There's a standing rule about Bristol beer: the breweries live east, in the industrial streets, and the drinking happens in the centre. Left Handed Giant are the exception. Alongside their production site in St Philips they run a brewpub at Finzels Reach, on the water in the middle of the city — which means you can watch beer being brewed without ever leaving the centre of Bristol.
For visitors short on time, that makes them the most convenient serious brewery visit in the city. It doesn't hurt that the beer is very good indeed.
Who they are
Left Handed Giant emerged in the mid-2010s wave of Bristol brewing and grew fast on the strength of modern, ambitious beer: hop-forward pales and IPAs, sharp sours, rich stouts, and a steady stream of collaborations with breweries here and abroad. The range rotates constantly — the board is rarely the same two visits running — and the can artwork is some of the most recognisable in British brewing, the sort of thing people keep after the beer is gone.
They now brew across two sites, which is the bit worth understanding before you visit.
The brewpub at Finzels Reach
This is the one that made their city-centre reputation. Finzels Reach is a redeveloped stretch on the water near Castle Park — historically brewing land, as it happens, part of the city's old sugar and brewing quarter — and the brewpub sits in it with the brewing kit in full view. Beer made on the premises pours a few metres from where it fermented, alongside the wider range from St Philips.
What should you order? Whatever's freshest is the honest answer — the point of a brewpub is that the beer hasn't travelled — but if the board offers something brewed on site, start there. The small kit gets used for experiments and one-offs that never make it into cans, which means the brewpub regularly pours beer that exists nowhere else on earth. That's a better boast than most bars in Britain can make.
A brewpub is a different animal from a taproom: it keeps pub hours rather than brewery hours, it serves food, and it doesn't require a trek. If you're in Bristol for a weekend and want the "drink beer next to the tanks that made it" experience with the least logistics, this is the easiest version in the city. It also sits right on the water, which earns it a mention in our guide to the Floating Harbour — the walk along the harbour to Castle Park is one of Bristol's best approaches to a pint.
The St Philips taproom
The production brewery in St Philips is where the volume happens, out in east Bristol's brewing quarter alongside Moor, Arbor and the rest — the cluster we've written up in our guide to the breweries you can visit. It opens as a taproom on set days, with the rawer, bigger-room character taprooms have, and it slots naturally into an east Bristol crawl.
The two sites keep different hours, and both change them — the brewpub with the seasons, the taproom with the brewing schedule. Check Left Handed Giant's website or social media for both before you commit to a plan.
Which one should you visit?
- Short on time, staying central: the brewpub. No journey, food on hand, kit in view.
- Making a day of east Bristol: the taproom, folded into a walk round the brewing quarter.
- After our tour: the brewpub, easily. The Bristol Craft Beer Experience finishes at The Beer Emporium on King Street around 4pm, and Finzels Reach is a few minutes' walk from there. Boat, brewery, beer flight, then a brewpub on the water to finish — that's a complete Bristol Saturday.
If you're planning that Saturday for a crowd — a birthday, a stag or hen, a work outing — our private group tours run the same four-hour route with the venues booked and expecting you, for up to 30 guests. And the whole experience exists as a gift voucher if you're buying for someone else's Saturday instead.
Finish your tour a few minutes from the brewpub
The Bristol Craft Beer Experience ends on King Street around 4pm — a short walk from Finzels Reach. Before that: a private harbour boat with tastings, a behind-the-scenes brewhouse tour at Moor, and a beer flight with cheese and charcuterie. Four hours, £69 a head, everything included.
Common questions
What's special about the brewpub?
Beer is brewed on the premises with the kit in view, right in the city centre by the water at Finzels Reach — the easiest place in central Bristol to drink beer metres from where it was made.
What do they brew?
Modern craft across the board — hop-forward pales and IPAs, sours, stouts and frequent collaborations — with a constantly rotating range and some of the best-known can artwork in British beer.
Brewpub or taproom — which is which?
The brewpub is central, keeps pub hours and serves food; the taproom is at the production brewery in St Philips and opens on set days. They keep different hours, so check both on their website before travelling.
Is it near your tour route?
Yes — our tour finishes on King Street around 4pm, a few minutes' walk from Finzels Reach. It's the most popular way guests extend the day.
Venues change opening hours frequently and without notice. Please check with Left Handed Giant directly before travelling — we've deliberately not published hours here because they'd be out of date within weeks.
