Beerd | Simple Simon Design

Beerd in Kingsdown, Bristol is the latest in a string of successful creations by Simple Simon Design for Bath Ales. Beerd is the West Country's first dedicated craft beer venue designed to deliver both the very traditional and the very latest in beer flavours to a wider audience.   Beerd is designed to appeal to a new breed of beer drinkers, bright young things, with a thirst for bright tasting beers more used to finding out the latest news on twitter than the broadsheets. Simon Jones the Beerd designer says “we decided to go back to basics, although we only had 3 weeks and a limited budget, there was a big rip-out. We threw out the old bar, it was too big and in the wrong place, and we removed years of plaster, added new chunky beer shelves and then called-in the sandblasters. When we came back in the morning the original brick was clean and softened and the beer shelves had a fantastic grain like driftwood”. The eclectically assembled bar was built on site from reclaimed timber, which even included an old door that came from a skip outside the neighbouring pub, the pub where Bath Ales' founder Roger Jones had pulled pints years previously! The unique barrel-shaped back bar with its 9 taps was built to mimic the water towers, like those found old apartment blocks in New York, where Craft Beer has its routes, and featured in the Beerd logo. The finished interior delivers plenty of “bang for the buck”, featuring bare floorboards, exposed brick and enamel factory lights which give an industrial chic look, that is complimented and softened by the bespoke wallpaper that Simple Simon created using old beer label designs – as well as adding a few new ones of their own. Mismatched seating using iconic 20th century chairs and simple laminate faced tables along with more luxurious upholstered booths create a relaxed welcoming feel, which is enhanced with character features such as the 30’s log burner, Victorian fire surround and lights and portholes from marine salvage. The Beerd food and drink offering from Bath Ales The bar delivers a diverse range of British, European and American beers from bottle, keg and cask.  Beer can be bought in the new 1/3rd and 2/3rd pint measures as well as the more traditional sizes, enabling customers to sample a range of beers on a single visit.  The beer offering is paired with a concise range of expertly made to order Neapolitan pizzas from authentic Naples ingredients, as well as perfect beer partnered snacks such as bar sausage, bar dough, Padron Peppers, (the Russian roulette of barsnacks), and the legendary bar skin - huge foot long pork scratchings which literally melt in the mouth.  Commenting before the launch, Bath Ales retail director, Robin Couling said: “We love great beer and we want Beerd to become a vibrant, exciting venue that gives the consumer something different.  We are delighted with Beerd we hope and expect beer enthusiasts will enjoy it just as much as us.” As a tongue in cheek nod to the clichéd image of real ale drinkers, the staff wear T-shirts printed with the legend "beerdy weirdy", but that's where the joke ends, the team have been picked for their knowledge of the beer on offer, and they enthusiastically guide novice and experienced drinkers around the range.  The creative collaboration between Bath Ales and Simple Simon Design started with Graze bar and Chophouse, a fabulous blend of Bath Ales beers and the best of local produce in a meat focused menu. Subsequently Simple Simon Design have provided design solutions for the Salamander and the Hop Pole in Bath, both makeovers taking the best of the existing traditional design and subtly enhancing it with new colours, fixtures and fittings to improve both the operational and aesthetic characteristics.