Photo: Graeme Owsianski / Destination BC

Vancouver Island

Craft cideries on Vancouver Island

Old orchards, dry cider and tasting rooms in barns. The category is small here and worth the drive — and this page lists only the producers we can confirm.

12 places on this page
15 towns
4 upcoming

Cideries we can confirm

Brewery & Winery

Salt Spring Wild Cider House

Salt Spring Island$$

4.6on Google

Handcrafted cider with tastings and seasonal events.

Brewery & Winery

Stickleback Oceanfront Cider & Taphouse

Sooke$$

4.3on Google

Cider and beer taphouse with oceanfront patio in Sooke.

Brewery & Winery

Solstice Farm and Cider

Port Alberni

5.0(8)

Solstice Farm is a family run apple and hobby farm at the base of the Beaufort Mountains, with an apple orchard leading to a private event field for farm weddings.

Brewery & Winery

North Haven Orchard and Cidery

Duncan

5.0(2)

North Haven Orchard and Cidery is a family run business in Duncan producing Farm Crafted Apple Cider Vinegar from apples grown on its farm.

Brewery & Winery

Coombs Country Cider (seasonally open Sept to Nov)

Qualicum Beach

5.0(2)

Brewery & Winery

Victoria Cider Co.

Sidney$

4.9(110)

A cider farm on West Saanich Road in North Saanich where English and French cider apples grow around an original 1912 farmhouse, blended by hand in small batches.

What makes it craft cider

Craft cider is fermented apple juice and very little else — often from named cider varieties or heritage orchard fruit, frequently dry, sometimes wild-fermented, occasionally aged in barrel. Supermarket cider is usually concentrate, water, sugar and flavouring, and tastes like it.

The tell is the finish. Real cider finishes dry and tannic like a wine; the industrial kind finishes sweet. If a tasting room lets you start at the driest end of the flight, start there — it makes everything after it make sense.

Visiting an orchard

Most cideries here are working farms with a tasting room attached, which means seasonal hours, muddy parking and a dog. Summer and early autumn are the best time to go: the orchard is in fruit, the pressing happens around harvest, and the tasting rooms keep their longest hours.

Many pour flights for a small fee, sell bottles and growlers to take away, and a few have a kitchen or a food truck. Check before you go hungry.

Make it a trip

Before you visit

Ring ahead out of season: These are farms. Tasting-room hours shrink outside summer and can change with the harvest.
Taste dry to sweet: Starting at the sweet end flattens everything after it. Dry first, always.
Ask about perry: Pear cider made properly is a highlight and is rarely on the printed list.
Bring a driver: Cider is not a soft drink. Rural roads, rural distances — plan it like a winery day.

Breweries and tasting rooms nearby

The rest of the local drinks scene, most of it within the same afternoon.

Restaurant

The BEAR Bierhaus Restaurant

Tofino

4.7on Google

Restaurant and brewery in Tofino with live music.

Brewery & Winery

Gladstone Brewing Co.

Comox Valley$$

4.6on Google

Craft brewery serving IPAs and stouts alongside pub fare.

Brewery & Winery

Small Gods Brewing Co.

Sidney

4.6on Google

Brewery rated 4.6 serving craft beer and restaurant food made with local ingredients.

Brewery & Winery

Fern + Cedar Brewing Company

Qualicum Beach$$

4.6on Google

Qualicum Beach brewery with seasonal beers and food pairings.

Brewery & Winery

Beach Fire Brewing Company

Campbell River$$

4.5on Google

Brewery and kitchen pouring house beers including High Tide, a West Coast pale ale with tropical fruit and citrus notes, and WheelBender dry Irish stout.

Brewery & Winery

Mount Arrowsmith Brewing Company

Parksville

4.5on Google

Small-batch craft beer with outdoor seating.

What to try, in what order

Dry first, then off-dry, then anything infused or fruited, then whatever is barrel-aged or bottle-conditioned. Perry — pear cider, properly made — is worth asking for and rarely on the main list.

Cider is a food drink. It handles pork, cheese, shellfish and anything smoked better than most wine, which is why cider houses on the island tend to have unusually good snacks.

Cider and harvest events coming up

All events

Craft cideries by town

Places, events and things to do, town by town.

Frequently asked questions

What is craft cider?

Fermented apple juice, usually from cider or heritage varieties, typically dry and often unfiltered. It is closer to wine than to the sweet concentrate-based drink sold in supermarkets, and it finishes dry and tannic rather than sugary.

When is the best time to visit a cidery on Vancouver Island?

Late summer and early autumn, when the orchard is in fruit and pressing is under way. Tasting rooms keep their longest hours then. Outside the season many reduce hours or close, so check the day you plan to go.

Do cideries serve food?

Some do, with a kitchen or a food truck, and cider pairs unusually well with pork, cheese and shellfish. Others pour only. It is worth confirming before you build lunch around it.

Can I buy cider to take home?

Yes — bottles, cans and growlers at the cellar door, and often the only place a particular batch is available. Interprovincial and international alcohol shipping is restricted, so ask what they can legally send to where you live.

How many cideries are there?

It is a small scene on the island, and this page lists only producers with a verified page on this site. If a cidery you have heard of is missing, we could not confirm it — which we would rather say than pad the list.

After craft cideries

WineriesA small, cool-climate wine scene — what grows here and where to taste it.Food & drinkSeafood, small kitchens and a supply chain that fits in a van.MarketsSaturday farmers markets, night markets and the makers behind the tables.FestivalsMusic, food, film and small-town fairs — what is actually coming up.

Every topic on one page