Archive record · Brewery
Vancouver Island Brewing
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
- Founded
- 1984
- Archive ID
- TB-J49T1M2C
- Last checked
- Not yet checked
Who owns this brewery?
Named in dated ownership records. No parent company is held, and each owner's sources are shown below.
From the record
Summary
Main production and packaging moved to Phillips effective Nov. 1, 2024, but VIB retained a small-batch brewing operation for test and specialty products and remains commercially active in 2026.
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
Ownership & corporate history
- Owned by Bob MacDonaldJune 2016
Partly settledCurrent evidence supports this, but the record is not fully resolved.
What the sources say
Barry Fisher's June 15 2016 open letter transferred ownership to Bob MacDonald; VIB's 2024 co-pack announcement says there was no ownership change. Exact 2026 beneficial status remains to be directly rechecked.
Ownership history is kept as dated events, so a change of owner never overwrites the one before it.
Where it brewed
- 2330 Government St., Victoria, BC V8T 5G5Victoria, British Columbia
PRODUCTION
Operated by Vancouver Island Brewing
Site detail
Main production and packaging moved to Phillips effective Nov. 1, 2024, but VIB retained a small-batch brewing operation for test and specialty products and remains commercially active in 2026.
Events
- Barry Fisher formally transferred ownership to Bob MacDonald effective June 15, 2016.2016-06-15
OWNERSHIP TRANSFER
Contemporary owner letter reproduced in full.
The People
Behind the beer
Barry Fisher transferred ownership to Bob MacDonald effective June 15 2016; 2024 no-ownership-change announcement extends continuity through 2024.
The Beer Library
Beers
Hermann’s Dark Lager
Current / award documentedAmber / Dark European Lager
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Awards
- 2025
Silver — Amber and Dark European Beer
BC Beer Awards
- 2025
Gold — American Pale Ale
BC Beer Awards
- 2025
Silver — Hermann’s Dark Lager (Amber and Dark European Beer)
BC Beer Awards
- 2025
Gold — Mystic Haze Pale Ale (American Pale Ale)
BC Beer Awards
- 2025
Amber and Dark European Beer — Hermann’s Dark Lager
BC Beer Awards
- 2025
American Pale Ale — Mystic Haze Pale Ale
BC Beer Awards
- 2025
Amber and Dark European Beer
BC Beer Awards
- 2025
American Pale Ale
BC Beer Awards
- 2024
Bronze — Dark Lager
BC Beer Awards
- 2024
Bronze — Dominion Dark Lager (Dark Lager)
BC Beer Awards
- 2024
Gold — Hermannator Ice Bock (Strong Ale & Lager)
BC Beer Awards
- 2024
Dark Lager — Dominion Dark Lager
BC Beer Awards
- 2024
Gold — Strong Ale & Lager — Hermannator Ice Bock
BC Beer Awards
- 2024
Dark Lager
BC Beer Awards
- 2024
Strong Ale & Lager
BC Beer Awards
- 2023
Gold / First Place — North American Light Lager — Islander Lager
BC Beer Awards
Only awards we could attribute to a named body and year appear here. An empty section means unresearched, not unawarded.
1 organisations
Connected suppliers & bodies
- bc beer awardsAwarded2024Bronze — Dark Lager
- bc beer awardsAwarded2024Gold — Strong Ale & Lager
- bc beer awardsAwarded2025Silver — Amber and Dark European Beer
- bc beer awardsAwarded2025Gold — American Pale Ale
- bc beer awardsAwarded2024Bronze — Dominion Dark Lager (Dark Lager)
- bc beer awardsAwarded2024Gold — Hermannator Ice Bock (Strong Ale & Lager)
- bc beer awardsAwarded2025Silver — Hermann’s Dark Lager (Amber and Dark European Beer)
- bc beer awardsAwarded2025Gold — Mystic Haze Pale Ale (American Pale Ale)
Show your working
Sources
- recordProbable
Brewery record taken from Tally's British Columbia master, Pass 57, which cited https://www.vibrewing.com/news 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
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.
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