Beau's All Natural Brewing Company, also known as Beau's Brewing Company or simply Beau's, is a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

Vankleek Hill Vankleek Hill is a town in Champlain Township in Eastern Ontario. It has a population of 1,996. The town was named after Simeon Vankleek, a United Empire Loyalist who settled there near the end of the 18th century. The agricultural-based communi ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, 50 minutes east of

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. It was launched on July 1, 2006, and is known for its "regionally famous" Lug Tread

lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage" ...

ale Ale is a Type of beer, type of beer brewed using a Warm fermentation, warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typicall ...

, as well as a number of

seasonal beer A seasonal beer is a beer that is typically brewed during or for a particular season, holiday or festival period. Many breweries and microbreweries produce seasonal beers. Seasonal beers may be produced when fresh ingredients are available during ...

s. Beau's beers are available throughout

on tap Draught beer, also spelt draft, is beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. Draught beer served from a pressurised keg is also known as Name Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served dire ...

and at

LCBO The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation that retails and distributes alcoholic beverages throughout the Provinces of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It is accountable to the Legislati ...

liquor stores. In February 2015, the brewery has also begun selling its products in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, and across Canada in 2017. By May 2016, the company had 150 full-time employees as a result of a claimed "growth at a compounded rate of 45 per cent year-over-year" since 2006.

History

Beau's was started by father and son Tim and Steve Beauchesne. After having informally discussed the idea, they left their previous employment (Tim having run a

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

company for 17 years, and Steve having worked for the Ontario government and running Go! Go! Go! Records) and opened Beau's on

Canada Day Canada Day (french: Fête du Canada), formerly known as Dominion Day (french: Fête du Dominion), is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 18 ...

(July 1) 2006. Beau's has been successful since opening, having sold its entire first batch of 3,000 litres (5,300

pint The pint (, ; symbol pt, sometimes abbreviated as ''p'') is a unit of volume or capacity in both the imperial unit, imperial and United States customary units, United States customary measurement systems. In both of those systems it is tradition ...

s) to nine

-area

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

s and

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s before the official opening date. Though it originally expected to supply Lug Tread to local

s and

Beer Store Brewers Retail Inc., doing business as The Beer Store, is a privately-owned chain of retail outlets selling beer and other malt beverages in the province of Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1927, it was owned at its inception by a consortium of Ont ...

s in 2006, Lug Tread first appeared in Ottawa LCBOs in early 2008, by which time it had expanded to over 90 establishments in the Ottawa area. As of July 2009, over 200

Eastern Ontario Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It sh ...

establishments featured Beau's Lug Tread on tap. "Just about every LCBO in the region" sells Lug Tread. By late 2009, Beau's was supplying a number of bars and LCBOs in the Greater Toronto Area. On January 13, 2014, it was announced by Beau's that, in March of the same year, its beer would be available for the first time in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

, marking the first time the company's beer is available internationally. On May 17, 2016, Steve Beauchesne, speaking as chief executive officer of Beau's, announced that the brewery would be owned by its employees in an

employee stock ownership plan Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Em ...

. On March 1, 2022, Beau's announced that the brewery would be merged with

Steam Whistle Brewing Steam Whistle Brewing is an independent brewery in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 2000 by three former employees of Upper Canada Brewing Company after that company was bought out. The company celebrates Beer in Canada and produces onl ...

, located in Toronto, Ontario.

Beers

Beau's flagship beer is Lug Tread, a Kölsch-style

that is produced alongside a year-long line up which includes Good Time Session I.P.A., Full Time I.P.A., Wag the Wolf (a White I.P.A.), the Beau's Grapefruit Radler, and Countdown Pale Ale. The brewery also produces seasonal beers such as Beaver River I.P. Eh? (an India Pale Ale (IPA) with a "citrusy punch"); Festivale (an

Altbier Altbier (German: ''old beer'') is a style of beer brewed in the Rhineland, especially around the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. It is a copper coloured beer whose name comes from it being top-fermented, an older method than the bottom fermenta ...

-style

); Farm Table: Märzen (an

Oktoberfest The Oktoberfest (; bar, Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival. It is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid- or ...

-style

amber lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage" ...

); and Bogwater (a "Strong & Spicy Dirty-Brown Ale"). Other limited and one-off beers have been released periodically under the Wild Oats Series, Farm Table Series,

Gruit Gruit (alternately grut or gruyt) is a herb mixture used for bittering and flavouring beer, popular before the extensive use of hops. The terms gruit and grut ale may also refer to the beverage produced using gruit. Historically, gruit is the te ...

Series, Greener Futures Barrel-Aged Series, and Pro-Am Series. On November 1, 2013, Beau's released The Tom Green Beer, a

milk stout Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...

made in collaboration with actor and comedian

Tom Green Michael Thomas Green (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian-American comedian, show host, actor, filmmaker, podcaster, and rapper. After pursuing stand-up comedy and music as a young adult, Green created and hosted ''The Tom Green Show'', which a ...

. When Green was a guest on

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon. About pag ...

, he brought the beer on-air and drank it with the host. Beau's has since expanded the Tom Green Series, which now includes the Tom Green Cherry Milk Stout, and Tom Green Summer Stout.

Reception and awards

Beau's beers have been very well received, having "earned a reputation for quality and clean taste with beer drinkers who want more than just a cheap buzz," and Lug Tread having become a "fast favourite." In its debut year, Lug Tread won "Best Beer of the Fest" at the 2006

Golden Tap Awards The Golden Tap Awards (GTAs) is an annual beer awards event held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The awards are sponsored and presented by The Bar Towel, a website and forum dedicated to the discussion and promotion of Toronto's craft and microbrew b ...

. Lug Tread went on to win "Best beer brewed in Ontario (outside of the GTA)" at the 2007 and 2008 Golden Tap Awards, and "Best regularly-produced craft beer brewed in Ontario" and "Best of the Fest" at the 2009 awards. The brewery itself also won "Best microbrewery in Ontario (outside of the GTA)" and "Best micro/craft brewery in Ontario" in 2008 and 2009, respectively. At the 2009 National Organic Brewing Challenge awards, Lug Tread won 2nd place, while seasonal Night•Märzen placed 3rd. Another Beau's seasonal beer, Festivale, won gold medal at the 2009 Mondial de la Bière in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

Bottles

Beau's sells their product in 600ml glass bottles available at the

and

The Beer Store Brewers Retail Inc., doing business as The Beer Store, is a privately-owned chain of retail outlets selling beer and other malt beverages in the province of Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1927, it was owned at its inception by a consortium of Ont ...

in Ontario, dépanneurs throughout Quebec, and vendors across Canada. Beau's has expanded its product portfolio to include 355mL and 473mL cans. Beau's has a partnership with Operation Come Home, an Ottawa youth program. Beer is delivered in Ottawa with assistance from youths working with Operation Come Home. The program provides the youth with job experience and income. As of May 2009, six youths have graduated the program to work in full-time jobs elsewhere.

History

Beers

Reception and awards

Bottles

See also