“Good Beer is Relative”: 3 Questions for NB’s Petit-Sault Brewers
Edmundston-based Petit-Sault Brewers is a fast growing craft brewing company. You’ll find their offerings around the New Brunswick beer section at your local liquor store.
Petit-Sault’s brews are recognizable by the iconic “stubby” design of the bottles. Though the bottles may appear “petit,” Petit-Sault packs a huge punch in the taste department.
We asked general manager André Léger three questions:
1) What’s the secret to your good beer, can you tell us?
We understand that being able to enjoy a good beer is relative: relative to your environment, your preferences, your mood, your glass, even your tolerance to hops, yeast esters and different spices.
Given so little control over how one can enjoy a beer, we feel that our role is to make a quality product, with quality ingredients, presented in a package that is recognizable and a branding that tells a story.
We consistently thrive to develop a beer offering that should please most beer fans. From the start, we’ve introduced seasonal beers at a quick pace, more than 18 styles in our short existence, which allows our customers to experience different styles of beer. We consider this our contribution to growing the local craft beer culture. We’ve achieved this while maintaining a core offering, which includes our Bob LeBoeuf Belgian blonde, Louis XVII amber ale, Soeur Catherine IPA and La Kedgwick Pilsner.
Did I mention that we have an extraordinary team? This is no secret and is probably the most valid answer to the question. This, as well as our aim to make beer that we enjoy drinking ourselves, and hope others will!
2) What’s it like to operate out of Edmundston?
We are extremely lucky that the local population quickly adopted us as their “go to” brewery. We really feel a growing sense of attachment to us as brewers and a brewery.
At Petit-Sault, we say that we are Belgian-inspired – by its variety of beers, its brewing tradition and, in fact, by the Belgian beer culture. Traditionally, most Belgium towns and villages had their own brewery. Based on that model, we felt that we could build a brewery that would encourage people to reminisce about our proud local history and showcase our heritage to others. It is no accident that the brewery’s name is Petit-Sault (Little Falls), Edmundston’s original name given by its settlers.
The brewery’s slogan is “Brimming with character”, because most of our beers are named after famous, not-so-famous and infamous pioneers and legendary characters that make our region so interesting culturally. Although our area is famous for its bootlegging heritage, we are the first brewery that produces and sells beer commercially (and legally!).
Production wise, we are extremely lucky and grateful that we have access to extremely high-quality water.
3) What are Petit-Sault’s plans for the future?
After hitting a production capacity wall in 2015, we are looking to double our capacity by adding additional fermenters in 2016. We are also working on adding a tasting tap-room as an intricate part of our brewery. Part of our plan is to distribute our beers throughout the Maritimes and Maine in the near future.
Besides most New Brunswick Liquor outlets, as well as bars and restaurants across the province, our beers are currently available in select PEI LCC stores. Look for our stubby bottle with a label that tells a story or come to our Brewtique for a taste or to fill up your growlers! Cheers!