Kootenay Breweries Ltd.
Nelson / Trail / Fernie, British Columbia, Canada · Est. 1928
Tally's Take
Why this matters
BC Pass 57. BC Ale Trail identifies the Nelson facility as Kootenay Breweries by circa 1928 and describes its evolution into the regional chain that ultimately became Columbia Brewing in Creston. Federal/local Fernie history confirms Interior Breweries purchased Fernie-Fort Steele in 1950 and closed the Fernie and Nelson breweries in 1959 when a larger Creston brewery was built. Corporate legal transitions within 1928-1950 remain partially unresolved, so this version is intentionally bounded and separately sourced.
Show your working
Sources
- recordProbable
Brewery record taken from Tally's British Columbia master, Pass 57, which cited https://bcaletrail.ca/nelson-brewing-30-years-of-craft-beer/ 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
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 Kootenay Breweries Ltd.
- Is Kootenay Breweries Ltd. still open?
- No. Kootenay Breweries Ltd. has closed. BC Pass 57. BC Ale Trail identifies the Nelson facility as Kootenay Breweries by circa 1928 and describes its evolution into the regional chain that ultimately became Columbia Brewing in Creston. Federal/local Fernie history confirms Interior Breweries purchased Fernie-Fort Steele in 1950 and closed the Fernie and Nelson breweries in 1959 when a larger Creston brewery was built. Corporate legal transitions within 1928-1950 remain partially unresolved, so this version is intentionally bounded and separately sourced.
- When was Kootenay Breweries Ltd. founded?
- Kootenay Breweries Ltd. was founded in 1928 in Nelson / Trail / Fernie, British Columbia, Canada.
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