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Liverpool Brewing Co Brewery Tap, Liverpool
Liverpool
L1 1JN
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Rob Hunter left this review about Liverpool Brewing Co Brewery Tap
Visited back in May on a Friday afternoon. Six cask with all clipped including one Seacider. I went for the Fat Rat (Choc and Peanut Butter) at a rather expensive £3 for a half.
Last time I was in here it was the Sanctuary bar; it's now Liverpool Brewing Co but in some kind of cruel irony there were no Liverpool Brewing beers available and I believe the brewery has actually ceased trading. Presumably these premises were a separate entity and unaffected, or this side of the business has been taken over and for some reason kept the old name. Who knows? It currently feels like it's in limbo and has lost its identity somewhat.
Back to the pricing, this is one of those places that has a disparity between the price for a pint and a half. Look at the following for example:
£4.50 pint / £2.60 half
£4.80 pint / £2.90 half
£5.00 pint / £3.00 half
£5.50 pint / £3.00 half
I know some people will defend this practice but I'm not a fan personally; rounding up to the nearest 10p or even 20p isn't too bad but anything more than that starts to feel like a money grab.
Anyway back to business, the bar and main seating area is on the ground floor as you would expect, with a downstairs (basement) level area with more seating and the toilets - not investigated on this visit.
I was the only customer though one chap did leave just before I entered at around 12:45pm, so they at least had two customers that day. Hope it gets busier in the evenings or it doesn't bode well for the place. It's mainly bench seating with some tables and chairs plus some stools at the bar, which must make it a pain getting served during busy periods.
There was a bit of an odd vibe to the place, that combined with the beer pricing made it a 6/10 for me, though the beer selection was decent enough and I daresay if I visited at a better time it could easily become a 7/10.
On 7th September 2026
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1004 recommendations about 751 pubs]
Will Larter left this review about Liverpool Brewing Co Brewery Tap
For my "catch up" trip to Liverpool, I remembered coming here a few years ago with Real Ale Ray. There was no way I was going to make notes for a review while out with Ray, so the pub was enjoyed but not reviewed. Today's visit found this small shop-conversion brewery tap less crowded than I remembered, probably because it's only 5pm. My visit was slightly marred by a couple of bar hangers who chatted constantly to the barmaid - it's not often that background music is drowned out by just two people, but this is Liverpool, after all. My beer of choice was Salopian Entire Butt 4.6%: "an intricate blend of 14 malts and four hops" according to the blurb, a new beer to me, though I know it from reading about beer history. Other beers included local Higsons Pale Ale, but I'd had their Bitter previously in another pub, so resisted temptation. This is a rough and ready micropub, and likely not to everyone's taste, but worth a look in.
On 13th January 2026
- rating: 7
[User has posted 4910 recommendations about 4493 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Strongers . left this review about Liverpool Brewing Co Brewery Tap
Liverpool Brewing Co Brewery Tap had a handful of locals sat at the U-shaped wooden pallet counter that runs up the right during a recent late Monday afternoon visit. This counter faces padded bench seating and tables up the left and a beer shelf that runs across the floor to ceiling front windows either side of the central entrance. A sign above the door at the rear advertises some downstairs seating and a dartboard, but I didn’t investigate. Eight craft keg fonts run across the wooden back bar and the counter supports six hand pumps that were drawing Salopian’s Darwin’s Original, Lunebrew’s Lune Valley Gold, Black Lodge Brewery’s Deer in the Forest, Wily Fox Brewery’s Craft Fox, Bank Top’s Port O’Call and a Lilley’s cider. The Crafty Fox was on good form, but very pricey at £2.90 for a half, especially considering it’s only 4%. There is a Nepalese street food business attached called Momos, but they don’t open in a Monday. The service was polite and I enjoyed the rock background music, but the Vines over the road is more interesting and much cheaper so I doubt I’ll be visiting here again.
On 10th May 2025
- rating: 6
[User has posted 6826 recommendations about 6787 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Liverpool Brewing Co Brewery Tap
A typical craft bar shop conversion with six handpumps and eight craft taps, three Liverpool cask beers were on plus a guest I can no longer remember, I opted for Liverpool Cascade, Lilleys Mango Cider was also available on handpull, there is a CAMRA discount on cask beer. An ok place but nothing to get excited about.
On 18th June 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2409 recommendations about 2372 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Al Bundy left this review about Sanctuary
Now called Liverpool Brewing Co Brewery Tap.
As the name suggests it now concentrates on their own beers with a selection of keg taps along the wall behind the bar and, more importantly, a number of handpulls on the bar.
Upstairs is now a Nepalese street food place called MoMos.
3/4/17:
Now open and surprisingly quite good. There are 6 handpumps in two banks of 3 and a decent variety of beers. Hogsback, Titanic, Big Bog, Hobgob and a couple of others made up the handpump selection. The place is on two floors with the small pub-like bar being on the ground floor and a basement bar. There are 2 caged cabinets on the ground floor bar that display a load of bottled beers you can buy. I've no idea what the basement bar looks like.
On 28th June 2023
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3487 recommendations about 3390 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about Sanctuary
Almost 3 years on from my last visit to Sanctuary, it sounds from the last few reviews that it has changed hands a few times in between. It is now being run by Liverpool Brewing Company.
All 4 of the real ales on were from Liverpool Brewing - Dark North, 24 Carat, Cascade & Syren's Call. Although it looks like they also have guests, often from Team Toxic. Indeed, some of their beers were available on keg. A 5th handpull had Lilley's Mango Cider.
The Sanctuary is a nice escape from the other rowdy hostelries nearby, having a feel similar to a micropub. I remember having previously paid a visit to the toilets downstairs, but we've never sat anywhere other than the pleasant ground floor seating.
Handy for Lime Street and Central stations, it's certainly worth a visit if you have any spare time. Oh and they do now accept card payments. Just as well, as I was only carrying a pound coin!
On 8th August 2022
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3596 recommendations about 3594 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rob Hunter left this review about Sanctuary
Visited on Saturday evening. Only two cask ales available (according to my friend who did the ordering) - Red Willow Breakfast Stout and Black Lodge Dizzy New Heights. The Dizzy New Heights was very pleasant, although two cask ales is a far cry from the seven claimed on WhatPub and the bar's own Facebook page - and from reading Al Bundy's review this does not appear to have been a one-off. As he has also mentioned, it is cash only here - which could catch people out who have become used to not having to carry cash over the last 18 months! Keg beers also available, though I didn't investigate as we were just staying for one.
Split over three floors, with the ground floor (where the bar is) being naturally busiest, the upper floor empty, and the basement level seeming to be the overflow area of choice. The basement is a bit dark and dingy, rustic perhaps, and is also home to the toilets.
Not as good as on my previous visit, and loses a point off my rating accordingly.
On 27th September 2021
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1004 recommendations about 751 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Sanctuary
Describing itself as a Dive Bar was,I felt,rather harsh.It's in a former shop unit but has been well put together with a series of circular tables,wooden display cabinets but kept locked with some distressed plaster work to the side.A high serving bar to the right was serving Top Rope Four Horsemen,Titanic Plum Porter,Fullers( Dark Star) Hophead,Atlas Bear Town and a very decent Five Towns Pale.There are more craft keg beers to boot.
Upstairs in The Green Room,while in the basement there is a parquet floored cellar room,and the whole pub has a bohemian feel.
If you arrive at Lime Street desperate for a decent pint,you won't go far wrong popping in here.Fully deserves it's GBG listing for the decent ale range and conditioning.
On 10th July 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3252 recommendations about 3252 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Boots left this review about Sanctuary
Opposite the Vines on Lime St, it’s a decent small bar with 7 pulls, 8 keg founts and innumerable cans and bottles. Big old fashioned counter to one side with bar stools, seating at round wooden tables with dining room chairs down the other, there’s further seating in the basement and upstairs . The beer’s decently kept and the bar is Camra Merseyside best newcomer 2018 and a GBG2019 entry. Madish decor with stuff locked away where you’d expect bottles and cans plus some artfully broken plaster, stairs down have 1930s adverts and the basement gents has very slightly more risqué pictures. Open mic nights. Rock soundtrack. Seems to be linked to the Internet cafe/ tattooist next door by more than just the connecting door.
On 12th May 2019
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 4214 recommendations about 3874 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rob Hunter left this review about Sanctuary
I was pleasantly surprised by Sanctuary, from the outside it looks like it could be bordering on a nightclub but inside is just a nice bar with seven hand pulls. I have to say it was smaller than I expected, though there is more seating downstairs (with the toilets) and upstairs (not investigated).
I was particularly pleased to discover Créme Bearlee (Beartown Brewery) on the pumps as I'd been wanting to try this for a while, and it didn't let me down. A decent enough place to end the night before heading back to Lime Street station to get the train home.
On 11th April 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1004 recommendations about 751 pubs]