To celebrate four years of the Exposed Award-winning bar Two Thirds Beer Co., we popped down to Abbeydale Road for a chat with one third of the ownership team, Ben Stubbs, to find out more about their latest innovations and what comes next…
The last five years has seen Abbeydale Road become one of the premiere drinking destinations in the city thanks to a glut of top-notch independent bars and restaurants opening along the strip.
Chief amongst this fresh crop of watering holes is Two Thirds Beer Co, an independent, accessible craft beer bar boasting 16 taps of constantly rotating cask and keg options, and its own kitchen operation serving up German dogs and Bavarian burgers.
Opening on the precipice of turbulent times back in November 2019, the bar’s owners, who at that time were relatively inexperienced, defiantly navigated that early period of uncertainty and used the experience to help them create the bar we know and love today.
For example, table service is something that was never on the horizon when they set out, and they may never had tried it had it not been for the pandemic, but it’s now a staple part of the experience and something that customers love. This willingness to innovate, embrace change and try new things has been the key to their success.
With that spirit of innovation in mind, earlier this year they made the decision to bring the kitchen operation in house, and enlisted chef Jack Smith to head up the food side of things. With the kitchen now locked down, their most recent addition to the line-up was weekend morning openings for an American diner-themed Breakfast menu, which Ben tells us has gone down a treat with locals.
Ben said: “It’s called the Hangover Club. The idea being that, if you’ve had maybe a rough night the night before, you can come down and get stuck into a full breakfast menu. We serve everything from Full English or American pancakes, to muffins or eggs. Pints are on offer so there’s even a chance to force down a hair of the dog, or even a Bloody Mary, or a shot of Berocca!
“It’s a brand-new angle for us as we’ve never done breakfast before, but it’s something we’ve always wanted to do. Jack (Smith) is a really talented chef, and it’s just allowed him to be even more creative and flex a bit.
“To begin with, we worried that people might not see Two Thirds as somewhere to go for breakfast, but it’s been awesome ever since we launched it in November – it’s been mental busy! We’ve done half price breakfast for the first month and we’ve been fully booked every Saturday and Sunday. We’ve had to cap it because we just can’t fit any more people in, so it’s well exceeded our expectations.
“We’ve got a really loyal customer-base who are always really receptive to any new ideas that we have. After being here for four years, we’ve firmly established ourselves.”
That loyal fanbase has been hard-earned, given the trading climate that Two Thirds opened into.
“We’ve learnt so much over the last four years,” said Ben, “We opened a couple of months before the first lockdown, so the first 18-months were a massive learning curve. We’d all (owners Ben, Adam and Danny) quit our jobs to do this, and had never done anything like this before, so we learnt a hell of a lot about running a business in tough times.
“Over the last year it’s felt like we’ve found some stability and been able to drive things forward. We now know what works.
“We’ve tried to make craft beer accessible and made a conscious effort to have a beer offering that means we have something for everyone, not just 15 per cent mushroom stouts for bearded hipsters like me and you, instead it’s an environment where you can feel comfortable about coming down on your own, with your pals or with your other half.
“We’ve always tried different things, like our supper clubs, or like the breakfast we’re doing now, and we’re finally at a point where we’ve established ourselves on Abbeydale Road. For myself and the other owners, we’ve enjoyed that side of things, kinda being masters of our own destiny.
“No two weeks are the same, because we’ve created an environment where if you’ve got an idea, whether that’s the owners or the team, we can run with it. We’re not tied to any brewery or owned by any big chain, so we can do what we want – that’s the fun bit.”
While continuing to keep it interesting and fun on Abbeydale Road, the lads have other big plans in the new year.
Ben told us: “We’re really excited about the prospect of opening a second site next year, and we think it’s going to be wicked. The big ambition is to get to ten sites as soon as we can but done in the right way.
“We think you could pick this up, move the concept somewhere else and it would work well. It’s just finding the right places. That will happen in the early part of next year.”
