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The Grapes, Bath
Bath
BA1 1EQ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Will Larter left this review about The Grapes
The first thing I noticed about the Grapes was a vinyl record of Rumours, by Fleetwood Mac on the turntable behind the bar. It remained the best, or only, good thing, about my visit. There are three hand pumps, in front of which a young but rather large woman had chosen to sit. I was (just) able to see the beers and made a tentative selection while the barman was finishing serving a couple of other young people before reluctantly turning to this old guy standing by the hand pumps. That would be me.
He gave his best surly welcome while avoiding eye contact. My half of Frome Special Bitter 4.2% was only special to the extent of smelling like apples and being slightly cloudy. He referred this to a tall young man in a scrum at the end of the bar, who turned out to be the manager, and also failed to make eye contact with the awkward gadgy. With great reluctance they offered me a different beer; I went for another local brewery, Ramsbury, whose Day Break 3.6% was a session pale, and tasted exactly how I expected, which was why I didn't choose it in the first place. It was in very good condition but not my sort of beer, with a sherbet edge to the hops.
This whole experience cost me £2.70 for a half pint. The vast majority of the customers were well under 30, and I'd be surprised if any of them were drinking cask beer. On my admittedly very limited sample, this pub's place in the current GBG looks a little precarious.
Fleetwood Mac were still good, though.
On 19th October 2026
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 4937 recommendations about 4518 pubs]
paulof horsham left this review about The Grapes
From the various options, I chose the seats with the former TfL moquette patterns. This on the basis that these seemed to be the only ones from a choice of around 50 with a bit of a cushion in them.
From here. I could survey the bar with it's 3 pumps offering up modern pales ales, as well as the pair of 4 keg taps along with Pilsener Urquell. Both keg & cask seemed to major on independent breweries as far as I could tell (Asahi Dry being the obvious exception).
Despite being in the thick of Bath things, the pub wasn't overly busy on a hot late afternoon, while the £5.30 price of my pint was equally surprising. Cider and mead seem to be a bit of a thing here, but neither are really my area of expertise.
While my pint could have been a little better, I quite liked it in here - there's a good alternative vibe that's not overplayed.
On 3rd August 2026
- rating: 7
[User has posted 691 recommendations about 642 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Grapes
Funny place; quite traditional over a long and narrow bar, hot and sweaty within with a folk band in situ. Amusement value via the repurposed bus seats. Many punters were taking advantage of the outside seating, some of which looked like traffic control rather than belonging to the pub. Four sticks with a pair of ciders and a pair of cask from Twisted Oak plus a couple of interesting fridge choices. My Twisted Oak Citra was a bit warm but drinkable (NBSS 2). Ropey cask aside, this one had character and I suspect if I’d visited at a quieter time (and got a better beer) I’d have been fairly enamoured. But, as the great Roy Walker advised us, say what you see.
On 15th August 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 6368 recommendations about 6346 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Grapes
As described by others, below. I was really impressed by the staff who made a point of chatting and checking whether we wanted CAMRA discount, offering tasters and just generally being professional and welcoming. The clientele were a mixed bag ranging from crusty old yoghurt knitters to a young mother with a baby, but no tourists or undesirables. Ales on were Grime’s RA American Pale Ale, Langport Bitter from Fine Tuned and 4 craft ales. The draft ales were in excellent condition as was the real cider from Medford. One of the better drinking establishments in Bath and worth returning to for many reasons.
On 2nd March 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3864 recommendations about 3822 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Grapes
Recently re-opened after being closed for a number of years, this is much improved from it’s previous incarnation when it was looking a little down at heel and clearly past it’s best.
Internally it’s one long, open plan room with a temporary seating area in the closed off road outside and a courtyard garden at the rear, although we did not investigate this. Flooring is all some type of wood, with smooth planks at the front and some more elaborate parquet style at the rear, and there were more dark wooden boards cladding the wall at the rear giving something of a rustic feel. This was added to by some chunky, roughly sawn wooden benches, whilst further seating was proved by what looked to be an old bus seat as well as more regular chairs and stools at the bar. Some colourful artwork was on the walls. Lighting was mostly exposed filament bulbs with some industrial style steel conduit around the walls and ceiling.
Beers on tap were Yeovil Ale’s Summerset and Box Steam’s Tunnel Vision, whilst the ciders were well represented with Harry’s Mango & Lime, Iford and Honey’s Midford. If gin is more your thing, there was a good selection of unusual choices, which the friendly barmaid happily went through with Mrs B who ended up with a marmalade one which was pronounced very nice. Overall, I really liked it in here and thought it a great improvement.
On 16th September 2021
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2173 recommendations about 2064 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Grapes
Now reopened a few months ago after a two year closure, It felt a little more modern bar than traditional pub to me. The ninth pub of my day in Bath so at this stage my notes were somewhat vague. there are four handpumps, I dis-remember the beers but there couldn't have been anything that particularly jumped out at me as I went keg, Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout which was very good. There was a good buzz about the pub and certainly worth calling in.
On 26th March 2020
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2410 recommendations about 2373 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
rebekah lawrence left this review about The Grapes
Brilliant food & atmosphere
looking for Mike Arnold or Georgia Thomas.........where are you????
On 23rd August 2004
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2 recommendations about 2 pubs]