Best Breweries in Downtown Victoria 2024

Summer is here, and the livin’ is easy – time to check out some of the incredible craft breweries located in and around Victoria’s bustling downtown. We’ve compiled a list of the top 5 breweries (along with some of their beers!) that Victoria has to offer, so whether you’re looking to try a flight of new beers, a single cold pint, or some delicious eats, you’ll find your new favourite brewery on this list!

Best Breweries in victoria

Driftwood Bar + Patio

Driftwood Bar + Patio is truly a vibe. Located a little off the beaten path (but still only a 10-minute cab or Uber ride from Oswego), it offers a lively, kid-friendly space with incredible decor (think a giant hops-Kraken hybrid sculpture winding its way through the taproom).

Driftwood’s tap room is lively, bright, and full of one-of-a-kind art and merch!

The patio is colourful and dog-friendly, while the indoor taproom is bright, lit by natural light, with a central bar serving up everything fresh from the brewery in the back. This spot is loved by locals and is always hoppin’, if you’ll pardon the pun!

The bright and lively patio welcomes dogs and kids and is a beautiful place to spend a Victoria sunset.

Great service meets delicious, locally-made beers, wines and ciders at the Driftwood Bar!

We recommend trying:

• Arcus Pilsner
  You can never go wrong with a well-balanced pilsner. This one is crisp, mildly hopped, a little fruity, and perfect for a hot day.
• Cry Me a River Gose
  Smooth, citrusy, crisp & light, this is an easy-drinking beer that’s really approachable for newbies.
• Fuzztone American Brown Ale
  The nose on this beer gives us Fuzzy Peaches, with a malty, nutty and rich flavour that isn’t too overpowering.
• Viewfield Brett Saison
  This is listed as a sour, but that didn’t really come across to us 100%. It’s clean, a little herbally, slightly tart and light – another great beer for beginners.
• Naughty Hildegard ESB
  With a beautiful amber colour, this brew delivers hoppy, perfectly bitter, tropical fruits without being too sweet – and it’s velvety smooth!
• De Auras Wheat Sour
  Now this is a proper sour. Smooth and silky, fruity and tart, solid fizz and a touch of pineapple – this would pair very well with a Hawaiian pizza, so fill a growler and stop by one of the best pizza shops in Victoria for a perfect afternoon on your room’s patio!
• Nitro Blackstone Porter
  This black beer is sweet and sultry with a great head, and a malty, chocolatey and coffee-scented nose. It’s deceivingly strong, unbelievably smooth, and perfect for those looking to try something truly unique.
• Obscuritas Dark Sour
  This dark sour was described by one of our guides as “if apple juice was somehow a cigar.” Imbued with the essence of plums and foeder aged, this is a smokey and truly unique beer that you have to try to believe.
• Spiff Corn Lager
  Another unique offering exclusive to Driftwood, this corn lager is smooth, mild, gently sweet, bright and really refreshing.

Driftwood serves up tasting flights of all their beers – choose your own adventure!

Drink up as you admire the taproom, with walls dotted with local art and merchandise for sale. Driftwood’s Asian-inspired menu from their partnership with Dumpling Drop offers delicious bites not to be missed as you work your way through a flight or two!

Don’t skip that Bao!

We highly recommend the super-fluffy Crispy Chicken or Chiang Mai Sausage Bao Buns, along with the Pork Belly Dumplings (think rich, brilliantly spiced, with cilantro and soy and then gorgeously crispy pork belly). They also have some vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options so that everyone can be included, and the service is prompt and cheerful.

Pork belly dumplings – to die for!

If their menu doesn’t do it for you though, have no fear – the brewery is located in the heart of Esquimalt’s thriving food district!

Lighthouse Brewery

Lighthouse Brewery truly captures the “home bar” feeling. It’s a smaller and more intimate taproom, with locals chatting and watching the game or listening to some good tunes.

The taproom at Lighthouse is small but mighty – you’ll feel like part of the community. Go Canucks!

They have hot dogs (including plant-based options) and chips available to go with your selected brews, and the service is always 11/10 with the staff ensuring you feel right at home – as if you were a regular who has been coming here for years. The outdoor patio is large and dog-friendly, with ample lot and street parking.

Head left to get to the massive outdoor patio!

We recommend trying:

• Lighthouse Lager
  This is a fruity, mildly hopped brew, and it’s easy to put back a lot of it! It has a beautiful complexity and would go perfectly with a hot day at the beach.
• Kapitan Czech Pilsner
  A gorgeous pineapple colour accompanies an herbal, super mild and fruity aroma. It’s extremely smooth and light, and great for just starting out the evening.
• Faro
  Giving guava and a touch of grapefruit, this is another fast-drinking beer with notes of stonefruit and fruit leather (in a good way!)
• Shipwreck IPA
  A properly orange-amber colour, Shipwreck gives mango on the nose, with an approachable balance of hops.
• Tropical Storm Hazy IPA
  As the name might suggest, this is a fruity brew that’s light and offers up essences of tropical fruit along with apples and a touch of stonefruit.
• Race Rocks Amber Ale
  Giving caramel, vanilla, and sultry sweetness, this somehow manages to be a dark beer that tastes indescribably lighter than its colour would have you believe. If you like the Granville Island Winter Ale, this one is for you!
• Nightwatch Coffee Lager
  This is a very friendly and approachable porter, with notes of medium-roast coffee as the name would suggest. Gentle & friendly, this is a great dark beer to start with.

The flights are well-poured and always labelled, so you can taste your way through their taps.

One of Victoria’s oldest craft breweries, Lighthouse Brewery is roughly a 10-minute cab or Uber ride away from the Oswego Hotel and is the perfect place to chill with friends as much as it is for having a friendly pint alone.

If you like what you tasted, grab some to take home – and maybe a t-shirt, too?

Phillips Brewing & Malting Co.

Centrally located and always populated by the cool kids, Phillips Brewing & Malting Co. is the hip and happening brewery in Victoria. It’s a manageable 25-minute walk (or stumble?) to and from the Oswego Hotel and offers everything from craft beers to craft sodas – and now – house-made gins! Truly a Victoria institution for arts, culture, and music, Phillips regularly hosts indoor and outdoor concerts including the Phillips Backyard Music Festival.

Welcome to Phillips – this is where the cool kids hang out.

They offer a great menu of light, pub-inspired favourites along with limited edition releases of some of their beers, sodas and spirits in cocktail form. Whether or not you imbibe, there’s something for everyone and a guaranteed good time at this legendary brewery.

The taproom is well-stocked, and if you come in later in the evening you might be able to snag yourself a spot at the bar.

Beers we recommend trying:

• Free Ride Hazy IPA
  Dry and citrusy with approachable bitter hops, this is a gentle pineapple-scented IPA with a beautiful colour that goes down easily – even for those who aren’t generally in favour of an IPA.
• Reverb West Coast IPA
  Another very approachable IPA, this one is fruity, punchy and mild, with just the right amount of citrus to balance out the bitterness of the hops. To say it’s a beginner IPA seems both rude and fair, with our guides left in a friendly disagreement about the level of hoppy-ness.
• Dinosour Stonefruit
  Fresh peach hits you right off the bat, with a second coming of nectarine and apricot. Sour without too much of a punch, this is a fun and unique beer that’s not to be missed.
• Dinosour Dreamsicle
  If craft cream soda and a perfectly balanced sour had a baby, this would be the result. Essences of vanilla and mandarin orange yield a delightfully tart yet sweet flavour – if you’re normally a cocktail drinker but looking to get into beer, this is the perfect place to start.
• Tilt Lager
  This is a flowery Spring evening in beer form. Think roses, honey bees, and corn fields! Crisp and easy to drink, this beer is so fresh and cheerful that our guides had to buy some to take home.
• Tiger Shark Pale Ale
  This citrusy, passion-fruity beer lacks a lot of the bite from a typically pale ale and is a great option for starting the night. Very approachable and great for newbies, it’s good, although not entirely memorable given the rest of the Phillips line-up.
• Implosion Pilsner
  Simple, crisp, ice-cold and uncomplicated – in our opinion, this is a spectacular example of a perfectly executed pilsner.
• Blue Buck Ale
  Easily recognizable as one of their flagship beers, Blue Buck can be found by the pint and pitcher all over town, and across the country in cans and bottles. This is a ride-or-die for many, with notes of vanilla and butterscotch layered into this beautifully amber brew.

Flights on flights at Phillips Brewery!

Gins from their Fermentorium you should check out:

• Discovery Street Gin
  Friendly & sweet, Phillips has cleverly incorporated gentle notes of bubblegum into this unusually perfect gin. You wouldn’t normally think those two flavours would go together, but they do here in absolute harmony. This gin feels like a daytime gin – something you could make into a great lunch cocktail or even sip straight in the midday sun.
• Stump Gin
  This is pure, unadulterated gin. Locally grown and foraged botanicals feel and taste as fresh as they are, giving you the opportunity to savour the natural essences of the West Coast Rainforest.
• Old George Gin
  Initially herbal and smokey with notes of cinnamon, the taste of juniper and pine prevails on the palette to provide an unmatched experience of a well-crafted gin.

Their Fermentorium has recently ventured into craft gin – we highly recommend a flight of these as well.

Phillips is operated by incredibly innovative folks, meaning they always have something new and exciting on the horizon. They even manage their own maltworks, malting Island-grown barley in their proprietary facility for use in their delicious beers. Along with being an absolute pillar in the local community, if you add in some delicious hand-crafted sodas and zero-alcohol craft beers, you can understand why Phillips is a gem on Vancouver Island.

Herald Street Brew Works

Herald Street Brew Works is great for larger parties and more sophisticated palettes, making it an absolute hit with locals and visitors alike. The outdoor patio is small and dog-friendly, while the indoor taproom is large and spacious, with two levels overlooking the brewing operations within a well-lit and upbeat atmosphere. Located just an 8-minute cab or Uber ride from the Oswego Hotel, it’s a great place to finish off your evening after a busy day of exploring downtown Victoria and the harbourfront, especially if you happen in on an open mic night (Mondays) or during one of their concert sessions.

Herald Street Brew Works

Their staff are experienced and knowledgeable and are more than happy to take extra time with your party to walk you through some of the flavours and tasting notes of their beers. If you find something you really like, head over to the counter and pick some up – one of the unique traits of Herald Street is that their brewmaster rarely, if ever, brews the same beer twice, so you’ll want to grab some before it’s gone for good!

You have a full view of the brewing operation while you enjoy their latest creations.

If you’re lucky enough, you may get to try some of the beers below that are available for Summer 2024.

• Cirrus Cryo Citra Tropical Pale Ale
  Pungent hops round out this crisp summertime beer, with notes of tropical fruits like mango and passionfruit. Our guides thought this was a perfect picnic beer, so they picked up 4 cans to enjoy on our patio.
• Armor of Zeldron Extra Pale Ale
  This is a uniquely flavoured beer, with notes that yield both a floral and tropical fruit-esque nose. A beautiful amber colour, this beer is strange in the best of ways and definitely worth a try!
• Brotzeit with Vera Kolsch
  Floral, grassy and hoppy, this brew has a distinct nose and a very honest-to-Bavarian-Laws flavour. One of our guides described it as zesty with an almost licorice-like tang.
• Hops Connect
  Sweet and approachable, this beer is imbued with the essence of caramel and butterscotch. This is an easy drinker and goes great with some of the richer meats on the charcuterie board.
• Miami Weisse S3E1 Cascara Hibiscus Berliner
  This beer threw all of our guides for a loop – and ensured multiple packs were purchased to savour later! A stunning pink colour, this beer is very fruity, light, a little sour and a little reminiscent of Red Rose tea. Its complexity is well-balanced and it’s truly something you’ve gotta try to believe.
• Beach Blanket Sabro Wheat Ale
  Tropical and vivacious, this beer tastes like a walk on a Jamaican beach. Notes of coconut and passionfruit make this a very easy-drinking beer that’s perfect for Summer.
• “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Weed” Pineapple Express Terpene IPA
  Infused with natural terpenes isolated from the legendary Pineapple Express cannabis cultivar, this IPA is a hoppy and delicious brew with notes of guava, pineapple and tropical fruit. For cannabis and beer connoisseurs alike, this is a unique experience and not one to be missed. If cannabis isn’t your deal, we still recommend trying it for the novelty, with no concerns of intoxication (at least from the cannabis)!
• Genoa Bay IPA
  Fruity on the nose, this light but captivating brew was described by one of our guides as a “drag queen’s beer” because of how it absolutely slays the taste test! Fresh, perfectly hoppy and flavourful, don’t sleep on this outstanding IPA.

Flights are poured heavy, and the barmaster is happy to assist you with flavour notes and the history of each creation.

Herald Street also offers quite a few different ways to pair their creations with delicious bites. First, you can create your very own charcuterie board, complete with locally-made cured meats, dips and cheeses. Their secondary menu is provided by Kahuna, a local Hawaiian-inspired restaurant serving up everything from 5-star burgers to poke bowls and katsu chicken.

Herald Street also offers non-alcoholic sodas and IPA from Phillips, so if you’re not there to drink you don’t have to feel left out. Our guides enjoyed the classier, more beer-centred vibes here, so be sure to check this brewery out for a unique and informative experience.

Swan’s Brewpub

Swan’s Pub is another Victoria institution renowned for classic pub fare and great beer. Their menu has just about anything you can imagine, from salads, pizzas and appies to nachos-by-the-pound and delicious desserts.

Always a vibe!

Located a roughly 20-minute walk from the Oswego Hotel, it’s the closest stop on our brewery tour and a great place to start or finish your evening.

We recommend trying:

• Guilty Pleasure Raspberry Blond Ale
  Even if you’re not big on raspberry or fruity ales, there’s a good chance you might find something to love about this crisp and refreshing blond. It leans into the raspberry without compromising the ale components – “this is not your Mama’s raspberry beer”, as one of our guides described it!
• Pandora Pale Ale
  Simple and straightforward with just a touch of fruit, this is a really nice light and crisp ale that’s well-suited to most palettes.
• Vikes Lager
  The University of Victoria Vikes represent a lot in a small town like Victoria – and a beer that tastes like pure victory is a brilliant way to celebrate them! “Tastes like Domination. Smells like Character.” is how Swan’s describes this UVic special – it’s like Lucky but sweeter, with gentle hops and the kind of flavour that yields the nostalgia of a big ol’ pep rally.
• Comet IPA
  Super hoppy, mildly tropical and fruit-forward, this single-hopped brew can only be enjoyed on tap in the pub, so don’t skip it!
• Export Stout
  The export stout is a real beer drinker’s stout. Uncompromising and strong, it gives rich notes of caramel, coffee and dark chocolate.

Are you really in Victoria if you haven’t tried the Vikes Lager?

Swan’s is one of the older pubs in town, having been opened since 1989, but the building itself is over 100 years old and is full of history and amazing stories gathered over the years. We do find it to be a bit hit-or-miss for folks sometimes – it’s always a vibe at Swan’s, but it might not be your vibe.

Our guides ended up having to wait a bit longer as there was an office party being held in the main area. Still, it was made up for by excellent service and a beautiful covered patio, lit up by old-style streetlights that created a very romantic and relaxed environment.

The covered patio is a lovely place to finish an evening.

Honourable Mentions We’d Like to Visit Soon

Whistle Buoy Brewery

Located in the iconic Market Square, Whistle Buoy touts itself as having the chillest patio in Victoria – and yes, it’s dog-friendly! We had the chance to try their Undersea Gose – a wicked sour that can turn any afternoon into an adventure, made blue by the addition of healthy spirulina powder.

Photo credit: @whistlebuoybrewing on Instagram

Just a 20-minute walk from the Oswego Hotel, they regularly host live music, food & bevvy tastings, rotating food vendors, craft vendors, and games!

Ile Sauvage Brewing Co.

A little over a 10-minute drive from the Oswego, you’ll find Ile Sauvage Brewing Co [Translation: Wild Island]. They specialize in local fruits and carefully selected yeast strains to make unique wild and sour beers. Their tasting room is open and bright, they have a nice patio, and their food menu is just as beautiful in its simplicity and well-selected ingredients.

Photo credit: @ilesauvagebrewing on Instagram

Ile Sauvage is a one-of-a-kind brewer, true to the Vancouver Island spirit – and definitely worth the visit!

Vancouver Island Brewing (VIB)

Since 1984, Vancouver Island Brewing has produced easy-drinking beers by islanders, for islanders and visitors alike!

Photo credit: @vibrewing on Instagram

VIB is a 30-minute walk from the Oswego Hotel – situated on Government Street, it’s in the heart of downtown Victoria. Their multi-level taproom is always busy and truly has a West Coast vibe!

Spinnakers Gastro Brew Pub

Spinnakers is a great spot to enjoy local ciders, spirits, beers, sours, sodas – and even handcrafted vinegar! Their food menu is locally sourced, expansive and flavourful, and their beer pairings set the tone for a great evening. Learn some of their storied history by clicking here.

Photo credit: @spinnakersbrewpub on Instagram

Spinnakers is a 10-minute drive from the Oswego Hotel, and their patio offers stunning views of the harbour and downtown Victoria.

Craft Beer Market

Want to try every beer, all at once? Head over to Craft Beer Market, where you’ll find local beers from nearly all the above island breweries – and beyond! Along with a huge food menu, they have dozens of beers on tap, cocktails, wines and non-alcoholic bevvies to enjoy.

Photo credit: Craft Beer Market online

Craft Beer Market is located within a 25-minute walk from the Oswego, and is the best option if you only have time to check out one brewery but you want to try as many local beers as possible.

Cultured Kombucha (no alcohol)

Lastly – while not a brewery per se – Cultured Kombucha sells its locally crafted fermentations all over Victoria, and they’re a great option for those looking to indulge in local beverages without alcohol. They have fresh, delicious, seasonal offerings, and the option to fill growlers with your favourite brew. Click here for a list of every shop who has Cultured Kombucha available within the Victoria area.

Photo credit: @cultured_kombucha on Instagram

We hope you enjoyed our tour and tasting adventure to some of Victoria BC’s best breweries. Whether you’re looking for something casual, somewhere popular to immerse yourself in local culture, some great food and drink pairings, or just some darn fine beer on its own, Victoria delivers with some of the best breweries on the West Coast.

Go out and enjoy the day, and then come home to your luxurious, comfortable room just minutes from downtown and the waterfront, only at the Oswego Hotel. Cheers!🍻