no. 034 | Electric Bear
Into the West Country for June, we introduce beers from Bath-based Electric Bear, a brewery owned by a husband and wife team on the city’s outskirts.
Based on the edge of Bath, Electric Bear Brewing takes its name from the old 19th Century Bear Brewery, which was located in the city’s Bear Flat neighbourhood. Described in 1893 as “undoubtedly one of the most noteworthy breweries in the West of England”, it seemed like a pretty good place for the founding team to start – standing on the shoulders of giants, so to speak.
Owned and run by local Bath residents David and Mary Horner, the husband and wife employ a team of 14 people, all of whom are passionate about showcasing craft beer from what is still a somewhat under-served city. “We’re the only craft brewery in Bath itself, but we’re only a stone’s throw away from the amazing scene in Bristol, and there are some great breweries in Somerset. We’re quite happy being on the edge though – it’s where the interesting things tend to happen”.
Electric Bear describe their beers as innovative, delicious and modern. “We brew four new craft beers a month and our approach to brewing is simple: we want to produce consistently great tasting beers of all styles from easy-drinking ales to highly-hopped, high strength beers – from our core range to our experimental special releases”. As we’ve come to expect from previous breweries, ingredients play as large a part in this as process – sourcing the best hops and malts they can means that the onus is on Electric Bear is to elevate their choices, and showcase them as deliciously as they possibly can.
Whilst Electric Bear are a lone wolf in Bath, the challenges they face are shared across the industry at the moment. “Like everyone, we’re feeling the almighty pinch from the price of everything going up, and simultaneously doing our best to shield our customers from that as much as possible. We really want to continue to make great beer that’s accessible to everyone”.
Our more keen-eye customers will quickly note the influence of music on the Electric Bear team, and the tracks playing in the background of the brewery inspire a lot of their beer names. Some are more obvious than others, and there are no official prizes for naming the song, but we’ll certainly extend the deserved kudos.