Restaurant Émile Bertrand’s Spruce Beer
Spruce beer is what I drink for New Year’s.
I just finished my second bottle of the evening.
(Despite the name, it is only very, very mildly alcoholic – if at all.)
With a history that goes back to the early 18th century and at one time ranged the Eastern Seaboard (from the Mid-Atlantic and up) I’m surprised that the tradition of making spruce beer seems to be limited, now, to rural Quebec. However, in Montreal, there is still one place where you can get fresh spruce beer: Émile Bertrand’s. They serve the best fresh-cut french fries in town, too.
Look, I rarely choose favorites, but in case you are wondering –
this is my favorite (fizzy) drink.
Yes – it tastes like delicious, delicious pine trees, a very dry finish – with more than a touch of yeast.
But this brief description does not do the beverage justice – and neither do the pre-fab, from-concentrate varieties of spruce beer that one can occasionally find on store shelves.
And don’t even touch the two-litre “soda-pop” stuff.
Real spruce beer, bière d’épinette, must be freshly-made – and must be tasted to be believed.
Here is the recipe which is found on the wall of the establishment.
This recipe is 250 years old, and – as a result – is likely not the one used by the resto today.
It is, however, similar – I’m sure. Find a tent peg and try it at home:
“Take seven pounds of good spruce and boil until the bark peels off, then take the spruce out. Put three gallons of molasses with the remaining liquid and boil again. Scum it well as it boils, then take it out of the kettle and put it in a cooler. When it’s milkwarm, put in a pint of yeast and mix well. Then put it into a barrel and let it work for two or three days. When it’s done, bung it with a tent peg and vent it now and again. It can be used two or three days after.”
P S
For the record, Mr. Èmile Bertand has been dead for some time now. He handed down the recipe to the present proprietors. They do a good job.
Also, the place just relocated around the corner form their previous location, and if you find yourself in Montreal (or live here already) their new address is 420 Aqueduc, just west of de la Montagne and Notre-Dame.
GO!
And remember: “Venez donc essayer le restaurant de monsieur Émile comme le font certains sportifs, musiciens et chanteurs!.
I want some. All I have is this shitty sparkling cider.
Sorry!
Current address is 760 Charlevoix, Montreal, Quebec
No, Ron, that’s the address of Paul Patates (noted here). This post was about Bertrand’s. In 2004.