The company logo says a great deal about the ethos of Beau’s All-Natural Brewing Company with the old-fashioned tractor symbolizing the hard work of Eastern Ontario’s farmers and the close family ties that strengthen their businesses.
Father and son team Tim and Steve Beauchesne founded Beau’s All-Natural Brewery on July 1, 2006. The family-run brewery also employs members of the immediate Beauchesne clan, in-laws, and close friends who have become like family.
When Tim and Steve started Beau’s, the pair had no professional background brewing beer; Tim ran a textile manufacturing company, while Steve worked for the provincial government. The idea of starting a family brewery was born over a pint in 2004. By 2006 Steve had moved home and the pair opened their craft brewery in Vankleek Hill, Ontario, an hour’s drive east of Ottawa.
“The idea of starting a brewery with my Dad just seemed like too much fun to pass up,” Steve admits.
The team noticed a void in the craft brewing business in Eastern Ontario, compared to the oversaturated Toronto-area market. They decided to brew a beer that reflected the Eastern Ontario geography and culture, because, as Tim said, “Eastern Ontario needs a beer to call its own.”
The Beauchesne’s secured Matt O’Hara as the Beau’s brewmaster. Matt has previously worked for Canadian beer makers McAuslan Brewing in Montreal and Upper Canada Brewing Company in Guelph, Ontario.
They focused on using local, natural ingredients to craft their suds. Their beers are made with certified organic malts and hops, and local spring water. There are no chemicals or fillers, and Beau’s beers are unpasteurized to ensure their flavour is pure.
“There are many, many reasons for this: supporting our community, stewardship of the environment, caring for the health of our customers,” Steve says. “But when it comes down it, for me, the most important reason is that I believe that organic ingredients make a superior beer.”
The Beau’s company also prides itself on being “totally D.I.Y.” – they brew, bottle, sell, market, and deliver their own products.
For the Beauchesne family, being a locally focused brewery means contributing to the community. Since April 2010, Beau’s All Natural Brewery has raised over $104,000 toward charitable works, community building, and independent arts, surpassing their goal of raising $100,000 in one year.
Beau’s All Natural Brewery began with a single beer, Lug Tread Lagered Ale, the company’s award winning, signature brew. In 2010, Lug Tread won Gold in the Kolsch category at the Canadian Brewing Awards. Along with Lug Tread, Beau’s also offers a line of seasonal beers and their Wild Oats line – an experimental, limited-release series geared toward true beer fanatics.
“The idea of drinking only one beer every day just seems wrong to me and so it also seemed wrong to only brew one,” Steve said.
The Beau’s collection features:
Lug Tread Lagered Ale: The signature Beau’s beer, and its most popular brew. Crisp and golden-coloured, Lug Tread is top fermented like an ale, then cold-aged like a lager. Lug Tread tastes of malt and hop with delicate fruit flavours.
Beaver River I.P.Eh?: This Spring seasonal offering is the Beau’s take on an India Pale Ale, combining European and North American brewing styles. It’s a hoppy, strong beer (at 5.5 per cent alc./vol.) tasting of citrus and earth.
Festivale Alt Beer: The Summer seasonal beer celebrates the Eastern Ontario festival season, and was first crafted for the Ottawa Jazz Festival. Alt is a German-style beer, and this interpretation is crisp and light tasting, with caramel flavours.
Night Marzen Oktoberfest Lager: Beau’s Fall beer, Night Marzen is a traditional harvest brew, with bready malt flavours and noticeable hops. It was created in 2008 to celebrate Oktoberfest and the Eastern Ontario harvest season.
Bog Water Gruit Ale: Bog Water, Beau’s Winter seasonal beverage, was inspired by the Alfred Bog, an Eastern Ontario landmark. The beer features a truly unique hop replacement: bog myrtle, an herb commonly used in brewing during the 16th century. Bog Water is a malty beer that tastes of an earthy bitterness with notes of plum.
BEAU’S ALL-NATURAL BREWING COMPANY
10 Terry Fox Drive, Vankleek Hill, Ontario K0B 1R0 Toll-free 1.866.585.BEER
Beau’s brews are available at select LCBO stores, the Beau’s All Natural Brewery and at pubs and restaurants.
Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company will be a Featured Craft Brewer at The Great Canadian Cheese Festival taking place June 4-5 at Crystal Palace in Picton, in the heart of Prince Edward County, Ontario’s newest wine region and fastest-growing culinary destination. Beau’s beers will be available for tasting at tghe All-Day Cheese-Tasting Seminar Program and Cooks & Curds Cheese Gala on Saturday and during Artisan Cheese & Food Fair on Sunday.
—Phoebe Powell
Phoebe Powell, CheeseLover.ca’s roving reporter, is based Ottawa and has been known to lift a pint, with or without cheese at hand.
