An original range of four new meads – a fermented beverage made from honey – has just given new recognition to the delicious honey from the Petit rucher du nord, as well as giving us an opportunity to talk about this alcoholic beverage…one of the first tasted by humankind.

The production of honey wine is a new activity for the Brébeuf honey farm. Longtime bee-keeper and founder of the Petit rucher du Nord, Félix Lapierre has long dreamed of making mead. The construction in 2018 of a building fully dedicated to his beekeeping activities made the dream a real possibility.

Fresh, sparkling, dry or rich-tasting, these meads are made by fermenting honey and water, to which are added yeasts and nutrients, as well as fruits and flavouring agents. “We challenge anyone who has tried mead in the past to taste our products. We truly believe that there’s something for every taste and occasion!” says Félix Lapierre.

A promising first batch

The first four meads from the Petit rucher represent an equal number of opportunities to rediscover mead. Supported by oenologist Richard Bastien, Judith Forget – co-owner of the Petit rucher – and Félix Lapierre started their first fermentations in January 2022.

“We didn’t want a sweet drink,” Felix emphasizes. “We wanted to create a whitewine- type of mead that can be enjoyed on every occasion, even with food.”

The result is surprising. Endowed with the fresh tastes and scents of the tilleul (basswood) honey from which it comes, the Rue des Champ – a dry mead – is subtly evocative of a sauvignon blanc. A natural sparkling type has also been developed from the same honey. Bottled at the end of fermentation, the Fabuleux offers unpretentious, festive little bubbles and is perfect as a virtual cocktail.

For the mead called Victor, sea buckthorn berries were added during fermentation. The fruit is from Régal nomade, a young business in Labelle that grows sea buckthorn. Lastly, the mead Automne, somewhat stronger in terms of alcohol (15 per cent) and also in residual sugar, offers a warmer side and more intensity. And all this is only a beginning, because the producers are full of ideas for the next batch.

“Mead-making is a perfect complement to beekeeping,” says Judith. “In the summer we work with the bees to produce honey, and in winter, when the extraction room is empty, it’s there that we make mead, using part of the honey we’ve harvested. It makes the best possible use of all our space.”

Félix Lapierre and his inamorata, Judith Forget, manage close to 400 hives as well as a shop at the farm; there you’ll find their honeys and meads, as well as items produced from a base of honey, Api-flex wrappings made with beeswax, and products from local craftspeople, artisans and producers.

The shop is located at 362, Hwy. 323 in Brébeuf. It is also possible to obtain their meads at Marché et bistro fermier Aux petits oignons and at Moulins Lafayette, at Mont-Tremblant.

lepetitrucherdunord.com

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