A BAR that was designed and opened in the space of six weeks could become the home of a brewing school.

The Tap and Brew in Old Town is the brainchild of Tom Gee who has the Hop Kettle Brewery at the Hawksworth Trading Estate and previously owned the Red Lion in Cricklade.

It opened a few weeks ago, just in time for the Christmas rush but already Tom has his eye on the future.

He told the Advertiser: “Towards the tail end of last year there was a to-let sign in this property.

“I met with the landlord and realised that this could be the absolutely perfect thing for us. Then it was full speed ahead.

“In six weeks, it was designed, opened and operating and over Christmas especially it has proven to be exactly the right thing for us.

He said: “It’s the perfect showcase for our product, it looks amazing and it means we can have a vast majority of our products on sale at once”

Tom still has plans for the tap house, including something unique for its patrons.

“I always wanted it to be more than just a tap room. So over the year it will evolve into a brew school with the experimental brewery we have out the back.

“That will be so that people could buy places on a brewing day, or buy it out for a full day to produce beers for birthdays, weddings or just because they fancy it.

“Everything that is produced out there will then be showcased in our free experimental tanks which are behind the bar.

Tom is even considering running competitions throughout the year for customers to design their own ales. The winners of those competitions - after a thorough public testing - could then find their own recipe brew for sale on tap.

Despite Old Town having plenty of busy watering holes, Tom believes it is better to have all of them in one place.

He said: “If I could pick any street in Old Town, this would be where I would want to be.

“For me, this is the absolute perfection. We have enough other sites to pull people to the area and then we all benefit from it.

“If you think of Kings Street in Bristol, they’re all lined up next to each other which makes it the destination space.

“What we want to concentrate on with the other guys is to make people think if this in a similar vein. So instead of people going out on the weekends to Bristol or Bath, why wouldn’t you come to Devizes Road?”