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Our story
The microbrewery with big ambitions
Our story started with a dream – visionary André Dion''s dream. His mission is to conquer the hearts, and above all the palates, of Quebecers. He seeks to market top notch gourmet beers that stand out as much for their unique taste as for their brewing method. Belgian-inspired beers refermented in the bottle: unheard of in their country of origin! He secretly even manages to convince himself that his future brewery will be the heart of a brewing revolution that will change our perception of beer forever. And now his little secret has quickly become legendendary.
1990
The background
Businessman André Dion founded Unibroue based on the idea of uniting Quebec’s microbreweries at the time for distribution in the provinces. The ambitious project was adandoned, and he and Serge Racine became majority shareholders of Brasserie Massawippi in Lennoxville.
1991
The beginning
The Massawippi brewery and Unibroue merge. It is at this time that Gino Vantieghem, a young Belgian brewmaster, is hired. He moved to Quebec, bringing with him his culture and know-how in refermented beers in the bottle.
1992
A promising start
Unibroue made history with the launch of Blanche de Chambly. It was the first white beer in North America brewed in the Belgian tradition and refermented in the bottle. That's when popular singer Robert Charlebois became a partner of Unibroue. In the fall, la Maudite launched – the first strong beer in Canada! The small community of specialty beer fans at the time were thrilled to see of this quality, locally brewed. Confronted with beers on lees for the first time, surprised new consumers returned their bottles to convenience stores believing the beer to be unfit for consumption, having found "lumps in the bottom"!
1994
An international contender is born
After eighteen months of research and development, Unibroue launched a beer inspired by Belgian tripels: La Fin du Monde. It's now the most awarded Canadian beer with some sixty international accolades. It has won the title of “World's Best Tripel Belgian Style Beer” three times at the World Beer Awards. La Fin du Monde is iconic of our brewery, and the standard bearer of Quebec brewing know-how around the world.
2004
An unexpected twist
Interested in our modern facilities and the highly qualified workforce, the Sleeman brewery bought Unibroue. This new momentum increased the presence of our products across Canada.
2006
A NEW CHAPTER
Sapporo International acquires Sleeman-Unibroue inc. Japanese people – with their great respect for art, tradition and culture – see Unibroue as a Canadian gem to be cherished and shared outside Quebec's borders.
2008
AN ORIGINAL CREATION
Unibroue launched a unique brew – Unibroue 17. It was Jerry Vietz's unique first creation as brewmaster. It's a Belgian-style quadruple aged on French oak chips. In 2010 it won the title of "best dark beer in the world in all categories"
2016
A HEAVY BEER THAT MAKES SOME NOISE!
The beloved heavy metal band Megadeth asked us to brew a beer for them. What an honour! Coincidentally, one of their most popular songs has a title and chorus in French. À Tout Le Monde was launched in October. This 4.5% Belgian season-style beer is coveted by thousands of fans around the world.
2018
THE ART OF REVOLUTIONIZING
The beer market and consumer tastes have continually evolved since 1992. People want novelty and innovative products that aren't from a particular tradition. They want something else! So Unibroue launched Autre Chose – our first series of beers that get away from Belgian interpretations, and refermentation. We offered a peach IPA, then a ginger ale session, an IPL and a HIPL. And we're just getting started!
2020
CONSTANT PROGRESS
After months of work and a $15 million investment – the brewery's largest ever – the production team was proud to launch the first Unibroue canned beer. At the time, we were one of the only breweriss in the world to referment all of our Belgian-style beers in bottles and in kegs. And here we came with beers refermented in cans. In bottles, kegs and cans – it's our own Holy Trinity.
2021
A neverending story
As we approach our 30th anniversary, we are a long way from writing our last chapter. We're like a legend: we grow and evolve over the years along with our audience. Unibroue, brewer of legends. That reputation suits us perfectly!
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