It is now 17 years since Robert Charlebois sold Unibroue to Ontario’s Sleeman, which has since passed into the hands of the Japanese multinational Sapporo. However, the legendary singer’s interest in the brewing business has not waned, to such an extent that he has just given his name to a brand new beer, La Charleboise, which he developed with the team of La Charleboise. The Philosopher’s Beer brewery.
Robert Charlebois had actually been coaxing the idea of brewing a new beer for a few years; he had even made contact with a few well-established microbreweries, without the approach leading to anything concrete. “His passion remained for beer, after all these years, and he fell in love with a local microphone, especially since he believes a lot in synchronicity”, explains Jérôme Charlebois – because he is the son. of the singer who is in fact piloting this new brewing project for the Charlebois clan, especially since the father was immersed at the time of the interview in the rehearsals of the additional premieres of his show Robert in CharleboisScope.
The trigger was thus made thanks to Normand Leprohon, neighbor of the popular singer, whose son François-Xavier is a partner at Les Bières philosophales, a company which opened its factory and its tasting room in Mirabel in the spring of 2021.
Normand gave us a taste of a few beers, and we were really impressed. My dad then asked me to bring the guys from the brewery over to the house, after which I suggested that it would be fun to brew one with them for our family and friends. Robert instead suggested that I do one for real!
Jerome Charlebois
The brewer Maxime Ducharme quickly started talking to the Charlebois. “Robert told me the story of a mix of beers he had tasted in Guadeloupe and in which there was chilli and ginger,” explains the 41-year-old brewer, also a musician in his spare time. Robert had already been told that these ingredients did not work together, but my strength is precisely to combine difficult ingredients; I like that, the challenges. “
It took almost six months of research, development and testing to find the perfect recipe. “In particular, we had to find how to incorporate the ingredients into the beer, because there are several ways to do it, whether in pieces, in juice, during boiling or at maturation, explains Mr. Ducharme. . I then made a selection of four types of beers that I already brew and found the drier profile of the season to be the most appropriate. “
Robert was really involved during the brewing, especially with the chilli and ginger dosing. My father is a very perfectionist, the first breaststroke was not to our liking. We want it to please everyone, even if these are ingredients that are not necessarily appreciated by everyone.
Jerome Charlebois
The beer is indeed pleasantly spicy, very balanced despite its deliberate ginger taste and a little too contained effervescence.
A beer that could open doors
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE PHILOSOPHAL BEERS
Charleboise, a spicy season with ginger and chili
Maxime Ducharme is aware that this association with Robert Charlebois could prove to be capital.
I come from Chambly, so if someone had told me one day that I was going to brew with Charlebois, I would never have believed it. But I feel more happiness than pressure; in fact, my main little stress that i have is that of increasing production …
Maxime Ducharme, from the microbrewery Les Bières philosophales
For now, Les Bières philosophales have a brewing capacity of 16,000 hectoliters; the company could climb to 25,000 hectoliters and has enough space to install equipment that could double that capacity. “We have managed to carve out a place for ourselves in the industry by the quality of the beers in our regular range, but with Robert, it is the next level, recognizes Maxime Ducharme. La Charleboise will open doors for us, that’s for sure. If we need to brew more, we will hire one more brewer, we will buy more vats. We want to sell beer; if we have the opportunity, we will take it! “
On the side of the Charlebois clan, we temper the ardor a little, even if we are already thinking of creating seasonal variants of La Charleboise. “Robert does this for pure pleasure, which is why there will be no promotional effort, he knows very well that we are no longer in the same world as during the Maudite tour; he will not put on the Philosopher’s Beer vest on stage, laughs Jérôme Charlebois. But if he released this beer, it’s because he loves it and is proud of it. “
Charleboise is currently offered in a few grocery stores and boutiques in Sainte-Adèle, Morin-Heights and Saint-Sauveur, as well as at La Réserve de la Ferme Guyon, in Chambly, the project of Sébastien Dion, the son of ‘André, former partner of Robert Charlebois at Unibroue.