Island Ale Trail

With more than 40 breweries located in communities large and small, Vancouver Island has one of the most exciting and dynamic beer scenes going.

Vancouver Island’s majestic landscape encourages a wide variety of outdoor activities — surfi ng, cycling, kayaking, hiking, camping, skiing, you name it. And what goes perfectly with any of those activities? Visiting a local craft brewery to sample a few diff erent styles of beer, of course.

From Victoria at the southern tip of the Island up north to Port McNeill, there are more than 40 craft breweries on Vancouver Island, each with its own uniquely creative line-up of delicious beer styles, often served alongside food prepared in their own kitchens.

Plan a multi-day excursion to visit an assortment of breweries while you explore the Island, or pick one area and visit all the local breweries over the course of a few days. Most breweries have tasting rooms where you can try a fl ight of three or four diff erent beers served in small glasses or savour a full pint of your favourite. Many fi ll growlers or sell their beer in cans or bottles to take away with you.

The newest breweries on the Island can be found in the communities of Ladysmith, Qualicum Beach and Sidney.

Fern + Cedar Brewing opened its own custombuilt facility in Qualicum Beach late in 2021. It has an airy tasting room with a kitchen that off ers a wide range of delicious dishes to pair with beer inspired by the Island’s landscape.

The charming town of Ladysmith, located just south of Nanaimo, has always been an attractive place to visit thanks to its heritage main street (named the best street in Canada for 2017 by

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the Canadian Institute of Planners) and famously delicious cinnamon buns (baked daily at the Old Town Bakery on that very street). Because it already had so much going for it, the lack of a brewery there always stood out. Well, that finally changed this spring with the arrival of Bayview Brewing, so Ladysmith should definitely be at the top of any list of places to visit on the Island.

Another town that needed a brewery until recently is Sidney, located north of Victoria on the Saanich Peninsula close to the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal and the Victoria International Airport. Beacon Brewing opened there last fall, and another new operation called Small Gods Brewing is also expected to open there some time this summer. In other words, Sidney is suddenly a hot spot when it comes to craft beer!

While new and shiny is always exciting, Vancouver Island also offers some important brewing history.

Back in 1984, the craft beer revolution was kicked off when Canada’s first brewpub, Spinnakers, opened on the shores of Victoria’s Inner Harbour. Spinnakers has a beautiful restaurant with a pub space upstairs and several different outdoor patio options. You can even stay in one of their guesthouses.

Several more breweries have opened in Victoria every decade since Spinnakers did, and the Great Canadian Beer Festival was also launched there in 1993. Today, Victoria is home to 16 breweries and counting — and GCBF is returning in September after a couple of years off due to COVID.

One of those breweries, Driftwood Brewery, moved to a new location last year that includes a tasting room where you can sample the wide range of excellent beers in its lineup, including Fat Tug IPA, arguably B.C.’s definitive West Coast IPA. Driftwood also has its own kitchen on-site and recently launched a distillery, too.

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Another great destination in Victoria is Twa Dogs Brewery at Macaloney’s Caledonian Distillery, which embraces its Scottish background wholeheartedly. Indeed, the name, Twa Dogs, is a reference to the famous Scottish poet Robbie Burns. Within its spacious facility is a beautiful tasting room where you can enjoy the full range of beers or a taster’s flight of whiskeys, which are also available for sale in bottles. Take an entertaining tour to learn more about the brewing and distilling process.

Not far from Victoria on the southern coast of Vancouver Island is the town of Sooke, which is home to three breweries of its own, each with its own unique vibe. On your way there, be sure to stop in at the Six Mile — B.C.’s oldest pub dating back to 1855 — located in View Royal on the outskirts of Victoria.

Sooke Oceanside Brewery opened a new location last year with a full tasting room and kitchen, along with a patio boasting views of Sooke Harbour, and you can also visit Sooke Brewing in “downtown” Sooke. Another must-visit spot in Sooke is Bad Dog Brewing, a charming brewery located in a rural setting with a small tasting room and a picnic area outside. Bad Dog is adding its own food truck this summer, too, making it even more of a destination!

The Cowichan Valley boasts the warmest yearround temperatures anywhere in Canada. Farm markets, wineries and cideries abound — and so do breweries. Duncan has three breweries to visit, including the Craig Street Brewpub, which is a great option for lunch or dinner, along with Red Arrow Brewing and Small Block Brewing. Nearby Chemainus is a popular tourist destination because of its murals, theatre and picturesque streets, as well as its own resident brewery, Riot Brewing.

Nanaimo has several breweries to check out, including the Longwood Brewpub and the separate Longwood Brewery, Wolf Brewing, and two downtown breweries that are right beside each other: Cliffside Brewing and White Sails Brewing. Also, watch for Everyday Brewing to open there this summer.

A bit north on the Island Highway will lead you to the beachside communities of Parksville and Qualicum Beach. Mount Arrowsmith Brewing in Parksville has a big tasting room and an excellent kitchen, and the entertaining owner of Qualicum’s Love Shack Libations will have you charmed from the moment you arrive until the time you leave with an armful of his delicious beer!

A side trip out to the wild west coast of the Island on Highway 4 will definitely reward beer lovers. The mid-Island city of Port Alberni is home to three excellent breweries — Alberni Brewing, Dog Mountain Brewing, and Twin City Brewing, each of which serves great food along with their beers.

Continuing west will lead you to Ucluelet Brewing, which is based in a beautifully renovated church. You’ll have to decide for yourself which is better: the gorgeous tap room or the patio with views of Ucluelet Harbour. And no visit to the west coast of the Island would be complete without a stop at Tofino Brewing.

The Comox Valley is home to several breweries, including Ace Brewing and Gladstone Brewing in

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Courtenay, Land & Sea Brewing and New Tradition Brewing in Comox, and Cumberland Brewing in the town of the same name. Also, watch for a new brewery to open on Hornby Island later this year.

Continuing north, the next brewery to check out is Beach Fire Brewing in Campbell River, which also has an excellent restaurant. And that leaves Vancouver Island’s northernmost brewery: Devil’s Bath Brewing, located in Port McNeill. The brewery’s name is an homage to a local geographical feature, the Devil’s Bath cenote, which you can also visit on a trip to the area. The brewery features a diverse lineup of beer along with delicious pizza and other food.

Wherever you travel on the Vancouver Island Ale Trail, consult the BC Ale Trail website for more information. Download the app to plan your visit — collect points and redeem them for rewards at participating breweries. All the breweries are listed along with numerous outdoor activities, recommended sites to visit, and liquor stores, restaurants and tap houses. – JOE WIEBE

40 craft breweries and counting on the Island

VICTORIA:

• Category 12 Brewing • Craft Beer Market • Driftwood Brewery • Four Mile Brewpub • Herald Street Brew Works • Howl Brewing • Hoyne Brewing • Île Sauvage Brewing • Lighthouse Brewing • Millstream Beverage Co. • Moon Under Water

Brewery, Pub & Distillery • Phillips Brewing & Malting • Spinnakers Brewpub • Swans Brewery,

Pub & Hotel • Vancouver Island Brewing • Twa Dogs Brewing • Whistle Buoy Brewing

SOOKE:

• Bad Dog Brewing • Sooke Brewing • Sooke Oceanside

Brewery

SIDNEY:

• Beacon Brewing • Small Gods Brewing (opening soon!)

GULF ISLANDS:

• Mayne Island Brewing • Salt Spring Island Brewing

COWICHAN VALLEY:

• Bayview Brewing • Craig Street Brewpub • Red Arrow Brewing • Riot Brewing • Small Block Brewing

NANAIMO:

• Cliffside Brewing • Longwood Brewery • Longwood Brewpub • White Sails Brewing • Wolf Brewing

MID-ISLAND:

• Alberni Brewing • Dog Mountain Brewing • Fern + Cedar Brewing • LoveShack Libations • Mount Arrowsmith Brewing • Tofino Brewing • Twin City Brewing • Ucluelet Brewing

COMOX VALLEY:

• Ace Brewing • Cumberland Brewing • Gladstone Brewing • Land & Sea Brewing • New Tradition Brewing

CAMPBELL RIVER & NORTH:

• Beach Fire Brewing • Devil’s Bath Brewing

FORTHCOMING:

• Checkerhead

Brewing (Shirley) • Everyday Brewing (Nanaimo) • Hornby Island Brewing • Hudson Brewhouse & Distillery (Victoria) • Jordan River Brewing • Rusted Rake Brewing (Nanoose Bay)