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Archive record · Brewery

James Bay Brewery

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Closed · 1866Ownership unknownMicrobrewery
Founded
1862
Closed
1866
Archive ID
TB-ZC8891JG
Last checked
Not yet checked

Who owns this brewery?

Not yet establishedNot yet established

The archive is still digging. That is a gap in the research, not a finding of independence.

Know who owns it? Tell us, and we will correct the record.

01

From the record

Summary

SFU timeline dates James Bay Brewery 1862-1866.

A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.

Tally’s Take

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.

02

The Museum

Timeline

  1. 1862
    Opens

    Named for the James Bay district of Victoria.

  2. 1866
    Closed

    Four years, per SFU's archival timeline.

08

Show your working

Sources

  1. 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 2026-08-19
    Claim last checked 2026-08-19
  2. 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 reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-19
    Claim 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.

09

Straight answers

Common questions about James Bay Brewery

Is James Bay Brewery still open?
No. James Bay Brewery has closed (1866). SFU timeline dates James Bay Brewery 1862-1866.
When was James Bay Brewery founded?
James Bay Brewery was founded in 1862 in Victoria, Canada.
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