Driftwood Brewing Company

My husband and I have been to Driftwood several times now and I have to say it is the most welcoming establishment I’ve ever been to. To simply compliment their customer service would not properly convey the positive atmosphere there. Every (and I mean every) employee there is so kind and friendly which tells me it must be a great place to work. Happy employees are happy people who make happy customers! In fact, we spoke to a couple of other patrons who were very cheerful as well. We were served by Andrew who, when I couldn’t decide what I wanted (I’m no beer expert) was able to gauge my taste and help me choose a fantastic flight which exceeded my expectations. He never interrupted us if we were deep in conversation yet appeared at the perfect moment when we were looking for another beer. Signs of a great server! Andrew educated us on the Czech Pilsner pour which initially I was skeptical of, but immediately enjoyed. How did he know?? He offered tastings of beers he thought we’d like and was so personable and non judgmental in teaching us about their brews. We also spoke to a couple of other servers and I wish I knew their names so I could give them a shout out too! Driftwood feels like the type of place you could go to if you were having a lousy day and needed some positive energy. Or maybe you’re just lonely. Either way I’m certain the staff there would make you feel at home and I will continue to support this business and recommend it to everyone!

Such a fun atmosphere! We stopped in for some small bites and beers on Sunday evening and everything was GREAT!! We walked from downtown Victoria and it was a nice stroll (20-30 minute walk depending on the pace). After burning calories to get there, the food was 100/10 🤤. They have an asian influenced menu with unique takes on typical street foods. The beer also good with some unique flavors. I personally enjoyed the raspberry sour and my husband enjoyed the cherry sour, both were tart and bursting with flavor. Not pictured is the Gin. We enjoyed both of their house gins and brought some home to enjoy with family. We did enjoy the pet friendly patio with our pup 🐾. The servers were all so lovely to our pup and provided a big bowl of water with ice for him and lots of treats. I would recommend since the patio is quite dense with dogs on occasion to ensure you pup is friendly and ok sitting next to other dogs for a period of time. You may want to consider bring something to occupy them depending on how long you plan to stay.

I was already a fan of their beers, so I was overdue for visiting this brewery. I had a fantastic time! Friendly service, and amazing selections. I'm crazy about the peach sour!

We were visiting from North Van and our friends recommended meeting here, saying it's "a fun little place with real cool servers". Huh. So we went. Food was great, drinks fantastic (I'm not a beer girl and had plenty to choose from). But the servers really were GREAT; accommodating, friendly, knowledgeable and proud of their offerings. I was interested in their gins, and so I received tasters. They were even happy to celebrate another local producer's aperitif. These folx made us feel really, really welcome and enhanced the already good experience exponentially. If they could bottle their culture, they'd have another product to sell.

I am a huge fan of Fat Tug, and I always visit Driftwood when I am in Victoria! This brewery is so nice and cozy with an amazing patio too! Staff are always super friendly and attentive!

Our hearts are broken. We’ve loved, and have been loved by, Driftwood for years, traveling here from California with our two little dogs. It’s always our first night’s stop and sometimes our last when we stay at Salish RV to enjoy Victoria. The welcome vibe has always been five star+., above and beyond service. Tonight was a 180. Hospitality was nowhere to be found. No “welcome in” but instead “I guess I’ll have to get the key” to unlock a patio table. (Literally half the tables were locked for the night at 6 pm (closing time was 8:30). People come here not just for the beer, but for the atmosphere. There was none! No outdoor patio lights, tables locked up, waitress put out from the start. We know she was busy, but we were so jovial and even helped unlock the table cable. No rush we said. We were just looking for a fun first night in Victoria!! Nope. Now we’re longing for the old days and the lovely waitress who - if n every visit even when the place was jumping - took such good care of us (she’s the one who made the dog beds). We won’t be back. Life is too short. Tonight we left half a beer on the table, skipped the food and went back to our RV to have some soup and lick our wounds.

Well it's getting close to summer and hanging out on a patio or if it is still a little cold or wet being in a place where weather inside or out it's the same Awesome vibe . Drift would has it in spades . The food menu is limited but what they have is done to perfection and served with a smile and by a very outgoing staff member 😀. If your a beer 🍺 fan and love local charm it's a must to come and hang out while sampling some of the finest beers brewed on our OH SO BEAUTIFUL Island 🏝

Honestly, this brewery is great! Not only do they have awesome beer and a vegan friendly menu but they also host events for the community to enjoy. We absolutely loved how friendly the place is. Hands down the friendliest brewery we have been to, they give your pups treats, and they even have beds for them to be comfy. The staff is wonderful, especially Amber who makes your feel welcome and definitely brings a great vibe to the place. We visited twice during our stay and look forward to visiting again some day when we are back in Victoria.

Honestly, this brewery is great! Not only do they have awesome beer and a vegan-friendly menu but they also host events for the community to enjoy. We absolutely loved how friendly the place is. Hands down the friendliest brewery we have been to, they give your pups treats, and they even have beds for them to be comfy. The staff is wonderful, especially Amber who makes your feel welcome and definitely brings a great vibe to the place. We visited twice during our stay and look forward to visiting again someday when we are back in Victoria.

Driftwood Brewery I had the fortunate opportunity of obtaining but what was unfortunate is that the info I was inputting into my phone to make a Yelp review was destroyed and for a while the experience as far as details go was once believed to be lost. Good thing physical notes were also being made at this time and were come across to get a review posted. For Driftwood Brewery we had the Sartori Harvest which was an IPA and one in which we liked quite well. Flavor features with this IPA was hoppy, piney, floral and grassy. The body of the beer was smooth. It was a good IPA and distinctive enough that it was not difficult to differentiate the blur from one IPA to another as I often get the feeling in doing. This one stands out for sure.

Me and the boss having a pint at a favorite brewery. Comfy place with a nautical vibe, and many awesome beers, cocktails and local cider. Servers were very friendly and informative.

Very cool place with great beer! Also had some appetizers that were super good. We were visiting Victoria and using their public transportation system, so it was an adventure getting there. But definitely worth the trip.

From Portland Oregon to Victoria in search of experiencing all things Canadian. Eh! 1.5 hours on the Ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, we thirsty. Eh! We ride our bikes to town and then over to Driftwood. Lots of bikes parked here. Must be locals too. From PDX we liken our dank bitter IPA's. Eh! Raised by Wolves was dank delish. We mixed in rice and chili oil with crispy yuzu brussel sprouts. Yum woon sen noddles with onion, tomato, lime and give me more chili oil to take it up several spice nothces. Eh! 75F degrees with big umbrellas on the patio, no wind, a great start to 2 weeks exploring all things Victoria and on the big Vancouver Island. Eh!

A good hangout for friends with some quirky touches. An under the sea theme for the decor which is in an industrial space. Didn't wait long for a table though it was busy on a rainy day. Pretty srandard selection of beers with curated flights and pick your own options. Also had some cider on tap. Lots of washrooms, all unisex. One weird table in its own niche. Attentive but relaxed service, a bit of a surfer vibe. Smart snack oltions with deep fried dumplings. Reasonable prices.

I know it's a Friday, and busy, but we (4 and a kid) came in, were seated, and 2 groups come in after us who were served before we were - which ended up being not at all, as we chose to leave. One of the 3 servers who went past us, without asking if we had been served, got snarky with my Mom, on top of that. Not a pleasant first impression of your new bar & patio, service wise.

A Tale of Two Breweries My bandmates and I had the opportunity to hop the ferry from Vancouver and play a gig in Victoria this past weekend. We looked forward to touring some of the great breweries on Vancouver Island the day after the show. We managed to make it to two breweries: Île Sauvage, located at 2960 Bridge Street, Victoria, BC, and Driftwood Brewery which was about a five-minute drive from it. The experience couldn't have been more different between the two businesses. Île Sauvage, was a friendly minimalistic brewery with a food truck kitchen, beautiful white tile wall of taps, and incredibly friendly staff all of whom made you feel welcome and appreciated. It had the feeling of a small independent brewery where they really wanted you to sample their various offerings and enjoy your visit. They gladly let our band put up a sticker on their post of band stickers, and it was a really nice start to what was expected to be a fun day of brewery hopping. My wife and I along with two other couples enjoyed the food, some flights of beer and then left for our next stop. We decided to visit Driftwood Brewery. It was a mistake. While Île Sauvage felt like you were being invited into a brewmaster's tasting room, Driftwood Brewery was the opposite experience. It is clearly more of a corporate entity with a lot of money spent on branding, merchandising, and interior design. It had a spectacular themed interior reminiscent of the old Rainforest Cafés including its own "Hop Monster" hanging from the ceiling. I used to enjoy taking my daughter to Disneyland, and I have no hesitation in admitting the décor brought out the kid in me. Unfortunately, I can honestly say that I have never been subjected to more insulting behaviour by a server than I had to endure at Driftwood Brewery. Granted, I may not be the target audience for this establishment; I am a baby-boomer with long hair past my shoulders, and probably had a little bit of eyeliner and glitter makeup left over from our gig the night before: nobody is going to mistake me for a hipster. Driftwood Brewery does a really good business. The place was busy, but not so full that our table of six couldn't get seated immediately without waiting. After a few minutes the server came up to take our order. As my wife and I were sitting at the end of the table, he asked for my order first. Having enjoyed a nice selection of sours at Île Sauvage, I wanted to try something different. I selected the first two beers right away and then took a beat (no more than ten seconds in my estimation) to select my third. The server was instantly irritated with having to wait for this 10-ish seconds and said to our whole table, in a tone that was clearly annoyed, "Look, are you ready to order or not?" I ordered something as fast as I could and then, with pressure mounting to order my fourth, one of our group who was sitting right beside me, intervened by asking the server to describe the "smoky" beer. I chimed in with something like, "ya, what's that one" to which the server, shockingly said he would explain it to my friend, AFTER he takes my order. He refused to describe it to me. I was floored at the outright hostility and rudeness. Trying to end this uncomfortable exchange, I just ordered the first beer I could see on the menu and hoped we could leave as soon as possible. My wife, who was watching this unfold chose not to order anything and just had a glass of water. Then, when the waiter came back to advise one of the four beers I had ordered was not available, and not daring to risk asking for a recommendation, I just said I'll have a glass of one of the beers I had previously selected instead. He told me that was not possible as they had already poured the other three beers of the flight and it was too late to change my order. I again just ordered the first thing I saw on the beer list to end the interaction as soon as possible. He never looked or spoke to me again for the entirety of our visit, although he made a point to be particularly jovial to the rest of our group. The exclusionary intent seemed obvious. It was a shocking experience to support an establishment only to be subjected to intentional humiliation. Not wanting to make the rest of our party uncomfortable, we just endured the experience rather than leave right away. In the end, my friend who had recommended the brewery offered to pay for my flight and we departed. I won't say the experience ruined the entire weekend, but it certainly ruined what should have been a fun day out with friends enjoying the wonderful breweries in the Victoria area. As it were, we were no longer in the mood for any more breweries and returned to our hotel. I know there is greater permission these days to be mean to each other, and I often say we now live in the age of the "A-hole", but such behaviour by a server should still be considered unacceptable.

We were referred here by a neighborhood brewery that was phenomenal and spent a lot of money on a Uber to get here and were cut off after one beer. The beer was good but the service suffered. Connor was pretty judgmental and we weren't as welcomed as we expected. We still recommend making it part of ur stop if you can get that far out...but it's Canada so expect that smug treatment.

Amazing service, atmosphere and beers! Hope to be back in the future. Wings were great and the beer is awesome.

Great beers, good and friendly service, clean and pleasant restaurant. Although value is good, I would recommending expanding the menu to have foods that pair well with the variety of beers.

Fat Tug is the best IPA ever. No competition. Tried the Porter tonight and loved it. What a great atmosphere, amazing staff.

Lovely environment, flights and cocktails. Do yourself a favor and try the craft beer float - ice cream and craft beer DO mix well.

For me...best brewery experience in Victoria. Awesome beer, really good eats (thanks to dumpling drop), great patio, staff are awesome and they LOVE dogs.

We checked out another brewery, Driftwood Brewery, which happened to be kitty corner to Hoyne Brewery. Didn't even realize this the first time we were in this area. Their entrance is a little non-discrete but just look for the door to the right. They're open Monday to Saturday (11:00am to 6:00pm). The taproom is cool with lots of different merchandise spread throughout. There's glassware, posters, t-shirts ($25.00), tanks, hoodies ($50.00), hats ($24.00), toques ($20.00), fishing lures, bottle/keychain openers, cards, hydroflask growlers ($65.00) and pint glasses ($26.00). They had 6 flavours on tap so we tried all of them ($5.00 for a flight). They also had 8 types of bottles in their beer fridge. We ended up buying two (Naughty hildegard ESB and Cry me a river gose). Bottles were very reasonable ($6.70 each). We sampled: - Arcus pilsner - one of their seasonal beers. - White bark witbier - nice light summery beer. - New growth pale ale - Naughty hildegard ESB - nice guava and citrus undertones. - Fat tug IPA - this is their most popular beer. Similar to Hoyne's dark matter but much lighter in flavour. Quite hoppy. - Pead belgian - this one was part of their brewery series and they only had it on tap. We would have got this but didn't have our growler with us. Defintely worth checking out! This area is a great spot to grab some beers and ice cream.

Went here with a large group of friends. Had a blast and would go here again and again. Epic service (pray you get Amber) and beer is amazing. Great atmosphere and the tap room is beautiful. Thank you!

Stopped by Driftwood Brewery on a mini craft brewery tour of Victoria. Great location right around the corner from Hoyne's Brewery with plenty of free street parking. This is a great brewery with some amazing beers. Unfortunately they do not have an official tasting room but they do have a retail area for growler fills and to purchase bottles of their beer. The two staff members working were very knowledgeable about their beers and the history of the brewery. And they provided samples of all the beers they had for growler fills...and there were quite a few. For me it is hard to beat their Fat Tug (7% and about an 80 IBU)..it has just the right amount of hops and is full flavoured. It is no wonder this beer is served in establishments all around Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. It was a very positive experience and I can happily (or hoppily) highly recommend Driftwood beers and especially their Fat Tug. PS. I really want to try their seasonal beer, Singularity, and hoping to secure a bottle when it comes out next in early 2017.

I've been wanting to go to this Brewery for years since having the Fat Tug IPA. Small tasting room, but the best beer flight! Great service. Tomo was awesome!Definitely easy going and made the flight tasting memorable! Definitely coming back!

Their Fat Tug IPA and Farmhand Saison are distributed in Ontario so I already had good expectations going in, but this place makes some seriously great beer. But legit, everything we sampled was pretty awesome and their Gose might be the best I had on the island. The tap room staff were super friendly and knowledgeable, and we didn't feel rushed to move on to our next stop. WARNING - no bathrooms (like Hoyne beside it, so if you're planning a brewery tour, plan accordingly).

Not every one of there beers is to my liking, but that's the way it should be. We all have different taste buds after all! That said, Fat Tug is one of the best IPAs I've ever had and their Blackstone Porter is another huge favourite. Staff at the tasting room are always quite nice.

Killer, stellar and other words that end with the letter "R." When in Victoria, swing by for beers, yes plural, its a must.

Driftwood is probably my favourite brewery in BC. They are young, full of potential and have an excellent understanding of what makes a great brew. You should definitely give their IPA & sour a try; they're fantastic!

Finally! Every weekend I've come to the island for years this brewery has been closed for some reason. Definitely didn't disappoint. Abundance of tasters, funny guy pulling the taps and loads of product. Bonus points for sassy chalkboard signs making fun of pumpkin beers!

The next time you cross the border into Canada and are looking for something to do in Victoria, pay a visit to Driftwood Brewery. It is a small operation that makes one of the best IPA's I have ever had - Fat Tug IPA. If you or your friends are beer enthusiasts, you will not be disappointed (check out the ratings on BA / RB - the only reason it does not rank higher is the sample size of ratings - the average scores are indicative of what the beer is all about). If you cannot make the trip to Victoria, not to worry - there are several establishments in Vancouver that serve this delicious beer. Anxiously awaiting your arrival to the SF Bay Area... -Eddie

Made a quick stop to Driftwood yesterday. Folks behind the counter were very friendly and welcoming. Tasted their New Growth American Pale Ale, which was surprisingly yummy hoppy. And of course, Fat Tug IPA, which to me is the best IPA in Western Canada (maybe even all of Canada). Wish I could've brought home a growler back to California. Driftwood is definitely a must stop as you check out craft breweries in Victoria! They have cool shirts too!

Really good beer and friendly staff! We were a bit disappointed that Victoria breweries don't really have tasting rooms :( come on guys, we want to come hang out and drink yo beer! For now we will keep drinking yo beer from the comfort of our home I guess and patiently wait for you to get a right proper tasting room!

Good variety of beer, Brayden (sp?!--sorry bro) was super knowledgeable and helpful. (Didn't catch the other girls name but also super helpful. We will definitely be back. Their beer is delicious and well rounded with lots of distinct flavors in all their beers. Great logos.

They do flights for cheap. Brayden knows sooo much about beer in general and the brewery. Their branding is great, they have sour beer. I approve

Amazing beers!!!! First place I went to in Victoria to try beers and it was definitely #1 in my opinion. The staff is awesome, very friendly! I had a hard time deciding which beer I liked the best, they were all so goooooood!!! Also the merchandise is really cool.

Best beer ever, a MUST visit spot for when you are in Victoria. Staff were informative and fun. Spot is hard to find, so look hard as it is worth it

I enjoy beer, and I enjoy the company of friends. Today was an excellent day for both. We started out on the water taxi and got dropped off at the Point Ellice House stop (for those taking the water taxi over) and then made our way to Hoyne first who then directed us on our brewery tour to Driftwood. I have to say that I think I had found a piece of heaven between Hoyne and Driftwood and they share a parking lot! We sampled every beer they had, bought a t-shirt, and talked about the fact that squash is a dangerous sport for one's shoulder. I currently have a bottle of Fat Tug in my fridge and am sad to think that once I drink it I won't be tasting this brewery's beer until I can find it in the states or I make a trip back to Victgoria. It was an excellent IPA, and not one where the brewer took handfuls of hops and threw them willy-nilly in the vat. Everything here was full of flavor with the emphasis on beer first. There wasn't a beer here that I didn't like. Thanks for the hospitality while we were visiting on 6-4-2015.