Victoria Beer Week March 6 – 14

Victoria Beer Week returns March 6-14 with 19 different events held in venues around Victoria. This 7th annual festival of craft beer offers something for everyone from the novice who is just learning about craft beer to the geekiest beer lover who already thinks they know everything there is to know about their favourite beverage.

The week kicks off in grand style with Lift Off! at the Victoria Public Market, a night that features 15 brand new beers from 13 BC breweries. Highlights include two ancient beer styles from North Saanich’s Howl Brewing: Fungus and Flowers Spring Gruit, which is brewed without hops and features Reishi and Chaga mushrooms along with various roots and herbs; and Gotlandsdricka, a style made with smoked malts and honey, juniper branches and berries that dates back to the Viking era and was traditionally brewed by women. Nanaimo’s Longwood Brewery will serve its Pinot Noir Wild Ale, a wine-beer hybrid featuring freshly pressed Pinot Noir and Marechal Foch grapes from Emandare Vineyards in the Cowichan Valley that were fermented with a golden ale and finished in Brettanomyces-infused oak barrels. The rest of the beer menu includes hazy ales, an India Pale Lager, Hefeweizen, and several other styles — the ideal opportunity to explore the broad spectrum of craft beer styles.

The Victoria Public Market is VBW’s headquarters for its main events. All About the Wood is a showcase of fabulous beers that have been fermented or conditioned in barrels or foeders; Taco Tuesday is a chance to sample a range of taco-and-beer pairings; Saturday Night Casks features 25 unique cask-conditioned beers from some of BC’s best breweries. At Lager Than Life, a brand new event on Friday, March 13, the underrated and underappreciated lager style will be celebrated: more than 20 different lagers will be on offer alongside food from the Market’s vendors and special guest Dumpling Drop, which will be serving its delicious, hand-made dumplings from the Market’s Community Kitchen.

Beyond the Public Market, numerous events will take place around the city:

• Jump on West Coast Brewery Tours’ brew bus for the Street Eats Brewery Tour, a mobile supper with stops at three different breweries where you’ll get a behind-the-scenes tour, meet the brewers, sip several delicious brews, and savour a signature dish from a food truck parked at each brewery along with dessert at the end. This tour takes place on both Saturdays, March 7 & 14.
• Publican’s Picks is a special Sunday dinner at Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub hosted by Paul Hadfield that features a delicious beer-paired menu and a screening of a 1987 documentary about the early days of the microbrewing movement with footage of Spinnakers from way back then.
• Test your beer knowledge at the Ultimate Craft Beer Quiz, hosted by local smartypants Benji Duke at the Fernwood Inn on Monday, March 9.
• Eight of Victoria’s best bartenders will compete for glory and prizes at In the Spirit of Beer, a beer cocktail competition at Lure Restaurant & Bar on Wednesday, March 11.
• If you like your beer tart and refreshing, then check out Pucker Up, a celebration of 20 different sour beers, on Thursday, March 12 at the Garrick’s Head Pub and Churchill Pub.
• Swans is putting on the Brewmasters Brunch, a brunch to end all brunches with several BC brewmasters in attendance, on Saturday, March 14.

Throughout the entire week, you’ll also have several opportunities to learn more about beer at VBW’s Beer School, featuring a curriculum that includes a historic walking tour, a homebrewing workshop, and classes on food and beer pairing, brewing with wild yeasts, ancient beer styles, and beer and coffee.

Learn more at victoriabeerweek.com

Schedule of events here

Tickets for events

Tickets for VBW’s Beer School