BeatRoute Magazine BC Print E edition May 2017

BOOZE
ANDINA BREWING
equatorial flavour to brighten up a rainy city
JENNIE ORTON
If you travel down Powell Street to
make your way to Yeast Van, you will
likely be undeniably drawn to the #bigyellowbuilding
by the intersection at
McLean. Adorned with steel paneled
signage in the shape of a long-haired
woman looking like an illustration
fresh off the pages of The New Yorker,
the building is as vibrant as the culture
it celebrates.
“All of the ingredients are feminine
nouns so for us beer is very feminine,”
states communications and marketing
director Claudia Amaya.
Andina, which is a term used to describe
women from the Andes, brings
something entirely new to the craft
brewing community of Yeast Van.
From the tasting lounge, which features
the original load bearing beams
and repurposed wood from the renovated
decades old building, to the
ceviche and red sauce served alongside
their beer, there is an authenticity
to culture and respect for history
Some of the most storied pieces of art ride a long
and complicated road before they come to be, often
changing hands and crossing borders and coming
in and out of contact with danger along their
journey to their appreciation by the masses. The
mark of a wise man is to know such a piece of art
when he sees one—or tastes one, as the case may
be. Deep Cove Craft’s Shae de Jaray is one such
wise man and, together with Long Table Distillery’s
co-founder/master distiller Charles Tremewen,
he rescued a very well-travelled and sublimely
well-crafted pinot-barreled pear brandy from what
would’ve been a tragic early grave down a drain in
North Vancouver.
Before opening Deep Cove Craft in 2012, de Jaray
was involved in a cider project in Oregon using
pears as the base. When he decided to move operations
to North Vancouver, he brought with him a
pear eau de vie they had previously made that was
quietly aging in pinot barrels. But as the brandy sat
unaware, browning gently in its cozy barrels, Deep
Cove acquired their craft distilling license and that
is where the trouble started. By law, distilleries with
the craft designation must only carry spirits that
were distilled onsite and feature only local BC agricultural
products. Suddenly the precious barrels
weren’t legally allowed to be onsite because of their
contents being chock fulla Oregon agriculture.
“So, my next call was to my man Charles,” says
de Jaray.
“I can just see you dragging these barrels around
the countryside,” jokes Tremewen.
Tremewen and Long Table Distillery boast a
being brought by Nicolás and Andrés
Amaya and their family at Andina.
Take the aforementioned red
sauce: Claudia makes it herself and
when she attempted to use a food
processor to increase the speed and
size of her batches, her family called
her out on it “not being the same red
sauce she has always made.” So it was
back to the literal chopping block to
do it by hand again. And the results
are palpable.
The beer is no different. Andina is
able to bring a taste of South America
to west coast craft bwrewing practices
and the result is an “innovative
but balanced” approach to craft brew
creativity.
“We want to fusion the South
American heritage while still respecting
the craft brewing industry of the
west coast,” Amaya says. “That’s why
we don’t have styles that are traditionally
South American, we have the
black IPAs, the traditional IPAs, pale
PAIRS OF PEARS BRANDY
a bottle that has seen more miles than most men
JENNIE ORTON
ales, because I think that is very comforting
to have those classic styles.”
For example: the Melcocha Andean
Mild Ale with its honey sweet
sugar cane juice influence, or the upcoming
Lulo Gose; a German style of
wheat beer which will be brewed with
the Columbian fruit Lulo, also known
as “little orange.” Or the recent seasonal
offering: the Passionfruit Black
IPA.
“ Yes! It’s a very unexpected beer,”
Amaya explains excitedly. Made with
passionfruit from Columbia, the beer
commercial license, which allows them to hold and
offer the brandy.
“We are just perceived as the rescuers and bottlers
in this cooperation between two distillers,”
Tremewen muses.
The commercial license is necessary because
Long Table chooses to make their gin by the standard
legislated UK method of using a highly rectified
third-party neutral grain spirit. Suffering
the large mark-up tax that goes along with it, this
license nonetheless allows for foreign materials to
be used in the distilling process. Suddenly, the pears
and their forbidden contraband had a home and a
name: Pairs of Pears Brandy. It was launched at Long
Table on April 15.
“What’s really cool is it a) gives an opportunity
for it to be drank by Long Table’s and our own following
and anyone else who wants to experience
such a cool and unique product, but it also gives
us a chance to explain the difficulties with both of
these licenses, both on our end with the restrictions
in ingredients and for Charles having to pay
this ridiculous markup,” de Jaray says. “This brandy
has kind of, in a sense, become a conversation piece
over the difficulties and red tape that us small folks
in the distilling world find ourselves dealing with.”
Like an outlaw rescued from the executioner,
Pairs of Pears is the little bottle with the big past,
and it comes out in the taste. Thick with the barrel
characteristics that come with five years of aging
and the full syrupy mouth-feel of the fruit, the brandy
finishes clean with a subtle burn; and though it
tastes amazing in a side car, its journey dictates that
The Amaya brothers have created a beer lover’s home away from home.
boasts a tart flavor one wouldn’t expect
from a black IPA, but that seems
very much at home as one anyway.
And that is the appeal of Andina:
when you are there you feel very
at home within a different cultural
approach. A great deal of that is the
result of the labour of family love the
brewery truly is.
“Everybody left a part of themselves,”
Amaya attests.
Andina Brewing is located at
1507 Powell Street.
out of respect it should be enjoyed neat.
To grab one of these rare and well-earned bottles,
head to Long Table Distillery soon. It’s your
chance to raise a glass to the little guy and drink
to the long-practiced tradition of finding a way
through a thick rulebook to sweet, sweet victory.
Long Table Distillery is located at 1451
Hornby Street.
photo by David Arias
Pairs of Pears is a treat wrestled from the grip of
bureaucracy by two relentless local distillers.
BOTTOMS UP
getting to know your local bartenders
Ever wanted to know more about that person
behind the bar pouring your liquid courage?
Here’s your chance. This month, meet Courtney
Richards from Jackalope’s Neighbourhood
Dive.
HOW DID YOU START BARTENDING? I
started bartending at a hotel pub in Kamloops.
It ruled, we would open up the pool table for
our friends, turn all 20 TVs on to Intervention
and eat chocolate bars on Sunday nights.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT JACK-
ALOPE’S? I’ve been at Jacks for around a year
and a half, and been the bar manager for the
last year.
BEST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB? Everything
from the ownership down rules at Jackalope’s.
We are treated respectfully and fairly, we are
given a place to hang out with great friends
and customers, listen to rad music and be ourselves.
FAVOURITE DRINK TO MAKE? The beef
back! We are pretty sure we invented it. It's
a shot of rye followed with a shot of beef au
jus and it's amazing! I love watching people try
them for the first time they are always totally
stoked.
GO-TO DRINK ON A NIGHT OFF? $5 pints of
PBR at the Princeton.
TELL US ABOUT THE GREATEST NIGHT
YOU’VE EVER HAD AT WORK. It sounds
cheesy but we always have a great time at
work. The staff at Jacks is like a family so on
any given night you are hanging out with pals,
cracking jokes and listening to killer tunes.
THE WORST? When I break off all my dang
fingernails.
Jackalope’s Neighbourhood Dive is located
at 2257 East Hastings Street.
Courtney Richards wants to
serve you a beef back.
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May 2017