Emile Bertrand RIP

[tongodeon]

Bad news for Isopterofurries. Sylvain the Polar Bear Pants Guy claims that Emile Bertrand, fine purveyors of authentic Quebecois Spruce Beer, have closed down. You can still buy canned spruce beer in Quebecois grocery stores but there is absolutely no comparison between store-bought spruce beer and the real thing made from yeast and spruce sap

Comments

[zadcat]

According to what I know, Emile Bertrand has moved twice in the last few years and are now around the corner on Charlevoix. Maybe your informant has lost track of them since the last move. I hope so.

Also, there's a small spruce beer producer called Marco that distributes locally. It's not as good as the Emile Bertrand stuff but it's far better than anything more commercial. Comes in nice bottles with the cork on a wire hook.

[zadcat]

I don't think you quite grok Emile Bertrand, ds9.

[zadcat]

Emile Bertrand is/was also a good casse-croûte with great fries, and the old resto was a fixture on Notre-Dame at de la Montagne for years, even decades, before massive changes in the area ("gentrification" would be too pale a word for it) pushed them westward to less expensive addresses. E.B. was a holdover from a day when fast food (and even soft drinks) wasn't the domain of huge multinationals, but of neighbourhood hangouts each with its own character. That's why this is not just a question of an authentic recipe.

[mezdeathhead]

I completely forgot about spruce beer, and I grew up in Quebec. I've never had it myself, and now it sounds like I lost my chance? At least for the good stuff?

[opadit]

Locally, Yards Brewing Co. makes what they call "Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce" ale using a recipe they say is based on a colonial-era brew. I don't know if they'll ship, or where they will if they do.

[tongodeon]

Part of the fun was the Emile Bertrand *couldn't* ship, because their beer contains live yeasts that will explode the bottle if it's left at room temperature for any significant length of time.