Craft Republic

Hi, we're Tim & Claire - it's lovely to meet you! Along with our side-kick and bar dog Darcy, we're the people behind Craft Republic. We're not part of a wider group, or brand, or group of brands! There's no investors or tie-ins with any breweries or distributors. Craft Republic is fully independent and that's something we're incredibly proud of. Family Owned and Fully Independent We planned Craft Republic for seven years. Like all good things, it’s needed a bit of time to ferment (see what we did there?! ;) ). Back then the first idea was to open a bottle shop on Barry Island (where we live). We’re a husband and wife team who love craft beer, good wine, great gin and where possible want to support independent businesses. We were constantly reading about exciting new beers on social media and in the press but found it frustrating that we had to travel further afield or wait for beer festivals to try them for ourselves. We wanted to create something here in the Vale of Glamorgan, we had an idea and an audience of 2... The Plan? a craft beer bar in barry A few years ago the social scene in Barry started to change, largely thanks to the Pumphouse development. Shortly after, a friend introduced us to Simon Baston (our landlord). We shared our vision with him and although it was right at the start of the GoodSheds journey, when he told us his plans we knew instantly it was the location we’d been waiting for. Simon’s ambitions to create a modern, urban high street with a strong community at its heart was exactly the type of place that we, as local residents, wanted to go to. So of course we jumped at the chance of being a part of making it happen. The location was a 15 minute walk from our home on Barry Island and presented a great opportunity... Getting open August 2020 Craft Republic opens in Barry After years of saving every penny we had we gave up our full time corporate jobs and started the fit out at the Goodsheds in March 2020 - just before the first Covid-19 lockdown came in to effect! We did the majority of the fit out ourselves (Tim built the bar, Claire painted the walls and wallpapered the toilets). After all, we'd just given up our careers so what else were we to do with our time?! We finally opened Craft Republic on 26 August 2020, right in to the middle of a global pandemic. From there we're dealt with change-after-change in restrictions and a full lockdown during which we continued to operate as a shop (you can still shop online and in store and we can send gin, rum, beers and wine anywhere in the UK). As we write this, our bar is open - long may that continue! Multi-Award Winning Bar Our team put in a huge amount of working into making Craft Republic the best it can be. We're incredibly proud that our bar has been recognised by these awards.