There's a decent chance you've already drunk Lost and Grounded's beer. Keller Pils, their unfiltered German-style pilsner, pours in good bars from Cornwall to Edinburgh, and most people ordering it have no idea it comes out of an industrial unit in Brislington, east of Bristol Temple Meads. It's quietly become one of the most widely poured craft lagers in the country.
That anonymity would bother some breweries. It suits this one. Lost and Grounded have never been a shouty operation — the beer does the arguing.
Who they are
Lost and Grounded started brewing in 2016 — the same year, as it happens, that we ran our first tour — founded by brewers who had learned their trade at serious operations in Australia and London before setting up in Bristol. From day one the plan was unfashionable: instead of joining the IPA arms race, they installed a continental-style brewhouse and committed to lagers and Belgian-influenced beers, the two families of brewing that punish impatience most severely.
The bet paid off. Within a few years they'd become one of the most respected lager brewers in Britain, and the beer world's fashion swung round to meet them — crisp, clean lager is now the thing every craft bar wants on tap, and Lost and Grounded were already there waiting.
Keller Pils and the rest
Keller Pils is the flagship and the calling card: an unfiltered pils in the German cellar-beer tradition, soft, snappy and dangerously drinkable. If you order one beer at the taproom, it's that — fresh from the source is a genuinely different experience from the keg version that's travelled.
But the supporting cast rewards attention. Running With Sceptres, their self-described "special lager beer", brings hops to the lager party without wrecking it. The Belgian side of the brewery produces stronger, spicier things — tripel-style and golden ales that show the same precision applied to a very different tradition. Order in thirds and the board becomes a tour of continental Europe without leaving Brislington.
Visiting the taproom
The brewery runs a taproom on site, and it's the right way to meet these beers — lager this fresh, this close to the tanks it conditioned in, is a rarity in Britain. The area is industrial rather than pretty, which regular readers will recognise as the standard habitat of every working Bristol brewery worth visiting.
Check hours before travelling — on the day, not the week before. Working breweries move their public hours with the brewing schedule, and Brislington is far enough out that a wasted journey stings. Their website and social media are the sources to trust.
- Getting there: it's east of Temple Meads, a longer walk than the St Philips cluster — many visitors treat it as a short bus or taxi hop. Don't drive; you're going to a brewery.
- Weekends are safest, as with every taproom in the city.
- Groups: more than a handful of you? Arrange it in advance, or look at a private group tour where the venues are expecting you.
Where it fits in a Bristol beer day
Because Brislington sits a little apart from the St Philips cluster, Lost and Grounded works best as its own destination rather than one stop on a crawl. A good pattern for a beer weekend: our Bristol Craft Beer Experience on the Saturday — private harbour boat with tastings, behind-the-scenes at Moor, beer flight at The Beer Emporium on King Street, all in four hours for £69 — and a leisurely Lost and Grounded taproom session on the Sunday, hours permitting. For the fuller map of who else opens their doors, our guide to the Bristol breweries you can actually visit has the lot.
And if you're shopping for a lager obsessive: a tour gift voucher plus a mixed case of Keller Pils is a present with a one hundred per cent success rate, in our experience.
Four hours through Bristol's beer
The Bristol Craft Beer Experience: a private harbour boat with tastings on board, a behind-the-scenes brewhouse tour at Moor, and a beer flight with cheese and charcuterie on King Street. £69 a head, everything included, selected Saturdays since 2016.
Common questions
What are Lost and Grounded famous for?
Keller Pils — the unfiltered German-style pilsner that's become one of Britain's most widely poured craft lagers — plus a respected range of clean lagers and Belgian-influenced beers.
Can you visit the brewery?
Yes, the on-site taproom opens to the public on set days in the Brislington area, east of Temple Meads. Check their website or social media for current hours before you travel.
Why is lager the hard option?
Lager ferments cool and slow, then needs weeks of cold conditioning before it's ready — tying up tanks far longer than a pale ale would. There's nowhere for flaws to hide in a beer that clean, which is why brewers respect it.
Is it on your tour?
No — our behind-the-scenes brewery is Moor, in St Philips. But the two visits pair well across a weekend, and plenty of our guests do exactly that.
Breweries change their taproom hours frequently and without notice. Please check with Lost and Grounded directly before travelling — we've deliberately not published hours here because they'd be out of date within weeks.
