops in the city centre stocking local cans and bottles from Electric Bear, Abbey Ales and others alongside beers from further afield, which is a decent way to try a few of these without committing to a full pub crawl. It's also the more practical option if you're staying somewhere without easy transport back from Newbridge late at night.
Comparing the options
| Venue | Area | Format | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electric Bear Brewing Co | Newbridge | Dedicated taproom | Bath's best-regarded craft brewery, weekend events |
| Bath Brew House | City centre | Brewpub with food | Signature Emperor and Gladiator, easy to combine with dinner |
| The Star Inn (Abbey Ales) | City centre | Historic pub | Bath's oldest brewery, heritage-listed 1759 interior |
Getting there and back
Bath Brew House and the Star Inn are both central and walkable from most places to stay in Bath, and both sit close to the areas covered in our where to stay in Bath guide. Electric Bear is the outlier, out in Newbridge, so it's worth checking bus times before you go and planning your route back, especially outside the Thursday-to-Sunday taproom hours when services can thin out; our getting around Bath without a car article covers the bus options in more detail. If you'd rather not rely on the last bus, it's worth comparing a car rather than assuming one option is the only one: WeKnowBath is published by the Tick Taxi group, and every local option, competitors included, is worth a quick price check before you book.
The honest alternative
If you only have time for one, the Star Inn gives you the most distinctly Bath experience: a genuinely historic pub interior, the city's oldest brewery, and a short walk from the Abbey. Save Electric Bear for a trip where you've got a full afternoon or evening free to make the journey out to Newbridge worthwhile.