I could say it was a short bike ride from Vancouver Island Brewery to Hoyne Brewing but most of the Victoria breweries are short bike rides from each other, conveniently enough.  I could also say that the folks working at Hoyne were super friendly and cool, but that pretty much applies to the other Victoria breweries, as well.  Hoyne had the smallest taproom, though, so that’s something that sets them apart from the others, and it made for a fun, cozy tasting.

Taps at Hoyne Brewing — Victoria, BC

Rob’s Picks
• Hoyner Pilsner – 5.5% – Subtle breadiness, subtle sweetness. Really refreshing and light.
• Summer Haze Honey Hefe – 5.1% – Honey from Empress Hotel. Subtle sweetness. Not too bready, but more so than the Pils.
• Dark Matter – 5.3% – Really good Dark Ale.  Nice and dry with coffee flavor. Very crisp, too.
• Down Easy Pale Ale – 5.2% – Piney aroma. Piney flavor with light malty base. Would be smooth, but piney-ness makes you think. Nice!
• Devil’s Dream IPA – 6% – Strong piney aroma. Great piney hoppiness, subtle maltiness, and really crisp. Pretty intense.

And yes, they had logo glasses for sale.  At the rate I was going, I’d soon be biking around with ten or eleven beer glasses in my panniers.  Not ideal.  So instead, I wrapped up the first five as well as I could, carefully stuffed them into my friend’s backpack, and he then ferried them back to Seattle via the Clipper later that afternoon.  I owe him a few beers for that.