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Quebec beer is the beer brewed in Quebec, Canada, often with ingredients from Quebec itself and generally following the recipes of the French, Belgian and British brewing traditions. Generally, the beers brewed in Quebec differ from those in the rest of North America because of the relative importance of the French and Belgian traditions alongside that of Great Britain. German-type beers are also produced by some breweries.
The history of beer in Quebec goes back to the early days of French colonization. Industrial production began in the 19th century under British rule. A microbrewery industry started in the 1980s, with small production operations found throughout the province today.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the colonists of Quebec made an alcoholic beverage which was characteristic of the region for a long period of time: spruce beer. Although spruce beer today generally refers to a soft drink of the same name, it was in fact an actual beer in which spruce replaced hops. Sometimes roots or other "spices" were used. This gave root beer.
According to historian Benjamin Sulte, the first colonists of Quebec, were from the parts of France where the production of beer and cider is more important than that of wine. They must have brought with them the bouillon, an alcoholic beverage from Picardy and Upper Normandy. Pierre Boucher, Governor of Trois-Rivières, was questioned about the colony during a trip to France. He reported: "Wine is served to rich families, beer is left to those who are less wealthy, while others are content with a drink called the bouillon. The poorer ones drink only water, which is of excellent quality." [1]
The Relations des Jésuites for the year 1646 mention that Brother Ambroise prepared beer for the inhabitants.
A marriage contract dated October 22, 1650, mentions the existence of a brewery in Montréal. It is written that the Governor of Montreal Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve offered "a land adjacent to the property of the brewery" to the newly wed.
In 1690, the Sieur de Longueuil built a brewery on his lands. It was in ruin by 1735. From 1704 to 1744, the Charron brothers, founders of the Hôpital général de Montréal, added a brewery to their building. In all cases, the distribution remained localized.
The first recorded commercial brewery was that founded by Intendant Jean Talon in 1671. Located in Québec City, it produced up to 4,000 barrels of beer a year. The beer was entirely made with Quebec products and half the volume was exported to the Caribbean and Europe. It was however short-lived.
The first large industrial-scale breweries were founded by Englishmen like John Molson in 1786. Canadian Breweries (CBL) of Toronto, Ontario, established itself in Montreal by the purchase of some 20 breweries including Molson's main competitors in Quebec, Dawes and Dow. CBL later became Carling O'Keefe in 1973.
Labatt, founded in London, Ontario in 1847, established itself in LaSalle, Quebec in 1952. However, its main beers had been available in Montreal since 1878 through a distribution agency.
Molson and Carling O'Keefe merged in 1989. In 1995, Labatt was purchased by Belgian Interbrew (today InBev). Molson merged with Coors in 2005.
During the 1960s all the way to the early 1980s, there were but three breweries, Molson, Labatt and Carling-O'Keefe, together monopolizing the market.
In 1982, Brasserie Massawippi located in North Hatley produced the first craft beer meant for commercial distribution. La Massawippi, a 5% ale, brewed according to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516 is no longer bottled, but can still be tried in a bar in North Hatley. [2] [3]
In the mid 1980s, the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux started issuing new permits authorizing commercial establishments to brew their own beer and sell it on site. This started the phenomenon of brewpubs in Quebec, shortly after British Columbia.
On July 1, 1986, the Golden Lion Brewing Company served its first pint of beer at the Golden Lion Pub in Lennoxville. One of the first pubs to serve its own beer was Le Cheval Blanc on Ontario Street in Montreal, founded in 1986.
Microbreweries started appearing all over Quebec in the late 1980s: McAuslan, Les Brasseurs du Nord, Brasseurs de l'Anse, Ferme-Brasserie Schoune, and Seigneuriale.
One of the most successful microbreweries, Unibroue, was founded in 1990. It has since been acquired by Ontarian Sleeman, which itself was merged with Sapporo in 2006.
Many breweries and microbreweries have also arisen since then. A few include Les Brasseurs RJ, La Barberie, Hopfenstark (L'Assomption), Brasserie Dunham (Dunham, Quebec), Pit Caribou (Percé, Quebec), À la Fût (St-Tite), Le Trou du Diable (Shawinigan), Dieu de Ciel! (Saint-Jérôme), and Belgh'Brasse.
In March 2008, Quebec had 59 active breweries producing some 402 different beers. [4] By 2014, there were 140 licensed breweries. [5]
Since 1994, Montreal has hosted the annual Mondial de la bière, a beer festival that celebrates Quebec's macro and micro brews. Approximately 80,000 attend the five-day event every year. [6] This 4 day festival usually hosts around 100 breweries and features more than 500 products (beers and related products). [7] The event traditionally takes place at Gare Windsor.
Labatt Brewing Company Limited is a Belgian-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada.
The Molson Brewery is a Canadian-based brewery based in Montreal and was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors.
Unibroue is a brewery in Chambly, Quebec, Canada, that was started by Serge Racine and Quebec native André Dion. The company was purchased by Sleeman Breweries Ltd. in 2004, which was itself taken over by Sapporo in 2006.
Beer was introduced to Canada by European settlers in the seventeenth century. The first commercial brewery was La Brasseries du Roy started by New France Intendant Jean Talon, in Québec City in 1668. Many commercial brewers thrived until prohibition in Canada. The provincial and federal governments' attempt to eliminate "intoxicating" beverages led to the closing of nearly three quarters of breweries between 1878 and 1928. It was only in the second half of the twentieth century that a significant number of new breweries opened up. The Canadian beer industry now plays an important role in Canadian identity, although globalization of the brewing industry has seen the major players in Canada acquired by or merged with foreign companies, notably its three largest beer producers: Labatt, Molson and Sleeman. The result is that Moosehead, with an estimated 3.8 percent share of the domestic market in 2016, has become the largest fully Canadian-owned brewer.
Carling O'Keefe was a brewing company in Canada that is now part of Molson Coors. The company's origins can be traced to Canadian Breweries, which bought the Carling Brewery in 1930 and the O'Keefe Brewery in 1934. Canadian Breweries purchased numerous other brewers – some to shut down, and some solely for their brands. In 1969, Canadian Breweries was acquired by a subsidiary of Rothmans, which renamed the company as Carling O'Keefe in 1973. The company was sold in 1987, then merged with Molson in 1989.
McAuslan Brewing is a Canadian brewery opened in January 1989, and its headquarters located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. After Moosehead Breweries Limited became a major shareholder, the brewery expanded into a new facility in 2002. McAuslan is still located on St-Ambroise street in the St-Henri borough and currently produces approximately 70,000 HL of beer annually.
Saison is a pale ale that is highly carbonated, fruity, spicy, and often bottle conditioned. It was historically brewed with low alcohol levels, but modern productions of the style have moderate to high levels of alcohol. Along with several other varieties, it is generally classified as a farmhouse ale.
This article covers various topics involving alcoholic drinks in Canada. The Government of Canada defines an alcoholic drink as "a beverage containing 1.1% or more alcohol by volume."
Dow Breweries was a brewery based in the province of Quebec, Canada. The company was founded by William Dow (1800–1868). The Dow Brewery eventually came under the control of National Breweries of Quebec in the 1920s, which itself was bought out in 1952 by Canadian Breweries. After Canadian Breweries became Carling O'Keefe and merged with Molson Breweries, its brands were discontinued in 1997.
La Barberie is a brewery in the Saint-Roch district of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. They have a few commerce points around the province of Quebec and are visible each year at the Mondial de la Bière in Montreal, Quebec.
Canadian Breweries Limited (CBL), originally the Brewing Corporation of Ontario, was an Ontario-based holding company in the brewing industry. The company was founded in 1930 by a merger of two breweries, Brading of Ottawa and Kuntz of Kitchener-Waterloo. Under the direction of its top executive, E. P. Taylor, the company bought or merged many of the smaller competitors existing after the repeal of prohibition. The new company closed many plants, reduced the number of beer brands and built new, larger plants to produce enough beer for a much larger geographic area. By the 1950s, the company had reduced the number of beer brands from approximately one hundred to six. Canadian Breweries became part of a large conglomerate of manufacturing and consumer businesses controlled by the Argus Corporation in 1945.
Les brasseurs du Nord(The Brewers of/from the North) is a brewery just north of Montreal, in Blainville, Quebec, Canada.
Les Brasseurs RJ is a brewery located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The company was founded in 1998 by Roger Jaar from the merger of three microbreweries: Les Brasseurs GMT, La Brasserie Le Cheval Blanc and Les Brasseurs de l'Anse. Current annual production capacity is over 125,000 hL; they claim to be the largest microbrewery in Quebec. They currently employ 450 people, including employees at the head office in Montreal, a distribution centre in Quebec City, and a brewery in l'Anse St-Jean that fills beer kegs.
Le Cheval Blanc is a brewpub located on rue Ontario in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In 1986, it became the first licensed brewpub in Montreal.
Beau's All Natural Brewing Company, also known as Beau's Brewing Company or simply Beau's, is a brewery in Vankleek Hill, Ontario, 50 minutes east of Ottawa.
Most beer sold in France is pilsner lager, mass-produced by major breweries which control over 90% of the market, although there are also traditional beer styles, such as top-fermented Bière de Garde, and a number of microbreweries.
The Bertinchamps brewery, also known as brasserie de la Ferme de Bertinchamps, is a Belgian family-run microbrewery located in Gembloux, in the Belgian province of Namur. It brews three types of beer named Bertinchamps, which are a recognized part of Belgian beer culture. Its primary export markets are Russia, China, Japan, Ireland and France. In April 2017 it made the national news in Belgium for producing 3D-printed chocolate beer bottles.
La Goudale is a bière de garde which was originally brewed in Douai by Les Brasseurs de Gayant. The brewery has since moved to Arques.
Switzerland straddles the border between the beer-loving central European countries and the wine-loving western European and Mediterranean countries and today beer is second to wine in terms of consumption among Swiss. The country has a long tradition of brewing, with significant domestic beer production and a growing craft brewing sector.
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