Ghys Mongeon, with the La Chaloupe team at 104.7, was taking advantage of his album launch in September 2024 to embrace the cause of the palliative care home: La Maison des Collines. Inspired from the old tavern days, enjoy this Pale Ale for a great cause!
When stars align, wonderful things happen. It all started with a segment of the morning show Que l’Outaouais se lève on 104.7 FM Outaouais: La Chaloupe, hosted by Michel Langevin with Tania Nolet and Louis-Philippe Brûlé. The jingle for this segment is performed by Ghys Mongeon, a country pop figure in the Outaouais region. The jingle became a song, the song became a beer, and the beer became a cause.
When Marc Gervais of IGA famille Charles, regular organizer of charity events for Maison des Collines, pitched the idea of creating a La Chaloupe beer to Louis-Philippe Brûlé, we quickly jumped on board: to make a beer from Les Collines, with a singer from Les Collines, for an organization from Les Collines felt just right. What was supposed to be a one-off project quickly became a staple of our selection. And we will continue to brew it as long as all the partners in this project are pulling in the same direction, for a Collines de Bonne Cause!
Let’s talk about the cause: La Maison des Collines is a palliative care home in La Pêche, in the Wakefield area. This centre, which opened in 2019 after a long and painstaking development process, allows people in the Outaouais region to receive end-of-life care in a calm, dignified and respectful environment. It is an organisation that humanises the final moments of its patients. Although this type of institution relieves the pressure on similar services in our large hospitals, it has to be said that government financial support for these palliative care homes is insufficient and that their continued existence would not be possible without donations. It is with this goal in mind that we chose to get involved with La Chaloupe to benefit La Maison des Collines.
Brewed with a base of English pale ale malt from Innomalt, which gives it biscuit aromas with a hint of M2 from the same malting plant, enhancing the biscuit flavour with light notes of honey, it is skilfully flavoured with Magnum hops for bitterness and Chinook hops for aroma. These two hops come from the Lupuline hop farm in Pontiac, Outaouais. The yeasts from Labo Solution brassicole in La Pocatière complete the ingredients, bringing them together and creating magic through fermentation. The result is a delicious, thirst-quenching beer that appeals to a wide audience but still has character. The subtle fruity aromas of hops, combined with a beautiful malty/bitter base, make us want to say: Collines! He knows his stuff!
