Les brasseurs du Nord ''(The Brewers of/from the North)'' 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 bee ...
just north of Montreal, in
Blainville, Quebec
Blainville is a suburb of Montreal located on the North Shore in southwestern Quebec, Canada. Blainville forms part of the Thérèse-De Blainville Regional County Municipality within the Laurentides region of Quebec. The town sits at the foot of ...
, Canada.
History
Founded in 1987 by three students at the
UQAM (Laura Urtnowski, and brothers Bernard and Jean Morin), who paid their way through school selling home-made beer, and then decided to try their hand at establishing a commercial brewery. Thanks to a small loan, the company was established. The students loaded their first four
keg
A keg is a small barrel.
Wooden kegs made by a cooper were used to transport nails, gunpowder, and a variety of liquids.
A keg is normally now constructed of stainless steel, although aluminium can be used if it is coated with plastic on th ...
s in the back of the family
Subaru and went looking for their first client. They managed to convince four bars in Montreal to carry the brew, and the resulting surge in demand helped the company expand several times. The resulting company account for just over 1% of the total beer sales in the province of Quebec (their products are not sold outside Quebec).
The company was named after the
Aurora Borealis
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
, and the label features a polar bear above the word Boreale. It brewed the first amber style beer in Quebec. They currently brew six ale-type beers: Boréale Rousse (launched in 1988), Boréale Blonde (launched in 1990), Boréale Cuivrée, Boréale Noire, Boréale Dorée and Boréale Blanche and recently a new beer, Boreal IPA (launched in 2012). Current production is over 100,000 hL.
Products
The company produces seven main brands of beer. and a few others.
Environment
The company has recently taken a "green" approach to brewing, hiring engineers to evaluate the expansion of the plant on the surrounding forest. They also had mature trees trans-planted at the facility to help keep the environment healthy. They have incorporated several state of the art energy-saving technologies in the building. They supply bars and restaurants with glasses made from recycled plastic, and have also donated money to help study the
effects of climate change
The effects of climate change impact the physical environment, ecosystems and human societies. The environmental effects of climate change are broad and far-reaching. They affect the water cycle, oceans, sea and land ice ( glaciers), sea le ...
on polar bears around Hudson Bay. The company recently changed its label material from metallic foil to paper.
See also
*
Beer in Quebec
*
Beer in Canada
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 pr ...
References
;Sources
* D'eer, Mario. (2003,2005) Atlas mondial de la bière, Edition révisée. Trécarré, p. 235.
official company website* http://archives.radio-canada.ca/economie_affaires/consommation/clips/1359-8205/
* http://www.canoe.com/artdevivre/cuisine/article1/2006/12/13/2771294-ca.html
brief biography of the founders of the company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brasseurs du Nord
Canadian beer brands
Beer brewing companies based in Quebec
Companies based in Quebec
Blainville, Quebec