Finding Your Way to L’Octant Microbrasserie
I get to visit my wife’s hometown of Rimouski, Québec usually once a year. It’s on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, about a three hour drive past Québec City on the way to Gaspésie. On our most recent trip this summer, I got a special tour of one of the local breweries, L’Octant Microbrasserie. L’Octant is a two-man brewing outfit, run by partners Hugues and Emile. They’re unique in that they focus their operation on retail and distribution only, with no onsite consumption. I had a nice chat with Hugues, who graciously showed us around and told us all about the brewery.
L’Octant have a wide range of canned beers available across the province, with styles ranging from classic Blondes, Best Bitters, and American Porters, IPAs from American, to Brut, to Oat Cream, and even some sours and big Double Stouts with fruit! They’re always playing with new styles in their lineup, looking to do more lagering and maybe even a barrel program in the future! I got to enjoy quite a few L’Octant beers on my trip. Here’s what I thought of a handful of them.
Géante Rouge
Best Bitter - 4%
L’Octant’s Best Bitter is one of Hugues’ favourite beers that they make. It’s not surprising as “brewers’ beers” tend to be those lighter in alcohol, and flavourful but crushable. Where that might be a lager or a kölsch at a lot of breweries, this is a bit more of a unique style choice. It does even stand out on the Québec scene, where for the longest time, and probably until as recently as five years ago, almost every brewery in the province at a minimum had a Blonde and a Rousse in their year round lineup. The typical Rousse you’d find, though, would be ranging from 5-7% and thick with caramel malts, whereas the Best Bitter sits at a very sessionable 4%.
Géant Rouge has a subtle nose with clean, sweet malt aromatics and a slight smokey quality. Light on the palate but full in flavour, Rooibos tea comes to mind with a slight note of red berries and that subtle whiff of smoke again. There’s very minimal sweetness. A hint of citrus comes through in the form of bitter orange peel. The finish is clean and dry. I can see why they like this one.
Oatcream IPA
7%
The oat cream IPA, brewed with Mosaic and HBC 427 hops, expectedly pours with bright, thick haze and a creamy texture. The palate is rich with pineapple juice and coconut, giving it flavours very reminiscent of a piña colada. There’s a note of bitter tangerine peel, a slightly nutty background, and a chalky feel on the finish. There’s some notable hop burn towards the finish, but otherwise, I like it.
Double Crush
Double Sweet Stout - 9%
Brewed with flaked oats, orange, and lactose, Double Crush is a big, thick dessert stout. It pours with a roasty nose and a surprising amount of citrus aromatics along with some milk chocolate sweetness. The palate is smooth in texture, and like the nose, delivers a lot of orange. There’s next to no sweetness, the chocolate notes coming out more like bitter dark chocolate, with the pithy orange peel notes adding even more bitterness. The feel is a bit oily for my liking, which can be seen on the surface after the head dissipates, and I find the strong citrus flavours a bit bracingly bitter, especially alongside the notes of dark chocolate. I think I personally would have preferred a subtle touch of orange in a more chocolate-forward stout. I’m not usually one to advocate for more sweetness in stouts, but I think it would have helped to balance the bitterness.
Kiwi
New Zealand IPA - 6.5%
Kiwi pours with bright citrus and grape on the nose. Fuzzy effervescence makes it light on the palate. Vinous flavours of white grape meet pineapple with a zesty pop of lemon and lime. The pineapple flavour comes off a tad astringent, but not too bad. It’s definitely refreshing and boasting strong New Zealand hop flavours.
Nébuleuse
Witbier - 5%
Nébuleuse is a Witbier brewed with flaked oats, grapefruit zest, camomile, and coriander seeds. It’s got a wheaty and subtly savoury nose, and high effervescence. The palate is fluffy with a subtle malt profile coming off nice and refreshing with an earthy, grainy background. The grapefruit presence is delicate, which I think was the right move. It lingers on the palate without overwhelming it. The typical addition of coriander gives it a savoury element, alongside an interesting floral note from the camomile. Overall this is a rather complex beer. The flavours are well placed with a light hand, and complement each other quite well.
Wherever you are in Québec, chances are there’s a dep, a grocery store, or a specialty beer store near you that carries L’Octant. Give them a try the next time you see their colourful labels in the fridge! If you find yourself in Rimouski, pop in and say hi to Hugues and Emile.
Article and photography by Nathan Lefebvre.
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Nathan
Nathan is a craft beer enthusiast from Ottawa, ON. He is the Co-Founder of @TeamLactose, he’s passionate about travelling for beer and he loves talking about beer from Ontario, Quebec and beyond.