Archive record · Brewery
Driftwood Brewery
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
- Founded
- 2008
- Archive ID
- TB-VRYDMJ8H
- Last checked
- 2026-08-07
Who owns this brewery?
Named in dated ownership records. No parent company is held, and each owner's sources are shown below.
From the record
Summary
Creators of 'Fat Tug IPA', the beer widely credited with defining the aggressive West Coast IPA style across Western Canada.
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
Tally’s Take
Fat Tug did more to define what a British Columbia IPA tastes like than any marketing ever managed, and Naughty Hildegard is named for the twelfth-century abbess who first wrote down that hops preserve beer. Nine core beers and twenty-seven limited ones — Sartori Harvest is a wet-hop beer brewed once a year the week the hops come off the bine, which is a deadline set by a field rather than a plan.
Ownership & corporate history
- Owned by Gary Lindsay2008
Partly settledCurrent evidence supports this, but the record is not fully resolved.
What the sources say
2021 landlord submission to Esquimalt states Driftwood remains privately held by founders; named founder trio corroborated by BC Ale Trail. 2026 continuity not independently re-proven.
- Owned by Kevin Hearsum2008
Partly settledCurrent evidence supports this, but the record is not fully resolved.
What the sources say
2021 landlord submission to Esquimalt states Driftwood remains privately held by founders; named founder trio corroborated by BC Ale Trail. 2026 continuity not independently re-proven.
- Owned by Jason Meyer2008
Partly settledCurrent evidence supports this, but the record is not fully resolved.
What the sources say
2021 landlord submission to Esquimalt states Driftwood remains privately held by founders; named founder trio corroborated by BC Ale Trail. 2026 continuity not independently re-proven.
Ownership history is kept as dated events, so a change of owner never overwrites the one before it.
Where it brewed
- 836 Viewfield Rd., Victoria, BCVictoria, British Columbia
PRODUCTION
Operated by Driftwood Brewery
Site detail
Official timeline states the founders received the keys to the original brewery site in July 2008; brewery later moved brewing operations to Viewfield Rd.
The Museum
Timeline
- 2008Three partners from Lighthouse
"Driftwood began with three partners in 2008 — Lindsay, Jason Meyer and Kevin Hearsum", at Unit 102-450 Hillside Avenue (the company's own site); Fat Tug IPA followed. Later "over on Bridge and Hillside", then the Esquimalt brewery, moved into "right in the middle of COVID", with a staff of about 65 by 2025.
- 2025Still the founders'
"Meyer retired over the past year, stepping back from the main operation, leaving Lindsay to oversee sales ... while Hearsum is the manager of operations." No sale found; a reported 2023 sale is UNCONFIRMED.
The People
Behind the beer
Victoria-based creators of Fat Tug IPA.
Named as one of three founders/owners in 2021.
Named as one of three founders/owners in 2021.
The Beer Library
Beers
Fat Tug
Year-RoundDriftwood Juicy IPA
Year-RoundRazamanaz
Year-RoundDriftwood Lager
Year-RoundDriftwood Pale Ale
Year-RoundWhite Bark
Year-RoundArcus
Year-RoundNaughty Hildegard
Year-RoundRaised By Wolves
Year-RoundCry Me a River
SeasonalBlackstone
SeasonalImpression Belgian Quadrupel
LimitedIt'll be Fine
LimitedBroadwing
LimitedOriginal Gravity Haze
LimitedTwenty Pounder
LimitedSon Of The Morning
LimitedDe Auras
LimitedLong Distance KRUSH
LimitedAbyssus Kriek 2023
LimitedEccentricity
LimitedCorsair's Curse
LimitedShokunin
LimitedMad Bruin
LimitedVenatrix
LimitedWindcatcher
LimitedOumuamua
LimitedLimb from Limb
LimitedThe Last Aurochs
LimitedDrawn to Light
LimitedOld Cellar Dweller 2021
LimitedEntangled
LimitedSingularity 2025
LimitedSartori Harvest
LimitedObscuritas
LimitedLatus
LimitedClodhopper
LimitedBelle Royale
LimitedFat Tug IPA
Northwest-style IPA
Official current product page. (CURRENT) [Canada Pass 102]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →On the record
Awards
- 2025
Silver — Naughty Hildegard (Specialty IPA)
BC Beer Awards
- 2025
Silver — White Bark (Belgian Ale)
BC Beer Awards
- 2025
Specialty IPA — Naughty Hildegard
BC Beer Awards
- 2025
Belgian Ale — White Bark
BC Beer Awards
- 2025
Specialty IPA
BC Beer Awards
- 2025
Belgian Ale
BC Beer Awards
- 2014
Gold — Belgian/French — White Bark
BC Beer Awards
Only awards we could attribute to a named body and year appear here. An empty section means unresearched, not unawarded.
1 organisations
Connected suppliers & bodies
- bc beer awardsAwarded2025Silver — Naughty Hildegard (Specialty IPA)
- bc beer awardsAwarded2025Silver — White Bark (Belgian Ale)
Show your working
Sources
- beersConfirmed
Driftwood Brewery publishes the beers listed on this page.
Driftwood Brewery — beer lineup · Driftwood Brewery
BreweryHigh reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-07Brewery-statedClaim last checked 2026-08-07
Only the claims above are sourced. Everything else on this page is the archive's own research and has not yet been tied to a document — which is worth knowing rather than hiding.
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