Driftwood Brewery

Consistently on the cutting edge, Driftwood is one of the leaders of BC’s craft beer industry.

Driftwood launched in 2008 with a pale ale and two Belgian beers, which immediately set it apart from the crowd at the time. The lack of an IPA in the lineup was surprising, but then the brewery released Sartori Harvest IPA, BC’s first wet-hopped IPA, in 2009 and followed it up by launching Fat Tug IPA on a year-round basis in 2010. Fat Tug quickly became regarded as BC’s best IPA and was named Beer of the Year at the Canadian Brewing Awards in 2011. Although Fat Tug fills more than half of Driftwood’s fermentation tanks on a regular basis, the brewery also has a significant barrel-aging/sour beer program and continues to innovate with regular new releases.

The brewery moved to its new location just off the E&N Rail Trail in the heart of Old Esquimalt in 2021, adding significant capacity as well as a popular tasting room and patio. Food is available from Dumpling Drop, which operates out of the tasting room kitchen, and the lineup of taps usually includes something unique from a pilot batch system.

Driftwood also offers its own distilled gin and vodka under the Driftwood Spirits brand.