Inside Azvex Brewery & Taproom: Fresh Taps, Cans and King Edward Street Tours

Azvex Brewing Company runs a working brewery and taproom at Unit 16, King Edward Rise, on Gibraltar Row off King Edward Street (L3 7HJ), around 15 minutes on foot from Moorfields station. The taproom pours beer brewed in the same room, with up to 12 Azvex beers on draught and a fridge of cans to drink in or take away. It opens Thursday to Sunday, and the brewery runs guided tours most Fridays and tour-and-tasting sessions most Saturdays, bookable online.

There is an added reason to go soon. The industrial estate Azvex sits on is earmarked for demolition as part of the £1bn Kings redevelopment (formerly King Edward Triangle), and the neighbouring businesses, including the street's other brewery taproom, Carnival Brewing, have already closed or left. Azvex is now the last brewery on Gibraltar Row. It is still trading as of October 2026, but its long-term home has not been publicly confirmed.

Where Azvex is and when the taproom opens

The brewery occupies a unit on the King Edward estate, the industrial pocket behind Costco and just inland from Princes Dock on the northern edge of the city centre. It is not a place you stumble into: you go because you know it is there.

Current taproom hours, as published on the Azvex website:

You do not need to book a table for the taproom, although booking is available through the taproom page. When the weather allows, tables go out on the south-west-facing yard. There is no kitchen, but rotating food vendors trade on site at weekends; the line-up is posted each week on Azvex's social channels and events calendar.

What is on the taps

Azvex was founded by Adam Henderson, who previously founded and ran Nottingham craft brewery Neon Raptor for nearly five years before leaving in 2020 to start his own project. He told the Liverpool Echo in 2024 that he chose Liverpool because he felt a major city should be producing craft beer at the national level. Production began in the roughly 6,700 sq ft unit in July 2021, trade sales to local bars followed that October, and the taproom opened to the public in spring 2022. Jack Walker is head brewer.

The approach has earned the brewery a following well beyond Merseyside. Azvex holds an average rating of around 4.0 on Untappd across more than 340 beers and close to 400,000 check-ins, a level few UK breweries reach, and its cans are distributed to bottle shops across Europe.

There is no fixed core range, but two hazy pales have become the closest thing to it: Electronic Butterfly (4%) and Magnificent Tree Frog (4.6%). Beyond those, the board rotates through New England IPAs, smoothie-style pastry sours, American IPAs and imperial stouts that can reach 13%. Beer names lean on physics, maths and metal culture: recent releases include Markov Chains, Quantum Foam and Crabcore Overlords. The flagship lager, Dockers Umbrella, is a helles named after the Liverpool Overhead Railway, the dockside line demolished in 1957 that sheltered dock workers from the rain.

A live tap list on 1 October 2026 showed ten beers pouring, including a 10% chocolate, caramel and peanut butter imperial stout, an 8% smoothie sour collaboration with US brewery 450 North, and both core pales. Beers are served in third, half and two-third pint measures, which matters given the strengths involved; reviewers typically report paying around £5 a pint, with typical spend averaging £10 to £20 per person reported by 79 visitors on Google. Strong beers and small measures are a sensible combination here.

Every beer behind the bar is made on site, and collaborations with the likes of Manchester's Cloudwater appear regularly. Henderson has said the point of the taproom is that you can watch the tanks while drinking beer packaged the same week. If you would rather drink at home, the fridge by the bar stocks the full can range to take away, and the online shop offers free delivery on orders of 12 cans or more (local collection is Monday to Wednesday, 9am to 4pm, or during taproom hours if you order before 4pm).

You will also find Azvex kegs around the city. Pubs the brewery has supplied include Dead Crafty Beer Company, the Denbigh Castle, the Belvedere, the Old Tap, Round the Corner and the Baltic Fleet. For more venues serving independent pours, see L1Local's Liverpool craft beer guide.

Brewery tours: Fridays and Saturdays

Azvex runs two formats, booked through the tours and tastings page:

1. Brewery Tour (most Fridays): a guided walk through the four-vessel brew house and production floor, covering the process from raw grain to packaged beer.
2. Tour & Tasting (most Saturdays, typically 1pm): the full tour, one pour during the walk-round, then a guided flight of three of the newest beers back in the taproom, with tasting notes and a Q&A. Liverpool Beer Collective lists this at £15 per person; confirm the current price on the booking calendar before you travel.
3. A shorter Sunday tour (2.30pm) runs on some dates, finishing with a beer of your choice from the board.

Practical points from the brewery's own listings:

• Closed-toe shoes are required in the production area.
• Sessions are limited in size, so booking ahead is recommended, though you can pay on the day if space remains.
• Challenge 25 applies: bring ID if you look under 25.
• Dogs are welcome in the taproom but cannot enter the production area, so one of your party will need to stay with the dog during the tour.
• Groups larger than 20 can arrange private tours and tastings via the enquiry form or by emailing taproom@azvexbrewing.com.

The Kings redevelopment and what it means for Azvex

The King Edward estate is the first phase of a £1bn residential scheme now branded Kings, led by Davos Property Developments (the development arm of TJ Morris, the Home Bargains owner) in partnership with Beetham Davos. KEIE, part of the TJ Morris group, bought the former industrial estate on Gibraltar Row from Peel. The seven-acre site, bounded by King Edward Street, Bath Street and Paisley Street, is planned as a new city quarter of more than 1,000 homes under Liverpool's wider housing and regeneration targets, which involves demolishing the industrial units.

The timeline so far:

• 2024: plans for the estate become public; early visualisations show towers exceeding 50 storeys.
• February 2026: Liverpool City Council's planning committee approves the first building, the "Pathfinder" scheme at 12-14 Waterloo Road (the former Bacchus Taverna site): a 28-storey tower of 255 one- and two-bed flats designed by Brock Carmichael.
• March 2026: the scheme is rebranded from King Edward Triangle to Kings. The developers say a full masterplan and a hybrid planning application for the wider site will follow.
• April to May 2026: the Echo reports estate businesses closing or confirming departures, including Crew42 gym (last day 30 April, relocating to Crosby) and Rocco's Kitchen. Pastille Bakery remains on the estate for now.

The brewery exodus started even earlier. Carnival Brewing Company, which had run its taproom at Unit 3 on the same row since 2019, fell into administration in January 2025 and closed; its equipment, including the canning line, was auctioned that February. That leaves Azvex as the last operating brewery on Gibraltar Row.

Henderson acknowledged the situation as early as 2024, telling the Echo the brewery would have to move and that finding a site where the taproom can sit in the same room as the brewing kit is not straightforward: “One of the big draws of a brewery tap is that you're sitting in the same room the beer is made in. Otherwise it's just a bar.”

As of October 2026, Azvex has not announced a closing date or a new site, and its website continues to take tour and taproom bookings at Gibraltar Row. Liverpool City Council has said it does not own the land and is not responsible for tenancy decisions. This article will be updated when Azvex confirms its plans.

Getting there from Moorfields and the city centre

• Merseyrail: Moorfields (Northern and Wirral lines) is the closest station, around 15 minutes on foot via Old Hall Street and Waterloo Road. Liverpool Central is roughly 25 minutes' walk, according to the brewery's own directions.
• By bus: services along The Strand and Great Howard Street stop within a short walk of Gibraltar Row.
• By car: the estate sits just off the A565 Great Howard Street, behind Costco. On-street and estate parking is available nearby, though matchdays and events at the waterfront can change that.
• Matchdays: the brewery is about 30 minutes' walk from the new Everton stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, and it has actively encouraged supporters to call in before and after games.

Useful links and sources

• Azvex Brewing Company: taproom hours and FAQ
• Azvex brewery tour and tasting bookings
• Azvex online shop (cans, local collection and delivery)
• Azvex Brewery & Taproom directory entry
• L1Local's Liverpool craft beer guide
• Liverpool Local Plan: new homes and regeneration areas
• Liverpool Waterfront area guide