Bishop’s Arches partners with local brewery for fresh take on classic recipe
One of the most popular beers in Lennoxville is getting a local makeover after Bishop’s Arches Brewery teamed up with Brasserie 11 comtés to bring Quebecers a new twist on the university’s Tropical IPA.
Bishop’s Arches, an extension of the up-and-coming Graduate Certificate in Brewing Science program and part of the chemistry department, developed the campus-favourite beer four years ago, during the program’s first year in existence.
It became an instant hit, according to Giovanni Venditti, Brewing Science program lead and coordinator. The beer remains a go-to choice for students on campus, but he has been trying to find a way to properly commercialize the product.
Venditti realized the best course of action, while simultaneously growing the program’s international appeal, was to engage a local brewery, so he broached the topic with 11 comtés Brewmaster Mathieu Garceautremblay.
“On site at the university, I don’t have the infrastructure, but the university gave me the go-ahead to go commercial and it makes a lot of sense to partner with a brewery,” he said.
Venditti said that Garceau-tremblay, who also moonlights as the brewing program’s hops teacher, accepted the proposal with open arms, but it came with a small caveat. 11 comtés, which is located in Cookshire-eaton, emphasizes Quebec-grown products.
“When I approached him about partnering, he said it’s in our DNA to use local ingredients, that’s their philosophy, it’s what makes them different,” said Venditti.
The Tropical IPA utilizes ingredients from around the world. It became an intriguing challenge for both Venditti and Garceau-tremblay to recreate the beers profile using Quebec grain and other ingredients.
After months of trial and error, the 11 comtés team came up with the Lagarto. The brewmaster describes the beer as Belgian-like, which is a byproduct of using their signature house brand of yeast.
The beer was never meant to be a carbon copy of the Tropical IPA. According to Garceau-tremblay, this version has the same colour and density, but it has a spiciness to it. And the name derives from the ancient Spanish term for alligator.
“We were looking for a name that was good in French and in English so we found out that using a name that is neither in French or English works perfectly,” said Garceau-tremblay, explaining that the alligator is also the university’s mascot.
The hops specialist added that he was supposed to take on several students for internship roles. They were going to help him with the production of Lagarto, but the COVID-19 pandemic derailed any first-hand learning opportunities.
“It was a special year, but it’s the start of a partnership that’s going to last a long time,” said Garceautremblay. “We’re supposed to brew recipes with Bishop’s over the coming years based on recipes by the students.”
While Brewing Science is still small at the university— there were only nine students last year — it’s being praised as one of the best new programs in Quebec, and in Canada. The university also decided to expand the brewing capacity to two chemistry labs.
Now closed for renovations as they stock and refit another lab with brewing equipment, Venditti and the rest of his staff are waiting for Lagarto’s launch in the coming weeks. The success of this partnership will dictate the program’s future.
“If this works then we’re going to look at other recipes students have come up with and commercialize it and it could be with other breweries, not necessarily 11 comtés,” he said.