We have been expanding our packages and activities to include exciting trips that will take you ziplining through the trees 150 feet above the ground; bicycling past castles, mansions and the tallest totem pole in the world; or sampling some of the best flavors of the Northwest on culinary tours. On a recent trip to Victoria, our Senior Network Administrator, Mark Reynolds IV, and his wife, Vera, were lucky enough to try out one of our newest tours, The Definitive Craft Brewery Tour. This fully-guided tour takes you to three of Victoria’s unique breweries where there is generous amounts of craft beer to sample. Check out this post by Mark to learn more about his experience.
On our recent trip up to Victoria my wife and I had the pleasure of attending the West Coast Brewery Tour. Being sporadic beer drinkers, my wife and I knew very little of how beer was made and were excited to get a look behind the scenes. We joined the group of about seven others at the Clipper terminal, hopped in the Brew Van and were on our way.
It was a short five minute ride to our first stop, the largest and oldest craft brewery in Victoria, Phillips Brewery. We were impressed with the brewery’s facilities before we even got to taste the beer. The space was covered from floor to ceiling with beautiful and stunning modern artwork. Some pieces were for sale and had been submitted by local artists. Other pieces were simply the natural décor and calligraphy skill of Phillips’ in house art director. I’m not joking when I say the brewery matched the lively-designed beer bottles.
We started off with a large sample of “Blue Buck” beer, which was our favorite of the day, as the Phillips guide gave us an in-depth look at the company’s history. The company was started by a 27-year-old who was fresh out of college and wanted to start a brewery. He could not get a bank to give him a loan, so to get started on his dream, he took out as many personal credit cards as he could and maxed them all. Amazingly, this plan worked and he was in business. A few years later he had employees and had moved twice, once notably due to his landlord kicking him out after a beer flood.
After topping off our favorite sample, we followed the guide around the back as he showed off the huge brewing tanks, kegging, bottling and canning areas. We returned to the storefront and were introduced to the “Growler,” which is a refillable beer bottle of intimidating size, and the custom “Growlerific” automated “Growler” filler. The contraption had been a project for some local college students and allowed you to select your brew of choice and automatically dispense it.
Next, we were on our way to 4 Mile Brewery. This is a smaller pub and brewery run out of a beautiful hundred year old building about 15 minutes away from downtown. The interior architecture and décor were tasteful and our favorite brew was the Summer Wheat Ale which we enjoyed while being shown around the premises. The other brews at 4 Mile were very strong on the hops and managed to produce some interesting facial expressions on my wife and me. This was to the great amusement of the rest of the party. We were all quite socially lubricated at this point and after this stop we were all friends. The ice had been broken and everyone was having a great time.
Our final stop was at the CANOE Brewpub, which was run out of an old brick power plant building and had a huge waterfront patio. Talking with their guide was a lot of fun and it was quite amusing listening to the challenges faced by the brewpub; the greatest of which was keeping up with their patrons ability to drink. The three beers we tried were all delicious and their French fries looked amazing. When we return to Victoria we will definitely be coming back to dine.
After the tour, the guide, who had been a great host and provided wonderful commentary throughout, was kind enough to drop us off at the Royal BC Museum. The entire trip took about three hours and was a wonderful time. I highly recommend the tour, it was a great way to make some local friends and finished off our stay in Victoria.
This looks very interesting! I will have to check this out on one of our trips to Victoria. So much to see and so much to do and the beer looks good!