Victoria’s British heritage isn’t just reflected in its afternoon tea.
The city has four breweries and three brewpubs offering English-style beers, along with original brews to suit any taste.
Craft breweries offer rotating selections of seasonal beers, while brewpubs have tasty creations on tap in unique, often historic, locations.
Join a brewery tour and tasting at Phillips Brewing or Lighthouse Brewing, or pair in-house beers with ocean views at Spinnakers and Canoe brewpubs. Explore the city’s brewing culture on the Victoria Ale Trail, at a cask night, or at the Great Canadian Beer Festival.
Cideries are also becoming popular here. Try bubbly ciders pressed from locally grown apples at Sea Cider and Merridale Ciderworks. For something stronger, head to Victoria Spirits to savour premium sipping spirits.
Craft Breweries
Phillips Brewery has some of the most inventive – and delicious – brews in BC. Examples include the Longboat Chocolate Porter (tip: add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a rich dessert), or the 24-Mile Blueberry Pail Ale, where every ingredient travelled 24 miles or less from farm to brewery. Tours are offered twice weekly.
Lighthouse Brewing crafts six beers with a green conscience: power efficient equipment is used and waste is distributed to local farmers for feed. Try the Fisgard 150, a Bavarian style lager, or the Beacon IPA – both nods to two well-known Victoria landmarks. Tours available by appointment.
Other breweries include Vancouver Island Brewing, the island’s first craft brewery, which offers weekly brewery tours, and Driftwood Brewing, whose favourites are on tap in many Victoria pubs.
Victoria Brewpubs
Victoria’s brewpubs are great places for pints of local and seasonal favourites, sampler flights, cask nights, good food, and scenic patios.
Canoe Brewpub, located in an 1894 brick-and-wood beam heritage building, is a Victoria landmark. Stop in for views of the Inner Harbour, a vibrant atmosphere, and of most of all, the handcrafted beers. Don’t miss the seasonal Espresso Stout, which uses fair-trade, organic espresso from a local coffeehouse.
Spinnakers, Canada’s oldest brewpub, is a pioneer in the craft brewing industry. Its locally sourced cuisine and seasonal offerings (like Pumpkin Porter and Raspberry Ale) have made Spinnakers a favourite among Victorians. Have a sweet-tooth? Order the delicate house-made truffles and flight of beer menu item.
Swans Buckerfields Brewery crafts traditional English-style beers made using UK malts. Try the Buckerfield’s Bitters and Appleton Brown Ale, take in the nightly live music, and admire the artwork and Aboriginal carvings adorning the walls.
Many brewpubs also offer one-of-a-kind brews on special cask nights. Check with a brewpub for dates.
Victoria Ale Trail
Walk or take transit between breweries and brewpubs along the self-guided Victoria Ale Trail. Sample carefully crafted lagers, hop-heavy ales and full-bodied stouts and porters, and then finish the day with a gastropub meal.
Cideries and Distilleries
Sea Cider's (20 minutes south of Victoria in Sidney) eight artisan ciders are best enjoyed from the ocean-view patio. While there, play bocce or croquet in the orchard and view apple-inspired artwork in the gallery.
Merridale Estate Cidery (40 minutes north of Victoria) handcrafts ciders, fruit brandies and a limited edition cider vinegar. Sample a few on a tour of the cider and brandy houses, or pair with cider sourdough bread made on-site in the bistro.
Victoria Spirits is renowned for their small-batch gin, made in wood-fired copper stills using local juniper berries, coriander and lemon peel. Not a fan of gin? Sip hemp vodka, bitters and whisky in the tasting room.
Festivals and Events
The two-day Great Canadian Beer Festival is one of BC’s largest annual beer festivals (September). More than 45 craft breweries from Canada, Belgium and the Pacific Northwest US are on hand, along with local entertainment and food.
At the four-day annual Victoria Whisky Festival (January), savour single malt whisky made by distillers around the world.
Practical Points
- The legal drinking age in BC is 19. Two pieces of valid I.D. are required as proof of age.
- Some breweries, cideries and distilleries are open by appointment only.
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