History --

Over a century ago breweries dotted British Columbia’s landscape. Hop farming flourished and the Squamish Valley Hop Ranch supplied hops to the British Empire. With the advent of Prohibition, the number of breweries and hop farms dwindled. By the 1970s only a few large breweries remained.

In 1980, BC’s John Mitchell and Frank Appleton pioneered North America’s first modern craft brewery at Horseshoe Bay on BC’s spectacular Howe Sound. This began what has become known as the “craft brewing renaissance”.

In 1996, John Mitchell helped design the Howe Sound Brewery and worked as our first brewer developing our initial recipes. Known as the “grandfather of micro-brewing in Canada”, we are proud of his ongoing relationship with our brewery. Today we continue to brew in the craft style using unfiltered 100% barley mash. We pride ourselves in brewing a diverse selection of flavorful, well-balanced ales. We invite you to enjoy the experience.