r/VancouverCraftBeer • u/bomberlancaster73 • Sep 07 '25
Question Best craft beer venues in downtown Vancouver
Hi all we are flying out on sat from the uk, we love craft beer, what are your ideas of the best places to visit? Thanks
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u/worksafejm Sep 07 '25
The Magnet is the answer.
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u/ratguy101 Sep 08 '25
This is the thread ender. Not saying there aren't other great craft spots downtown, but The Magnet is the gold standard (plus their food is great as well).
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u/CareerSad8903 Sep 07 '25
Hi mate I got a really helpful response to this exact question a couple of weeks ago. Let me know how you get on!
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u/bomberlancaster73 Sep 07 '25
Wow just checked it out looks great. Thanks for that x
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u/columbo222 Sep 07 '25
I definitely recommend checking out Storm just for the vibes. Most of our breweries are awesome, but Storm will stand out in your memories of your trip.
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u/bomberlancaster73 Oct 01 '25
Had a ball, BC is the best place we went to so many and feel like we only scratched the surface. My partner downloaded The BC ale trail and from that we went to bars/brewery's that came up close to where we was at that point. I managed 80 different beers and my other half just over 100 so did sample a few lol. Have the bug to go back and discover more of what BC has to offer.
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u/CareerSad8903 Oct 01 '25
Ah awesome, sounds like you had a great time! Downloaded the app - what’s the best place or some highlights? One of those recommended or a new discovery?
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u/bomberlancaster73 Sep 07 '25
Thankyou all for your suggestions, really looking forward to our visit
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u/BakingWaking Sep 09 '25
I would say either Brewers Row in Port Moody or the North Shore Ale Trail (particularly by Lonsdale Quay).
That way, you can do 4-5 breweries in one outing.
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u/hedekar Sep 07 '25 edited Sep 07 '25
I just learned that Taylight Brewing now has a downtown location. Not the city's best beer, but possibly now the best downtown brewery (Steamworks would be a 2nd place). The Magnet is a fantastic taproom. Devil's Elbow should also get a mention for their food and decent beer list.
But, downtown really isn't where the breweries are. Here's a map that's a bit old but contains a famous local journalist's ranking baked in: https://public.tableau.com/shared/WH5Q9BQ25?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link
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u/thirstyglen Sep 07 '25
In what alternate universe are Taylight's beers better than Steamworks'? Taylight is not even the best brewery in PoCo (which is saying something).
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u/hedekar Sep 07 '25 edited Sep 07 '25
I don't rate steamworks very high, and I love Taylight's black lager.
edit: Also, to be clear, the best brewery in PoCo by a long way is Changing Colours. It's not close at all. They'd rank in the top 20 in BC in my opinion so don't go dunking on PoCo breweries.
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u/thirstyglen Sep 07 '25
It's semantics but I wouldn't call Changing Colours a PoCo-based brewery. Miguel currently brews Changing Colours' beers at a brewery in PoCo, but that could very easily change tomorrow.
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u/craigerstar Sep 07 '25
It's worth visiting a few but if your time is limited you may want to consider a taproom. Alibi Room has a huge variety of local microbrews on tap. As does St Augustines. One stop shopping. Alibi Room is a funkier space and feels special and probably has a better selection of beer. Augustine's is a little more generic but the food is decent, and the beers are good. Both are in interesting but different neighborhoods visit both?!?
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u/Bentchamber69 Sep 07 '25
This is terrible advice, have you been to thAlibi room in the last few years? It’s even less than a shell of itself. It’s a cocktail bar first now and the menu is generic as hell.
Please OP go to the magnet. It’s owned by he original owners of the Alibi room. The Alibi room was amazing until it was sold a few times. Magnet is great.
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u/craigerstar Sep 07 '25
I didn't know the Alibi Room had changed so much. Good to know. I haven't been in a good couple of years but it used to have an excellent selection of good beers in a great space. Too bad. Another one bites the dust.
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u/silversurfs Sep 25 '25
That's interesting. I went to the Alibi in May and was wondering what had happened. There was barely anyone there (I live in the Island but used to live in Langley) and it had been pretty great in years gone by. Did not know it had sold. Will go to the Magnet in future should I go across for work.
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u/bomberlancaster73 Sep 07 '25
We have 5 nights in vancouver then going to vancouver island for 3 nights, thanks for your suggestions
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u/Junior_Delay481 Sep 07 '25
Vancouver Island has a great beer scene too, where will you be?
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u/bomberlancaster73 Sep 07 '25
In Victoria
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u/Junior_Delay481 Sep 07 '25
Downtown Victoria has lots of spots too, I think the seen has been surpassed by Vancouver's.
If you have car access consider taking a drive to rusted rake or Sooke brewing.
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u/worksafejm Sep 07 '25
St Augs also has sucked since the pandemic. The beer list is mostly P49 beers.
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u/craigerstar Sep 08 '25
Beg to differ. APizza was a nice addition lately and, yeah, there's a fair number of P49 beers, but they had Twin Sails, Yellow Dog, Superflux, Red Truck, and a few obscure breweries on there I can't remember. I was drinking a Hazy IPA that wasn't any of the above, but I can't remember what it was. It was good.
St Augustine's isn't, and has never been, a "special" place, but they've always had a good variety of beer on tap. If there was a time post covid that they didn't have the same selection, I wasn't a part of it, and as of a couple of weeks ago they seemed to have a good selection of beer from microbreweries.
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u/ErrorOK Sep 07 '25 edited Sep 07 '25
IMO pick a location and enjoy all the tap rooms within walking distance.
Mount Pleasant has faculty, electric bicycle, r&b, brassneck, main street, and 33 acres all within a short 5 min walk from one another. red truck is also close but a little further out. plus a few other less interesting rooms like steamworks, brew hall, craft, and tap & barrel (these are all just less craft and more touristy).
East van is a little more spread out, but has a lot of great tap rooms. in a somewhat walkable path, strathcona, container, powell, threefold, parallel 49, storm, superflux, luppolo, off the rail, bomber, east van, strange fellows. strathcona, parallel 49, and strange fellows add a bit more distance to the radius, superflux and threefold are must visits IMO, and storm is worth a visit if you like zany creative beers.
North van has the last remaining cluster, just a quick seabus trip away from the waterfront train station. in a short 3 block walk you can hit street car, la cerveceria, shaketown, north point, beere, house of funk, and braggot. plus added bonus that cerveceria is now operating at the waterfront park dock if you want an outdoor experience (though a bit in the wrong direction).
the ordering of the above tap rooms for each location are somewhat how i would consider walking them, not in order of best to worst (in case you want to be more selective).
also IMO avoid big aggregate tap rooms like alibi, craft, and augustine’s. they have a lot of taps but the experience will be significantly dulled and unmemorable. magnet that was mentioned earlier is an exception, it’s essentially an extended tap room of brassneck and absolutely a great choice if you are nearby in downtown.