Pacific Western Brewing Company

Pacific Western Brewery History Established in 1957 in Prince George, BC on a fresh water spring, the Pacific Western Brewing Company is British Columbia’s longest-established, independent BC-owned brewery. Originally named Caribou Brewing, prior to its current ownership, the brewery changed hands a number of times.

In the late 1980’s, entrepreneur Kazuko Komatsu began producing a special Dry beer at the brewery for export to Japan. The beer was so well received in the Japanese market that she went on to purchase the brewery in 1991, becoming the first woman and first asian-Canadian to own and operate a brewery in Canada.

The Like Canadians, Japanese beer drinkers are extremely quality conscious, so the focus of the brewing team under the new ownership was to create and brew a range of beers that not only met, but exceeded the Japanese standard for quality.

Through a combination of modernization of the brewery and establishment of strict brewing and packaging standards, the brewery’s new focus was recognized through the achievement of quality standard ISO-9001. PWB was the first North American brewery to achieve this standard and to this day is the only brewing company with this standing.

Pacific Western Brewery has remained focused on creating innovative, quality beers that deliver value and enjoyment to our customers and on supporting local community and environmental initiatives.

The Brewery’s Organic beers are an innovation example; our Organic Lager first brewed in 1997 is Canada’s first organic beer. While the Organic Amber Ale, introduced in 2005, was awarded a Gold Medal in the Brewing Industry International Awards- the Oscars of the Brewing Industry.