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$$
4.6on GoogleRated 4.6 out of 5 on GoogleHandcrafted cider with tastings and seasonal events.
Brewery & Winery
Stickleback Oceanfront Cider & Taphouse
Sooke$$
4.3on GoogleRated 4.3 out of 5 on GoogleCider and beer taphouse with oceanfront patio in Sooke.
Brewery & Winery
Solstice Farm and Cider
Port Alberni
5.0(8)Rated 5 out of 5 from 8 reviewsSolstice 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
Coombs Country Cider (seasonally open Sept to Nov)
Qualicum Beach
5.0(2)Rated 5 out of 5 from 2 reviewsBrewery & Winery
North Haven Orchard and Cidery
Duncan
5.0(2)Rated 5 out of 5 from 2 reviewsNorth 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
Cherry Creek Cidery
Port Alberni
5.0(1)Rated 5 out of 5 from 1 reviewsCherry Creek Cidery crafts hard cider entirely from BC grown fruit, primarily BC dessert apples, with no added sugar or flavouring.
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.
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 GoogleRated 4.7 out of 5 on GoogleRestaurant and brewery in Tofino with live music.
Brewery & Winery
Fern + Cedar Brewing Company
Qualicum Beach$$
4.6on GoogleRated 4.6 out of 5 on GoogleQualicum Beach brewery with seasonal beers and food pairings.
Brewery & Winery
Small Gods Brewing Co.
Sidney
4.6on GoogleRated 4.6 out of 5 on GoogleBrewery rated 4.6 serving craft beer and restaurant food made with local ingredients.
Brewery & Winery
Gladstone Brewing Co.
Courtenay$$
4.6on GoogleRated 4.6 out of 5 on GoogleCraft brewery serving IPAs and stouts alongside pub fare.
Brewery & Winery
Mount Arrowsmith Brewing Company
Parksville
4.5on GoogleRated 4.5 out of 5 on GoogleSmall-batch craft beer with outdoor seating.
Brewery & Winery
Beach Fire Brewing Company
Campbell River$$
4.5on GoogleRated 4.5 out of 5 on GoogleBrewery and kitchen pouring house beers including High Tide, a West Coast pale ale with tropical fruit and citrus notes, and WheelBender dry Irish stout.
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.
Craft cideries by town
Places, events and things to do, town by town.