British Columbia Breweries Limited / Brewers and Distillers of Vancouver

• BC Breweries

The British Columbia Breweries Limited was established on February 20, 1911 with the amalgamation of three BC brewing companies: Charles Doering and John Williams' Vancouver Breweries Ltd. (Vancouver), Henry Reifel's Canadian Brewing and Malting Company (Vancouver), and Nanaimo's Union Brewing Company (managed by Reifel from 1896 to 1910). In May 1911, Cumberland's Pilsener Brewing Company joined the group. BC Breweries was initially headquartered at the Vancouver Breweries office at Scotia St. and 7th Ave., but brewing was consolidated at Reifel's recently built plant at Yew St. and 11th Ave. The Cumberland and Nanaimo breweries continued to operate for a short while, closing in 1916 and 1918 respectively. The new company took over the founding firms' chief brands: Cascade Beer (Vancouver Breweries), Heidelberg (Canadian Brewing and Malting), UBC Bohemian (Union), Pilsener and BC Export.

In November 1912, BC Breweries was sold to a group of British investors, but the company struggled under the new management and was placed in receivership from 1915-1918. A legal dispute pitted Doering and Williams against Reifel and was eventually settled out of court. In 1918 the company was reorganized under Reifel as the British Columbia Breweries (1918) Ltd., with Reifel serving as President until 1933. The company began acquiring distilleries and was renamed Brewers and Distillers of Vancouver in 1923. The brewing division continued operations under the Vancouver Breweries Ltd. name.

In 1941 the company sold its distilleries to Distillers Corporation Seagrams Limited. It acquired controlling interest in Western Breweries Ltd. in 1949 and was renamed Western Canada Breweries Ltd. The company now encompassed Vancouver Breweries and three Drewery's plants in Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon. Within a few years it was purchased by E.P. Taylor's Canadian Brewing Ltd. in 1953. Taylor had earlier acquired the Ontario-based Carling and O'Keefe breweries and developed their beers into national brands. The Vancouver brewery (the old Canadian Brewing and Malting / Vancouver Breweries plant) was reorganized as Carling Breweries (BC) Ltd. in 1957, then as Carling O'Keefe Breweries Ltd. in 1972. Following the merger of Carling O'Keefe and Molsons in 1989, the Vancouver plant was closed in 1990 and the land redeveloped.

April 2025: administrative history prepared.

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