Empire Brewery (Victoria)
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada · Est. 1885
Tally's Take
Why this matters
Two years, the shortest documented run among Victoria's nineteenth-century breweries in this archive. Worth keeping straight from the Empire Brewery that later operated in Nanaimo — same name, different island town, no connection established between them. Collapsing two breweries that share a name is one of the most reliable ways a brewing history goes wrong.
The Museum
Timeline
- 1885Opens
Distinct from the later Empire Brewery in Nanaimo.
- 1887Closed
Two years.
Show your working
Sources
- recordProbable
Brewery record taken from Tally's British Columbia master, Pass 57, which cited https://www.sfu.ca/archives/archives-program/research/bc-beer-history-archive/bc-beer-history-archive-resources/timeline-pre-prohibition.html for this entry. The cited page has not been opened by the archive.
Tally's British Columbia master, Pass 57 (research workbook) · Tally's Beer Universe research workbook · 2026
CommercialMedium reliabilityAccessed 2026-08-19Reviewed 2026-08-19 - historyProbable
Lineage dates from SFU's BC Beer History Archive as recorded in BC Pass 57: 1885, 1887.
Tally's British Columbia master, Pass 57 (research workbook) · Tally's Beer Universe research workbook · 2026
CommercialMedium reliabilityAccessed 2026-08-19Reviewed 2026-08-19
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.
Straight answers
Common questions about Empire Brewery (Victoria)
- Is Empire Brewery (Victoria) still open?
- No. Empire Brewery (Victoria) has closed. BC Pass 57. SFU timeline dates Victoria's Empire Brewery 1885-1887; distinct from later Nanaimo Empire Brewery.
- When was Empire Brewery (Victoria) founded?
- Empire Brewery (Victoria) was founded in 1885 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
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