Eastern Quebec microbreweries scramble to fill surging demand

A rush of tourists and a growingappreciation for craft beerin Eastern Quebec havelocal breweries straining to keep mugs filled and glasses clinking.

Brew pubs acrossthe region are boosting production by as much as60 per cent, and one brewery inCarleton-sur-Mer on the Gasp Peninsulahas had to suspend shipments of bottled beerto satisfy the thirst of its local clientele.

"We didn't ship new beer across Quebec this year because we startedto run out after two weeks," said co-owner of Le Naufrageur,SbastienValade.

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"It's a nice problem for us to have, to produce enough to respond to the demand," said Denis Thibeault, the co-owner of Le Bien le Malt microbrewery in Rimouski.

"We have had a very good summer. We can't keep up," Thibeaultsaid.Heis nowconsidering expanding the business.

'Twenty years ago, people discovered there was more [to wine]than just Oiseau bleu and Baby Duck. That's what is happening now with beer,- ric Viens, co-owner of Aux FousBrassants

Last year, Aux Fous Brassants, a microbreweryin Rivire-du-Loup, bought three new fermenters in response to a30 per cent increasein sales.

Co-owner ric Viens says in part, the growth is due to a tourism boom in the region, however, locals are also discovering a taste for the product.

"It's the same as what happened with wine. Twenty years ago, people discovered there was more than just Oiseau bleu and Baby Duck. That's what is happening now with beer," he said.

Can't get enough Crb Bitter

For the St-Pancrace brewery in Baie-Comeau, on Quebec's North Shore, the beer boom extendsto its most exoticproduct CrbBitter, a crab-infused beer.

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It introduced the slightly salty beer to the world last year. This year, crab beer sales have gone up fourfold.

Pierre-Antoine Morin, the brewery's director of marketing, said St-Pancrace, too, ishaving trouble meetinglocal demand.

"We are at maximum production," he said. "We can't keep up with it right now."

St-Pancrace is investing$2 million in an expansion.

lodie Fortin, co-owner of yet another microbrewery, Tte d'Allumettein Saint-Andr-de-Kamouraska, is astonished by her young business'ssuccess.

"I didn't think it would go up so quickly," she said.