ALE & AIR TOUR BRITISH COLUMBIA
SECHELT, B.C.
Consumed by conversation, I don’t immediately notice we’ve taken a turn off the main highway and onto an unmarked dirt road. Normally this type of detour — in a van driven by a stranger with a storied past — would conjure up feelings of uneasiness, but there’s something alluring about the mystery that awaits us at the end of the road.
The riveting ride is part of the new Flights to Flights Ale & Air Tours, offered by B.C.’S Sunshine Coast Art Tours and Sunshine Coast Air, and with Douglas Bevans behind the wheel, the conversation is as charming as the unexpected spots along the way.
As he drives, Bevans shares stories of Sechelt, B.C., gateway to the province’s Sunshine Coast, as well as stories about the origins of the Coast Salish People. He sprinkles in anecdotes from his past as a member of a punk metal fusion band, to boot.
Intrigued, I intend to ask more, but as the dirt road opens up to reveal a West Coast-style home, I realize we’ve arrived at our destination — Bruinwood Estate Distillery. We walk up a gently sloped grass hill, framed by sky-high trees and patches of towering sunflowers, to reach the airy craftsman-style timber-frame building.
There, we’re welcomed by owner Jeff Barringer. As Barringer waves his hands dramatically while telling us tales of his past career as a television producer, I find myself distracted by the eclectic collection of artwork that decorates the distillery’s walls. Then Barringer explains his production process, while his partner, Danise Lofstrom, pours samples for us to try. I have my eye on the Earl Grey gin, a curious concoction that blends flavours of bergamot and juniper to create a tempting tea-flavoured tipple.
Barringer says he finds distilling to be an experimental art form — like painting — that allows him to play with diverse flavours to create craft spirits found nowhere else. I don’t leave without trying the Pechuga — a savoury Mexican liqueur infused with chicken breast, mango, rice, corn, garlic and spices. Bruinwood is one of three stops on our sipping tour, and I’m smitten by both the crafts and the characters that I encounter throughout the day.
At The Bricker Cider Company, a quaint family-run farmstead, I sample a trio of ciders all made on-site. I affirm the elderberry and lavender cider as my chosen blend and nosh on a charcuterie lunch while taking in the scene. Batch 44 Brewery and Kitchen, a new craft brewery in the centre of the town of Sechelt, wraps up the “ale” portion of my tour. Sipping on a chilled glass of Halfmoon Pale Ale, I feel my excitement grow for the next leg of our journey.
A 25-minute flight over Sechelt Inlet aboard a vintage float plane, with Captain Josh Ramsay at the helm, completes the tour. As Ramsay flies over the powerful rapids of the Skookumchuck Narrows and along the coastline of the inlet, I realize Ramsay is also an artist in his own right, presenting us with bird’s-eye images as he soars through the skies of the southern Sunshine Coast.
Touring the culinary and coastal highlights of Sechelt on this local-led excursion, I’m reminded that exploring a new region is elevated when experienced through the eyes of a local. This tour, led by the creative characters who call the coast home, definitely delivers.