Island Breweries and Cidery

Beer in Victoria dates back to the birth of Victoria in the early 1840's. This sense of history still thrives in the city’s many breweries and brewpubs; every beer is brewed with respect to tradition, but with a unique modern touch.

Victoria has several microbreweries (which produce less than 15,000 barrels annually). Microbrewed beers are considered to be local, more authentic and more unusual. Victoria’s brews are definitely local, with most breweries within walking distance from Victoria’s historical, vibrant downtown core and Inner Harbour. Visit any of them to sample their unique and award-winning beers such as oatmeal stout, cherry blossom ale, ginger-ginseng cream ale, hefweizen and India pale ale.

For a guided tour of Victoria’s breweries, follow the "Ale Trail" and you will meet Victoria’s brewmasters, sample the distinctive taste of their ales and lagers, indulge in hearty pub cuisine and, if needed, stay in an historic guesthouse or suite hotel in Olde Towne Victoria.

For a more refined taste, try a glass of Vancouver Island cider, which is considered more refined than beer but more robust than wine. With a half-dozen unique varieties made on Vancouver Island, you are bound to find a favourite. Vancouver Island’s ciders are hand-crafted, all-natural, not pasteurized and made from 100 per cent undiluted juice, not from concentrate.

Vancouver Island is home to British Columbia’s first estate cidery. Like the Island’s wineries, it is located 45 minutes north of Victoria in the Cowichan Valley. The Cowichan Valley mirrors the growing and climate conditions of the renowned cider regions in the UK and Europe. Vancouver Island’s cidery has Canada’s only orchard dedicated solely to cider making and a vast array of cider apples have been planted to produce honest English ciders. Take a stroll through the orchard and chat with the cider makers about their craft. See the apple mills, presses and the fermentation cask where French apples and champagne yeast become cider that has been deemed the best English-style cider in Canada. Visit the tasting room in an old farmhouse and sample such unique ciders as “scrumpy”, a rough and dry cider, or “Cyser”, an unusual, honey-sweetened cider based on a 400-year-old Elizabethan recipe.