Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Trou du Diable's Quality Control



What started out some years back as an informal private gathering of Quebec craft brewers has morphed into a full-fledged day-long beer fest, showcasing and celebrating some of the best small breweries in La Belle Provence -- La Soirée des Brasseurs. The fest takes place in downtown Shawinigan and is hosted by that town's brewpub and separate production brewery, Le Trou du Diable. There will be more info about the festival and the brewers who attended the most recent Soirée in future posts.


While at the Soirée, which took place on Saturday Aug. 8, 2015, we met with Marylou Trudel, a microbiologist and professor of microbiology, who serves as the Quality Control manager for Le Trou du Diable. She also happens to be the sister of André Trudel, the brewer.

B.R., André, and Marylou.
A lot of what Marylou does for the brewery revolves around the mysterious little creatures that turn sugar into alcohol. She's responsible for propagating and maintaining 12 unique yeast strains, and protecting the beer from wild yeast and bacterial infections.


Marylou began working with the brewery in 2012 and is a major force in ensuring consistency and high quality of the suds that flow out of Shawinigan. Her favorite TDD beer currently is Apocalypso - a white IPA with Calypso hops - which is fermented with the San Diego Super Yeast strain, her favorite yeast.


Listen to the podcast for more about Marylou's work, and what she finds to be the most challenging yeast strain to work with!

B.R. visiting Alex of Les Trois Mousquetaires.
Fred, the brewer at the TDD brewpub.
Stephane, the chief at Dieu du Ciel.

Isaac, one of the head honchos, at TDD, at the brewpub.


Cantillon and poutine, almost as good as tater tots and champagne -- no, actually better!


The only non-Canadian brewery at the Soirée.
Well, if you're only going to have one, might as well be this one!


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