Gerard Comeau Brut IPA

The intersection of beer and the law is a place that interests me greatly. That’s why, when I heard about an interprovincial collaboration between the Québécois Brasserie du Bas Canada out of Gatineau and Ottawa’s Flora Hall Brewing Co., I put out an APB for a bottle of Gerard Comeau Brut IPA. Luckily for me, my old pal KC was in Ottawa and obliged by purchasing not one but three 500mL bottles of the 7.2% alcohol grog.

For those not in the know, Gerard Comeau is a gent from my home province, Nouveau Brunswick, who dared to travel to Quebec in search of cheaper beer and booze. Cited by the RCMP and fined $240 plus fees and surcharge,  Comeau decided to fight. Successful at first instance and at the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, it looked like Gerard would prevail, but the province’s appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was allowed and his fine was restored. The reasoning is high-falutin’ constitutional law dealing with interprovincial trade and tariffs, and is better dealt with in a legal forum. For my purposes, Gerard Comeau is a dude who fought to freely bring beer across provincial lines and regardless of his ultimate defeat, I think he’s a folk hero worthy of a beer named in his honour.

On to the beer.

GC is a brut IPA, meaning it is effervescent like a sparkling wine and extremely low on sugar. The beer I got was a fizzy golden number; clear beer under a sudsy white cap. It had a dry, yeasty aroma with some faintly floral bitterness. Crisp and extremely dry, the beer wasn’t overly flavourful, though there were some perfumed bitter elements, particularly at the finish, and even more particularly as the beer warmed.

Incredibly easy-drinking for a 7.2% beer, GC was a well-brewed collaboration between two breweries I’d never before encountered. Even without its legal/historical significance, I’d have called this a quality beer, but the context is definitely worth an extra half-point in my personal scale. Brut IPAs, while all be rage, are still pretty new to me, but this one really clicked. I’d have liked for the amplifiers to be turned up a bit, flavour-wise, particularly in the early going, but that won’t stop me from enjoying the other two bottles I’ve got left.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.