Benelux has the first alcohol license issued in Verdun since the 1870s, with only restaurants serving alcohol at all since 1996. Convenience stores (dépanneurs) sold packaged beer, but Benelux is the first bar in almost 150 years of temperance. They hired Teklad “Tico” Pavisian to brew at the Verdun location with a portfolio focused on English-style ales and lagers, including a Kellerbier aged in barrels, an oat pilsner, and a lager with brett. Tremblay has taken over at Sherbrooke. Meanwhile Benoit and Angel have taken on the next major expansion for Benelux in a production facility called Brasserie du Canal down the hill from Sherbrooke near the water under the watchful eye of head brewer Jean-Michel Tisseur.



Brasserie du Canal opened in December, a 15bbl facility that brews for the Sherbrooke location, taking the edge off the production constraints there, and partner restaurants in Quebec City, which brings the concept full-circle. When Benoit was transitioning from a career in design to a career in brewing, he found restaurant partners to be the best fit. "I’ve been a designer in the visual arts, web design, graphic design, painting, special effects and I was brewing at home for many years. I kept spending more and more time on brewing, I was passionate, to the point that I couldn’t fulfill my client contracts anymore. I called a friends and said “let’s start a brewpub.” He called his friends and two days later we all said “ok.” The other owners had been in the bar and restaurant business for 20 years, so I felt confident. I just had to worry about the brewing part. You can open a microbrewery and start slowly, gradually get distribution going. But when you open a brewpub or a bar downtown, you need to have some background, or a partner that knows how to deal with customers and a bar staff. It’s a world all its own.”