Visiting a Distillery in a Church and a Brewery Near Perce, Quebec
Volume 4-Having Fun on Our 40th Wedding Anniversary Vacation Tour
We’re still at it. Up here in Quebec, Canada. Yesterday, we had a fun day exploring the town of Perce and on a boat tour of the Perce Rock and Bonaventure Island. I wrote about the boat tour here:
I would highly recommend this boat tour company, Les Crousieres Julien Cloutier, to anyone. They provide a great scenic tour and informative narration. Our ride lasted about 75 minutes.
A Distillery in a Church?
Yup. However, this is not all that uncommon as we have been to a winery in a church in the Finger Lakes region of NY.
The Secret Society is a distillery about 10 minutes South of Perce along the coast. This distillery produces only gin but many varieties, including those containing/ distilled with honey, rhubarb, Cassis (black currant), and, of course, herbs. We tasted some of them and ended up purchasing the honey and Cassis varieties.
This Anglican church, built in 1875, provides a unique atmosphere for the business.
Even though it is sad to see a church no longer in service, it is good to see it repurposed and being cared for. The cemetery is mowed and at least being kept up to some degree. The owner told us their business has been there since 2007.
Beer, Anyone?
Within a few miles of the distillery, we discovered The Pit Caribou microbrewery. We could tell by the size of the building that they are well established. Come to find out, they also have a pub in Perce.
Their beers can be tasted at either location. A tasting consisted of trying 4 beers of the 8 they had on tap. I ended up trying a blond ale, a German-style citrus ale made with lime and pink peppercorns, a cream ale, and a dark porter similar to Guinness. I actually liked this better than Guinness.
The owner was nice and took a lot of time explaining the different brews to me. They also do bourbon barrel-aged beers. I tasted one aged in both a Tabasco and bourbon barrel. Oh my, was that good! Dark and flavorful!
It was fun as we sat by the ocean and enjoyed the scenery and sound of the ocean.
One More Day in Perce
Tomorrow is our last day here. We have plans, not to be revealed yet. Stay tuned.
