{"id":163869,"date":"2018-05-16T06:16:41","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T10:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=163869"},"modified":"2018-05-16T06:16:41","modified_gmt":"2018-05-16T10:16:41","slug":"flavours-of-the-world-inside-the-charlevoix-microbrewerys-la-g7-summit-brew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/05\/16\/flavours-of-the-world-inside-the-charlevoix-microbrewerys-la-g7-summit-brew\/","title":{"rendered":"Flavours of the world inside the Charlevoix microbrewery’s ‘La G7’ summit brew"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"As<\/a>
As a nod to the 44th annual G7 summit taking place June 8-9 in Charlevoix, the Microbrasserie Charlevoix brewery – renowned across the province – blended ingredients from all seven member countries into a true international lager. (Photo: MicroBrasserie Charlevoix\/Facebook)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BAIE-SAINT-PAUL, Que. – Brewers in Quebec’s Charlevoix region have put the world inside a pint glass by creating a special beer fit for a head of state.<\/p>\n

As a nod to the 44th annual G7 summit taking place June 8-9 in Charlevoix, the Microbrasserie Charlevoix brewery – renowned across the province – blended ingredients from all seven member countries into a true international lager.<\/p>\n

Even its alcohol content reflects the summit: at seven per cent, La G7 is on the strong side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was looking for a concept, not just a recipe,\u201d said Nicolas Marrant, the beer’s creator.<\/p>\n

The brewer is originally from northern France, a region bordering Belgium he said is simply called the \u201dNorth\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn’t break their heads coming up with a creative name,\u201d he mused. Marrant moved to Quebec in 2001 after he learned the province was undergoing a craft beer renaissance and he now proudly considers himself Quebecois.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am passionate about Charlevoix,\u201d Marrant said in an interview in Baie-Saint-Paul, about 90 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking about a way to brew something special for this fantastic event.\u201d<\/p>\n

The leaders of Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Japan and the United States – countries that represent the majority of world GDP – will be welcomed for thesummit at the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu in La Malbaie, which has been serving La G7 beer for a few months.<\/p>\n

The base ingredient is a Canadian barley malt supported by an oat malt from the United Kingdom. Italian orzo pasta gives the brew a fruitiness savour similar to the role wheat plays in a white beer.<\/p>\n

Down the list are three types of hops.<\/p>\n

Summit hops from the United States bring a bitterness to the drink; strisselspalt hops from France offer a floral note and Japanese sorachi ace hops added in uncooked at the end, right before bottling, carry a touch of citrus flavour.<\/p>\n

Finally, the beer is fermented by a German yeast.<\/p>\n

Russia used to be a member of the exclusive association – when it was called the G8 – but the country was kicked out in 2014 after President Vladimir Putin forcefully annexed Crimea.<\/p>\n

When asked if a secret eighth ingredient was added for Russia, Frederick Tremblay, founder and president of the brewery, said categorically, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, seemingly as though he had made the joke before, he held up a pint glass emblazoned with La G7’s logo and filled with that beer and said: \u201cBut this does go well with poutine!\u201d<\/p>\n

Tremblay’s microbrewery, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, is an elder statesmen in the province’s craft beer industry, which has exploded over the past several years.<\/p>\n

Between 2002 and 2017, the number of breweries in Quebec increased to 190 from 87, a jump of almost 120 per cent, according to the province’s microbrewers’ association.<\/p>\n

Brewing beer is particularly popular with Quebecers who live outside big cities: 60 per cent of all brewers in the province are located in towns with a population under 100,000 people.<\/p>\n

Quebec’s craft beer companies come up with inventive flavours and names for the products, as well as especially colourful labels, reflecting their regions.<\/p>\n

The rapid increase in craft beer across the province has forced the big players to take notice.<\/p>\n

In late 2017, the craft beer division of Molson Coors snapped up Shawinigan’s Le Trou du Diable company, makers of the well-known \u201cShawinigan Handshake\u201d beer, a term popularized by ex-prime minister Jean Chretien when he choked social activist Bill Clennett in 1996.<\/p>\n

The beer’s label features a cartoon of Chretien – who is from Shawinigan – with his hand around the neck of Hockey Night in Canada’s Don Cherry.<\/p>\n

Charlevoix’s brewers are part of a larger community of local food producers and restaurateurs who have united to create what’s called the \u201dFlavour Trail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tourists travelling through the mountains and rivers of the region can also take a tasting tour along the trail of cider houses, cheese and chocolate factories, and visit farms that raise ducks and other kinds of organic meat.<\/p>\n

The trail also includes a series of restaurants in the many Charlevoix villages that make food with local products.<\/p>\n

Tremblay said opening a brewery was an excuse to return home from Montreal with his wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the reasons I started brewing was to come back to Charlevoix,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a good opportunity for us to do something with the Flavour Trail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tremblay’s ethos reflects a community of food artisans who work together to raise each other’s profile and give back to the region.<\/p>\n

He has deliberately sacrificed expanding his market share across the country and internationally in order to ensure Quebecers don’t go without his products.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to make sure that all our customers in Charlevoix and Quebec have access to it,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes, when you start to export you can create a shortage of your beers and that’s not what we wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

La G7 is being made available throughout Charlevoix, in Quebec City and in select places across the province.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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