Bath Road Beers, Cheltenham

A very swift drop-in to this bottle shop/bar. As described below, it’s a long and narrow interior with a rough wood décor on the walls. A very cramped experience – carrying a small rucksack I was paranoid about either knocking a bottle off a shelf or a glass out of someone’s hand by accident as there’s little seating and most people were standing, though I did choose to visit on a mid-Saturday evening I suppose. One cask available (Exeter Avocet – a bit warm and lacking vim, NBSS 2) plus a small selection of kegs, with the other half trying Classic Helles by Two Tribes. Timing is everything with this one – but given the mediocre cask I wouldn’t be going out of my way next time. As a shop though, it works well.

I’m not in the habit of reviewing pubs that I haven’t had a drink in, but I’ll make an exception in this case as I did at least buy a couple of bottles to take away and drink later. And that sums up this “pub” – it is really a bottled beer shop, albeit with a few options on tap and a small seating area at the front. It is presumably a converted shop and is certainly well stocked with shelves of bottles down both sides, mostly on open shelving but also with some refrigerated units at the front. The flooring was rough wooden boards with similar roughly hewn planks on the wall. A couple of high bench style tables were at the front is you wanted to drink in the premises, and a few pot plants and magazines were in the window. The owner was a friendly chap who seemed very knowledgeable and was keen to talk about the different ciders that were available. It seems that they also host “Meet the brewer” events and such like. Beers on tap were all keg rather than cask, but nonetheless an unusual selection which he informed change about once a week. On this occasion they were Gloucester Brewery’s American Pale, Kernel’s Nelson Pauvin, Keller Pils, Juicebox Citrus IPA and La Goudale Blonde. Prices seemed expensive, with all but the Gloucester one coming in at between £5.50 - £7.50 per pint, not that pint measures appeared to be available, it looked like it was just halves and two thirds. He apologised that there was no cider on currently, although said that they do have it on occasions. I’ve mixed feelings about this. As a bottle shop it’s great, and I can see that if I lived locally I’d be a regular customer. But it’s not somewhere I’d choose to sit and while away the time with a few pints, or probably even one for that matter, which is what I look for in a pub.