Victoria BC: Where to Find the Best Craft Beers & Spirits

Image: Lauren Topor

Home to Canada’s first brewpub, Victoria has been coined as the “Cradle of the Craft Beer Revolution” and with over 14 craft breweries it truly is at the heart and soul of brewpub culture in BC.

Brewers in the city get creative with their offerings, often pairing locally-sourced ingredients to create characteristic flavours.

Spinnakers, the country’s oldest craft brewery, uses ‘Happy Wellness’ tea from Victoria’s Silk Road Tea infused with bergamot, kaffir lime and white and green tea to create their Little Sunshine sour beer, while Hoyne Brewing uses honey from the Fairmont Empress hotel’s hives to sweeten their Summer Haze Honey Heffe.

Visit Phillips Brewing or Vancouver Island Brewery for a tour of their facilities or stop in at one of the downtown brewpubs such as Canoe or Swans to try a flight of beers brews on site. 

The thirst for craft spirits is also alive and well on Vancouver Island. Victoria Distillers and the Fairmont Empress have joined forces to create a truly distinctive gin.

Inspired by the 1908 cocktail, the spirit features seven botanicals including a South Asian botanical called the pea flower. Watch as additional mixers are added: this gin changes colour!

You can also visit De Vine Vineyard to sample their Vin Gin, which is made using the winery’s Pinot Gris and Gruner Veltliner grapes. While in Shirley, Sheringham Distillery creates their citrusy Seaside Gin using only products grown in BC, including organic white wheat, malted barley, natural botanicals and local hand-harvested winged kelp. Ana lll the spent grains are sent to local farms to become a healthy source of high protein livestock feed.

If you’d like to sample some of the best craft beers and spirits on Vancouver Island, check in to the Best Western PLUS Carlton Plaza. Take a short walk down Government Street from this AAA Three Diamond hotel and in seven minutes you’ll find yourself at the beautiful Inner Harbour and the Legislature Buildings.