In the 1830s, Thomas Kirk was the first to establish a link between Chelsea and what would become Cantley, operating an oar-powered ferry. Deeply dark, this beer is dominated by notes of chocolate and roast.
At the time, the development of the area, which belonged to the Canton of Hull, was in its infancy. The road to what would become Chelsea developed more rapidly than the road to Cantley. The only way to reach the Cantley sector by land was via Montée de la Source, a rough gravel path.
For about a hundred years, the most efficient way to get out of Cantley was by ferry, allowing better exploitation of the mica, phosphate and agricultural products from the Cantley lands, which had to be transported across the river. Thomas Kirk had bought the land on both banks of the Gatineau at one of the only places where the river’s current allowed safe ferrying. He used a flat-bottomed raft-style boat curved at the ends. Although the Kirk Ferry was the most important ferry on the Gatineau River, there were as many as 18 ferries shuttling between the two banks in the 1850s.
Although this area of the river has not seen a ferry since 1940, the history of the Kirk Ferry and what would become the Paddy Fleming Ferry in the early 1900s was so important to the development of the area, that Cantley incorporated it stylishly into its municipal logo.
In the early days of settlement in the Cantley and Chelsea area, the first settlers were of Irish descent. What could be more Irish than a stout? Like Kirk’s Traverse, we take you from one end of the roasting spectrum to the other. Traverse Stout is a light stout. Light in alcohol, at 4.5%, but also in color and flavor. The beer is pale black, even dark brown. On the nose, notes of coffee and cocoa are accompanied by toast. On the palate, a round caramel base reveals a beer with cocoa accents, finishing with a smoky impression. A comfortable, accessible stout.
The base of this beer is pale English malt from Innomalt Malting in Sherbrooke, accompanied by caramelized barley from MaltBroue in the Lower St. Lawrence. To give it roundness and texture, we’ve added oat flakes from MaltBroue. And when you say stout, you say torrefaction. That’s why we used roasted malt from the only malting plant in Quebec that roasts: Malterie de la Rivière, at Rivière Bleue in Témiscouata. Hops being an integral part of beer, we added some magnum from Houblonnière Lupuline in Pontiac, accompanied by a touch of Fuggle de Houblon from Jarrets Noirs in Beauce. A harmony of flavors that beckons the next sip.
