James Bay Brewery
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada · Est. 1862
Tally's Take
Why this matters
Four years, in the Victoria neighbourhood it took its name from. It belongs to the first wave — breweries that opened in the gold-rush years and were gone before the decade turned. Most of what a brewing town produces is this, and almost none of it gets written down.
The Museum
Timeline
- 1862Opens
Named for the James Bay district of Victoria.
- 1866Closed
Four years, per SFU's archival timeline.
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: 1862, 1866.
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 James Bay Brewery
- Is James Bay Brewery still open?
- No. James Bay Brewery has closed. BC Pass 57. SFU timeline dates James Bay Brewery 1862-1866.
- When was James Bay Brewery founded?
- James Bay Brewery was founded in 1862 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
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