Going to Victoria & Victoria Island in May. Anything decent in the way of
beers, brewpubs etc.?

Cheers!
Dukester

On 3/22/2007 12:54 PM Dukester fell asleep at the keyboard, and awoke to
find this:

Going to Victoria & Victoria Island in May. Anything decent in the way of
beers, brewpubs etc.?

Perhaps you mean Victoria and *Vancouver* Island?

Pretty good beer town. Brewpubs include Swan's, Hugo's, the Canoe, and
Spinnakers. Pubs include the Sticky Wicket at the Strathcona Hotel
downtown, and Christie's Carriage House Pub out at 1739 Fort Street
(on the web at http://www.christiespub.com/).
--
dgs

Ooops, my bad. I did indeed mean Vancouver Island. Fingers got ahead of my
brain. Thanks for the tips.

Cheers!

"dgs" wrote in message
...
On 3/22/2007 12:54 PM Dukester fell asleep at the keyboard, and awoke to
find this:

Going to Victoria & Victoria Island in May. Anything decent in the way
of beers, brewpubs etc.?

Perhaps you mean Victoria and *Vancouver* Island?

Pretty good beer town. Brewpubs include Swan's, Hugo's, the Canoe, and
Spinnakers. Pubs include the Sticky Wicket at the Strathcona Hotel
downtown, and Christie's Carriage House Pub out at 1739 Fort Street
(on the web at http://www.christiespub.com/).
--
dgs

On 3/23/2007 5:22 AM Dukester jumped down, turned around, and wrote:

"dgs" wrote in message
...
On 3/22/2007 12:54 PM Dukester fell asleep at the keyboard, and awoke to
find this:

Going to Victoria & Victoria Island in May. Anything decent in the way
of beers, brewpubs etc.?

Pretty good beer town. Brewpubs include Swan's, Hugo's, the Canoe, and
Spinnakers. Pubs include the Sticky Wicket at the Strathcona Hotel
downtown, and Christie's Carriage House Pub out at 1739 Fort Street
(on the web at http://www.christiespub.com/).

Ooops, my bad. I did indeed mean Vancouver Island. Fingers got ahead of my
brain. Thanks for the tips.

There's also the Longwood brewpub up in Nanaimo, BTW - or at least there
was. Don't know if it's still going; the web site is defunct.
--
dgs

[sorry I'm so late in replying, just saw this now...]

In article ,
says...
On 3/23/2007 5:22 AM Dukester jumped down, turned around, and wrote:

"dgs" wrote in message
...
On 3/22/2007 12:54 PM Dukester fell asleep at the keyboard, and awoke to
find this:

Going to Victoria & Victoria Island in May. Anything decent in the way
of beers, brewpubs etc.?

Pretty good beer town. Brewpubs include Swan's, Hugo's, the Canoe, and
Spinnakers. Pubs include the Sticky Wicket at the Strathcona Hotel
downtown, and Christie's Carriage House Pub out at 1739 Fort Street
(on the web at http://www.christiespub.com/).

Ooops, my bad. I did indeed mean Vancouver Island. Fingers got ahead of my
brain. Thanks for the tips.

There's also the Longwood brewpub up in Nanaimo, BTW - or at least there
was. Don't know if it's still going; the web site is defunct.

Longwood is still open. Don't know what's up with the website.

The brewpubs mentioned above are all worth visiting. Hugo's is a bit odd
though - the atmosphere is more like a nightclub and I tend to stay away
on a Friday or Saturday night because it becomes one, complete with an
annoying DJ, ear splitting 'music' that you can hear from 2 blocks away
and lighting that threatens to induce seizures.

But the beer is pretty good, the food is excellent, and it tends to be
very quiet during the day (or mid-week evening) making it a nice spot
for a meal & beers.

Canoe is a gorgeous venue with good beer and good (but somewhat pricey)
food. They don't brew a huge number of beers, they have 4 regulars (a
lager, pale ale, bitter and a brown that's closer to a porter) plus one
seasonal.

They are all worth trying and are consistently in good shape.

Swans is only a couple of blocks away, and it's back to being a great
brewpub. They were having some problems with the beer quality, but
hiring a new brewmaster a while back has fixed that. They will typically
have 8 to 10 beers on tap, all brewed on site.

Spinnakers is the grand daddy of Victoria (& probably all of Canada)
brewpubs. While almost everything is served by handpump, on Friday
afternoons they do a gravity dispensed cask that's worth trying out.
They usually tap that at about 4:00. Incidently, Longwood did the same
thing the last time I was there - it was so good I missed a ferry
savouring a pint of that!

There's also a new brewpub in Duncan called "Craig Street Brewpub" but I
haven't been yet. Apparently the beers are what one might call a bit
pedestrian, but that's second hand info so I don't know for sure. In any
case, if the OP is heading up to Nanaimo, it's on the way so it couldn't
hurt to check it out.

Actually, the beer in Victoria is generally a bit tamer than what you
find elsewhere in the PNW, but usually quite well executed. You won't
find any "Double ******* Imperial IPAs" in the brewpubs here, though a
local micro called Phillips Brewing comes the closest.

Phillips is owned by brewer Matt Phillips who used to brew at Spinnakers
brew pub. He produces a very nice range of beers and they are worth
seeking out, either in bottle or on tap at a few locations in town.

Other brewery products worth looking for include those from Lighthouse,
though be warned that their IPA is pretty low on the IBUs. Even so, it's
a beer that I like an awful lot. If you can find it, you might try
something from Gulf Island Brewery. They are based on Saltspring Island
and make some nice beers, though I've found some problems with their
bottled products. There are a few places that carry them on tap though.

Vancouver Island brewery products are closer to mainstream. They are
certainly not bad, but they are a much bigger brewery than Phillips or
Lighthouse and it shows in the products they brew.

If you are not aware of the Canadian beer scene, there are certain beers
to avoid. One is Alexander Keith's IPA. It's not an IPA in any sense of
the word. A few places will have it on tap - Just Say No.

Most of the Okanagon Spring products are very pedestrian, likewise
Sleeman's. Granville Island is generally in the same category, but
occasionally they produce some gems sold as seasonal specialties. They
did a pilsener that I thought was a very authentic Czech style pils, and
they've done a nice job with some other specialties. These are only
available in 650 ml bottles though.

To the OP: hope you enjoy your time here!

Cheers,

Bill