Vancouver Island’s growing number of breweries, cideries and distilleries contribute to the region’s reputation as a top-notch culinary destination.
Unassuming breweries handcraft traditional and new flavours, supplying restaurants and pubs with a great selection of local beers. Brewpubs offer their creative take on favourites and serve them with tempting west coast cuisine. Join a tour and tasting at Gulf Islands Brewing and Fat Cat Brewing. Toast to the centuries-old history of beer in the Craig Street Brewpub, a restored English-style pub with an antique bar.
Ciders and spirits are other time-honoured drinks being produced here. Merridale Estate Cidery's sprawling orchard produces eight varieties of artisan ciders. Island Spirits’ premium vodka and gin are intended to be sipped and savoured.
Looking for more? Victoria is one place to find a fantastic selection of craft beers, spirits and ciders.
Craft Breweries
On Salt Spring Island, Gulf Islands Brewing is a “cottage brewery” that crafts a small collection of ales using local spring water (piped straight from mountain to brewhouse). The beers are best tasted in the unique brewery: a large, rustic, wooden barn. Try the Heatherdale Ale – it's infused with heather flowers from the renowned Butchart Gardens near Victoria.
In Nanaimo, two breweries offer a handful of beers to choose from. Taste one of Fat Cat Brewing's five brews, including an ale made with honey from New Zealand. Surgenor Brewing's two flavourful beers makes sampling easy – just try both.
Brewpubs
Craig Street Brewpub’s restored 1940s pub in Duncan has exposed timbers, dark paneling and a wood burning fireplace – a great ambience for savouring the four delicious, in-house brewed beers. Enjoy a tall glass at the 100-year old bar, outside on the street-side patio, or with panoramic views from the rooftop patio.
Dine and drink with the locals at Longwood Brewpub, an upscale Nanaimo pub that serves west coast cuisine to complement their brewed ales, lagers, stouts and bitters.
Cideries and Distilleries
In the Cobble Hill area of the Cowichan Valley, Merridale Estate Cidery offers visitors a first-class experience: test eight handcrafted ciders, four fruit brandies, soft cider and a limited edition cider vinegar. Tour the cider and brandy houses, spend time at the tasting bar and snack on brick oven-baked pizza from the ocean-view patio. Or relax with a spa treatment in the orchard.
Island Spirits’ smooth vodka and gin are made from pure spring water and local botanicals like juniper berries, licorice root and lemongrass, grown near their Hornby Island location. (Both spirits are even rumoured to be so pure they don’t cause hangovers!)
Festivals and Events
The annual Nanaimo Beer Festival (April) draws brewers from BC, Canada and as far as the Netherlands. Chase local smoked salmon and other appetizers with a glass of locally brewed or imported beer.
The Tofino Beer Festival (September) is a small festival that hosts a handful of BC brewers each year. Enjoy the live music, tasty treats and delicious beer, all from an oceanside setting.
Practical Points
- The legal drinking age in BC is 19. Two pieces of valid I.D. are required as proof of age.
- Some breweries and distilleries are open by appointment only.
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