BC’s Most Extreme Craft Breweries

Let’s get any confusion out of the way. When I say “extreme,” I’m not talking about any head brewer who once competed at the X-Games or a taproom manager who scaled El Capitan. Though, if we’re being honest, Locality Brewing might qualify in that category with the secret skateboard bowl they hid in a greenhouse. But I digress…

No, I’m using the word “extreme” in geographical terms. I recently did something slightly insane, I created a map of all 240 (by my last count) craft breweries in British Columbia. As it turns out, staring at a map for hours is a great way to discover things, like the fact that I’ve only sampled suds at 125 of the 240 taprooms in BC. I guess I need to fill up my gas tank and hit the road!

Another interesting detail I observed, and the reason for writing this blog post, was finding out what the most Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western breweries are in BC and if I had visited them or not. So without further ado, here are the most extreme BC craft breweries (in a geographical sense of the word).

BC’s Northernmost Brewery

• Brewery Name: Mighty Peace Brewing
• Coordinates: 56.241886695054696, -120.85080526137021
• Have I visited: No, that’s really far north! I’ll make it there one day though.

Fort St. John is also known as the “Energetic City,” which is a fancy way of saying it’s a big hub for oil and gas, but that moniker also gives a nod to the fact that Fort St John boasts an average population age that’s 9 years younger than the rest of the province.

Right in the heart of the city, sitting on the 56th parallel, you’ll find Mighty Peace Brewing. Opened in 2018, Mighty Peace was built on an idea of creating a place where the community could kick back and enjoy quality craft beer. Located at mile 47 of the historic Alaska Highway, it’s also a welcome oasis for travelers making the 2237km (1387m) drive.

To put the location in perspective, Fort St John is roughly an hour drive from the start of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, BC and a 24 hour drive to the end of the highway at Delta Junction, Alaska. It’s also about a 14 hour drive from Vancouver, BC.

Sitting on the 56th parallel North, Fort St John also shares it’s latitude with Denmark, Sweden, Edinburgh and Moscow. But it’s still very far from the 82nd parallel where Alert, Nunavut sits, which is the most northern continuously inhabited place in Canada, and the world.

BC’s Easternmost Brewery

• Brewery Name: Fernie Brewing
• Coordinates: 49.5269303242664, -115.04763305767206
• Have I visited: Yup. I white-knuckled a snowstorm drive from Calgary to Fernie and enjoyed a pint to calm my nerves.

Known as a “powder town” for it’s insane average annual snowfall of over 30 feet, Fernie is a mecca for skiing and snowboarding. It’s also the only BC town that’s completely surround by the Rocky Mountains. Suffice to say, it’s an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise.

Right on the edge of powder town, located off highway 3, sits Fernie Brewing, a family-owned brewery that started in 2003. Originally operating out of a family barn, the current location wasn’t put in to operation until 2007. The brewery is a staple in the town creating an amazing community focused tasting room where locals and tourists alike mingle to talk about their powder runs from earlier in the day.

Sitting at the halfway point between the 49th and 50th parallels, Fernie is under an hour drive from the US border but it’s not the southernmost BC brewery, it’s actually not even close to owning that title (more on that below). It is on the 115th meridian though which means it sits farther east than provincial bordering cities in Alberta like Banff and Jasper. It’s also farther east than major US cities like Spokane Washington; Boise, Idaho and Las Vegas, Nevada.

BC’s Westernmost Brewery

• Brewery Name: Wheelhouse Brewing Company
• Coordinates: 54.31411660090616, -130.32987644232793
• Have I visited: Nope, but it’s a spot I’d love to make a road trip to.

Welcome to Prince Rupert, a place affectionately nicknamed the “City of Rainbows,” which is a very poetic way of saying it gets a lot of rain. As in, more than any other city in Canada. This port city has a rich history, though it almost had an even grander one. It was meant to rival Vancouver as a major port until its visionary, Charles Hays, unfortunately went down with the Titanic. Damn you, Rose, there was room on that door!

Originally located in a former construction shop in the Cow Bay area of town, Wheelhouse Brewing opened their doors on Christmas Eve Eve in 2013. Ten years and a few months later they moved in to their current location in a historic rail station building right on the water’s edge which features a 2nd floor sunroom with 270 degree views of the area.

Located on the 54th parallel, there are only 4 other BC craft breweries that are located farther North than Wheelhouse but their geographical claim to fame is how far west they are. At a latitude of 130 west they are the westernmost brewery in BC and, by default, Canada and they are also located more west than any brewery in the contiguous United States. In fact, if you were to draw a line south from their front door, you’d be sailing on the open ocean until you smacked right into Antarctica.

BC’s Southernmost Brewery

• Brewery Name: Sooke Brewing
• Coordinates: 48.37866603380157, -123.72432734232797
• Have I visited: No and I’m kicking myself because I’ve been so close! One day I’ll make it there.

They call Sooke, BC the “Gateway to the Wild West Coast”. It’s where the rainforest collides with the sea, creating a hiker’s paradise and a front-row seat for spotting humpback whales and sea lions from the rugged shores of the Juan De Fuca Straight. Basically, it’s a postcard that you can hike through.

Right in the middle of this beautifully diverse backdrop is Sooke Brewing. Founded in 2013 by five locals with deep roots in the community, this brewery has become a true staple. Their tasting room is a gorgeous homage to the area’s history, with a massive tree trunk facade and a sawblade logo. The also have a notable barrel aging program that even took home gold at the World Beer Cup in 2023 for their barleywine.

But forget all those shiny brewing awards. What’s their most prestigious title? Obviously, being the southernmost brewery in all of British Columbia. Located just above the 48th parallel, Sooke is actually farther south than some Washington state based breweries in cities like Bellingham, Anacortes and Mt. Vernon. But Sooke Brewing only holds this title by a hair’s breadth. 619.9 feet to be exact. Yup, that’s right, just a 20 minute drive east from Sooke will bring you to the District of Metchosin. This is where you’ll find Mile Zero Brewing which is located at a parallel position of 48.3803 versus Sooke’s position of 48.3786.

It just goes to show that being the most extreme brewery is a game of inches.

So there you have it, the four most geographically extreme breweries in British Columbia. From the northern reaches of Fort St. John to the southern coastal town of Sooke, and from the eastern mountain fortress of Fernie to the western, rainbow-filled shores of Prince Rupert, there’s a lot of great beer in this gigantic province that could fit Washington, Oregon and California’s landmass inside of it.

Did you learn some beer-geography today? I know I sure did.