Victoria Caledonian Brewery & Distillery is a brand new brewery and distillery set to open its doors near Victoria in June of this year. The venture, started by fermentation engineer and entrepreneur, Dr. Graeme Macaloney, in collaboration with around 250 whisky and craft beer aficionados from across Canada, promises great things for both whisky and craft beer lovers.

We had the chance to chat with Dean McLeod, Brewmaster at Victoria Caledonian, about the venture and what can be expected once the doors of the brewery and distillery open.

A lot of the team hails from Scotland. Why did you set up shop in Victoria?

“You’re right, president Graeme Macaloney, brand ambassador Andrew Walls, and master distiller Mike Nicholson are Scottish, but all had been living here in Victoria for some time. I’m Australian of Scottish descent and was also living in Victoria prior to coming aboard. So we were all here anyway and would run into each other from time to time due to our shared love of whisky.”

Victoria has quite a thriving craft beer culture. How are you hoping to fit into that?

“Victoria certainly does have a thriving beer scene, and I don’t believe by any means that it has become saturated. All of the breweries are growing, which suggests that craft beers are gaining an increasingly broad acceptance.

Being constructed very much with tourism in mind, and having a large tasting lounge, this will be a destination brewery and distillery like no other in Victoria. It’s going to be pretty bloody impressive once it’s complete. Look out for me brewing in a McLeod of Raasay tartan kilt!”

What kinds of beers are you planning on brewing?

“Beer-wise, we are going to focus on beers that actually sell, and brewed to a quality and consistency that beer drinkers are increasingly demanding. Honest beers that reward the drinker each and every time. No gimmicks, no cartoons, no silly ingredients. 

Lots of brewers are exploring what beer can be by throwing a lot of daft ingredients at it; we will explore what beer can be in terms of excellence. And all in 6-pack 355ml bottles. I like this format, and there is very little to choose from if you want a quality IPA or a saison in small bottles. The beer will have a different brand to the whisky and will be named after the famous Robbie Burns poem Twa Dogs (two dogs). Individual beer names have been boosted from other Burns poetry.”

Where do you get your ingredients from?

“For our whisky, we will need to use BC grown barley, some of which we will malt ourselves, but most of it will come from Gambrinus Malting in Armstrong, BC. We will use this as our base malt for the beer too. Specialty malts will come from all over, and hops will be a mix of newer US, German, and New Zealand varieties.”

What were some of the challenges and wins you’ve experienced while getting ready to open?

“I think that the biggest challenge for us was finding a location that was suitable for beer, whisky and tourism. It took us a long time, but we’re really happy with our home at 761 Enterprise Crescent.

The construction phase has been compressed into just three months, which is kind of insane given the scope of the build. Fortunately we found some great local contractors and they have worked really well together to ensure that we got it done. Construction in Victoria is booming and we’ve been very lucky drawing in the trades that we have. 

We are commissioning systems now and it’s all gone remarkably smoothly. The District of Saanich, and indeed the whole neighbouring community, have been great to work with. Also on the ‘win’ side of the ledger, I am very happy to be working again with Head Brewer Matt Lyons.”