CAMRA continues its series of interviews with organizations who support CAMRA and the craft beer heroes behind them. We’re excited to introduce you to the folks who brew your favourite beers, run your local homebrew store, sling suds at your local taproom, or make sure your liquor store is stocked with craft beer deliciousness.
This week’s spotlight is on the brand new microbrewery AND distillery, 
Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers. This North Shore operation is the brain-child of owners Shawn Bethune and Shae De Jaray, who threw in the towel at their engineering day jobs to pursue the dream of opening their very own fermentorium. They are joined by former Coal Harbour Brewmaster Kevin Emms. Shae took a moment to chat with CAMRA about their plans for the new brewery, which officially opens on Friday July 19.
What’s the story behind why you decided to open a brewery? The story behind opening a brewery.. One day Shawn and I were having a few good beverages, hanging out and having a laugh when we started to discuss owning a brewery. From there we talked about it on and off, it was an attractive idea especially with our engineering degrees. Then one day Shawn came home from a particularly frustrating day of work and said “F*** It! Lets do it!” We had the business plan written up that same night (last October) and its been full steam ahead ever since.
We want something that reflects our personalities – Good times with good people.
How would you describe Deep Cove in a nutshell? Awesome! Fun! Rainy! Delicious! Bigger then a nutshell!
What is your favourite beer style and why? For all year round I would say a really well balanced West Coast style pale ale, for summer a refreshing Belgian wheat, and for a treat from time to time a really awesome sour is delicious.
Why a brewing and distilling operation? While in school for mechanical engendering I learned to home brew and distill and decided I wanted to get into the design side of breweries, wineries and distilleries. I found that I had a real passion for the brewing and distilling side of things. It’s a really fun industry and community, the brewers, the drinkers, that really matches my personality. I really love the combination of art and science that goes into the creation of a good beverage.
What direction are you going to take your beers beyond your three main styles – any plans for certain beer styles? sours? Barrel-aging? The goal is to create delicious beverages. Our core brands will be the flag ships and are designed to be approachable. Beyond that we have endless opportunities and plans! Barrel aged, bottle conditioned, sours, one offs- where ever Kevin’s passion and our creativity takes us! Watch out for our seasonals! They are going to be TASTY!
We are also going to expand into artisanal spirits that will blow people away!
Why did you opt for the North Shore location? We choose Deep Cove because of the lifestyle here that matches Shawn’s and my personalities – to be a part of this community and to give them a place to come and drink – we are both very outdoorsy people and wanted our brewery to reflect that. The North Shore municipality has also been really good to us, supporting us and helping us every step of the way.
What kind of brewing and distilling set up do you have? We have a state-of -the-art custom design brew house from Newlands systems – who I have a close relationship with – as well as all our cellar equipment is custom. Our distilling equipment is also state of the art craft and includes a 200l whiskey still and 300l vodka/gin still by Arnold Holstein. The combination of brewing and distilling will allow us to make really interesting and unique spirits and we want to help pioneer the craft spirit industry.
Will you be doing growler fills? Will you have a tasting room/tours? Yes to all.
Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers are located at Unit 170 – 2270 Dollarton Hwy in North Van. Their grand opening is on July 19, so pop in to check out the tasting room, sample some of their brews, get a tour and meeting the brewers. In the meantime, you can find them online
here and follow their progress on
facebook and
twitter.
Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers. This North Shore operation is the brain-child of owners Shawn Bethune and Shae De Jaray, who threw in the towel at their engineering day jobs to pursue the dream of opening their very own fermentorium. They are joined by former Coal Harbour Brewmaster Kevin Emms. Shae took a moment to chat with CAMRA about their plans for the new brewery, which officially opens on Friday July 19.
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