Archive record · Brewery
Imperial Brewery / Imperial Brewing Co. (Kamloops)
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Also known as Imperial Brewery, Imperial Brewing Co.
- Founded
- 1897
- Closed
- 1924
- Archive ID
- TB-W7FG63H7
- Last checked
- Not yet checked
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From the record
Summary
SFU traces Imperial Brewery 1897-98 → Imperial Brewing Co. 1898-1918 and through Prohibition to 1924.
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
Tally’s Take
SFU traces the Imperial Brewery from 1897 to 1898, then Imperial Brewing Co. From 1898 to 1918, with the line carried through Prohibition to 1924 — the same shape found at Nanaimo, Revelstoke and Trail, where the brewing stops and the company survives on paper until prohibition lifts. This is also the second Imperial in this archive's British Columbia records, distinct from the one-year Imperial Brewery at Nelson, and a third exists at Montréal. None of the three has any connection to the others.
The Museum
Timeline
- 1897Imperial Brewery
Kamloops. Distinct from the Imperial Breweries at Nelson and Montréal.
- 1898Imperial Brewing Co.
The name it kept for twenty years.
- 1920Sold to become the Rainier brewery
The plant was bought late in 1920 by Louis Hemrich's Rainier group and reorganised in June 1921 as the Rainier Brewing Company, Ltd (rainier-brewing-co-of-canada-ltd, TB-RP80HXSQ), shuttered early in 1927. The Imperial's 1898 founder: UNKNOWN (the Kamloops Museum & Archives holds a file).
- 1924Line ends
Brewing stopped in 1918; the company survived to 1924.
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 reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-19Claim last checked 2026-08-19 - historyProbable
Continuity dates as recorded in BC Pass 57: 1897, 1898, 1924.
Tally's British Columbia master, Pass 57 (research workbook) · Tally's Beer Universe research workbook · 2026
CommercialMedium reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-19Claim last checked 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 Imperial Brewery / Imperial Brewing Co. (Kamloops)
- Is Imperial Brewery / Imperial Brewing Co. (Kamloops) still open?
- No. Imperial Brewery / Imperial Brewing Co. (Kamloops) has closed (1924). SFU traces Imperial Brewery 1897-98 → Imperial Brewing Co. 1898-1918 and through Prohibition to 1924.
- When was Imperial Brewery / Imperial Brewing Co. (Kamloops) founded?
- Imperial Brewery / Imperial Brewing Co. (Kamloops) was founded in 1897 in Kamloops, Canada.
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