Siboire creates guided microbrewery and railroad history tour
Siboire microbrewery co-owners Pierre-olivier Boily and Jonathan Gaudreault officially unveiled a new guided tour activity for tourists, visitors and residents on Wednesday.
The tours will be held out of Siboire Depot, located in downtown Sherbrooke, between Wednesday and Sunday. It offers a chance for people to learn about the fermentation process, and taste different types of beer throughout various stages before it is completed.
However, the co-owner wanted to make the tour more than a simple beer-making tutorial. They hired a museology consultant, Michel Harnois, to put together a history component. The microbrewery resides in one of Sherbrooke’s historic buildings, the old Union Station.
“I learned, well I can speak for our whole team, that the beer culture in Sherbrooke is incredibly rich, and working with Michel Harnois, all of the anecdotes, the stories around the railroad, at a certain point it contributed to the development of the city,” said Boily.
During the tour’s inaugural presentation, Boily explained that Sherbrooke’s history is deeply tied to its railroad. And it did more than just transport passengers in train cars. The Union Station was also used to deliver beer across Quebec and different parts of Canada.
“What is fascinating is to learn that the Silver Spring Brewery, which was located on Water Street, now known as des Abenaki Street, would brew beer there and they bottled their product here on Depot Street,” Harnois told The Record.
Silver Spring, one of the first breweries in the area, along with the Lennoxville Brewery, would produce and bottle their beer in Sherbrooke, Harnois continued, and then they would send it out to Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, and even the Maritimes.
He hopes that the history component of the tour will fascinate and draw people in. Harnois is aware that the main motivation for many people who participate in the new activity is to learn about beer, but the history of the railroad and its impact on Sherbrooke enriches the tour.
“[Boily and Gaudreault] approached me because for them it is important to integrate a historic value to the tour, so yes, talking about the fermentation process, the brewing technique, but also the brewery is located in a historic building in Canada,” said Harnois.
Harnois has helped train about 10 new staff members who will work as tour guides. He said he had a pretty strong knowledge of the history of the railroad in Sherbrooke prior to working with Siboire. However, he needed to brush up on his beer history.
“I have always been interested in the history of Sherbrooke, so I knew the history of the railroad here, but for the beer I needed to do some specific research about the brewing industry in
Sherbrooke,” said Harnois.
It took over a year to get the tour up and running due to the pandemic. The Siboire team needed to slow down its process because many businesses, including bars and restaurants, were shut down for an extended period of time.
But it also allowed them to further develop their tourism project. They set up an outdoor seating area, just outside the building, with several panels describing specific moments in history, such as the first day Siboire opened its doors.
Boily added that this is just the first phase of the guided tour. He eventually wants to expand and make it more accessible to larger groups. He also has plans to add another building in the future for a more elaborate and immersive tour.
According to Siboire’s director of communications, Joannie Verret, the brewery tourism industry is growing every year, but it is not as common in Quebec. Despite having a plethora of microbreweries in the province, many of them don’t offer guided tours.
“There is really a nice movement for brewery tourism around the world, in Europe, close to us in Vermont, we want to bring this to the Eastern Townships and Sherbrooke,” said Verret.
She told The Record that the tours start at 1 p.m. on weekdays and 11:30 a.m. on weekends. It costs $20 for adults and it is free-of-charge for kids 11 years old and under. People interested in the tour need only consult the Siboire website to book an appointment.
However, Verret admitted there is no English website yet. It is only in French, she said, and the visits are also only in French right now. They want to offer English services, though, which should be coming in the next year, Verret concluded.