our history
It all began with a 27 year old brewer, a windowless apartment and a mountain of credit card debt.
There once was a brewer named Matt
Who wanted to open a brewery focused on craft
He dreamed of a day,
He’d make beers his own way
And the plan for a brewery was hatched
He drew up his impassioned scheme
But none of the banks would finance the dream
Although they weren’t onboard
Matt thought he could afford
To get started with as much credit cards as they’d give him
And so it was in 2001,
With his credit line under the gun,
In a town by the sea,
Called Esquimalt B.C.,
The story of Phillips Brewery had begun
By 2003 Phillips was a small sensation
But as the only employee till then, Matt needed a staffing inflation
He hired two guys, With adventure in their eyes,
Mr. Bell and Mr. Bell - no relation.
By now it was 2004,
And one night as Matt opened his door,
Beer spilled all around,
And his dreams almost drowned,
As the Phoenix Flood soaked through the floor.
The landlord was sure not impressed,
By the size of the sticky beer-mess,
They were given the boot,
But remained resolute,
And the brewery sought out a new address
Eventually the perfect spot was found
With more than enough room to go round
In old lumber store
With everything he needed and more
Matt started to put down new roots in old town
After thinking long and hard
We started throwing parties in the Backyard
From Hoppy Beer Festivals to rock shows
our interest continues to grow
In hosting epic parties until we are barred
But we didn’t stop there you see
And in 2014 we launched a new craft distillery
With a still named Old George
We started to forge
A new lineup of gins and whisky.
By 2015 our road ahead contained more forks
And soon we launched a brand new Maltworks
What could be more charming
Than using local farming to grow our barley for our worts
As the craft beer scene continued to boom
We launched our new Tasting Room
There we could explore
Beers we’ve never brewed before
Alongside our classic lineup of brews that we’ve hewn
Environmental causes have always struck a chord
So we are pleased as punch to get some Green Awards
Whenever attainable
We’re always sustainable
And always setting new efficiency records
But this story is still far from finished
Cause Phillips’ passion will never diminish,
For crafting great brews,
With creative flair too,
That’s a promise we’ll never relinquish.
