Miellerie de la Grande Ourse: From Hive to Glass

Its 50 million bees are busy creating the sweet nectar. David, the owner and founder, collects the honey. He transforms it into various gourmet products and also into alcohol. The entrepreneur is driven by his projects, and we love it. Here’s what’s brewing at the Miellerie de la Grande Ourse.

Expansion and Mead

For the past two years, the meadery’s ready-to-drink products have made their way onto the shopping lists of the Témiscabitibiens. The two flavors offered are cocktails originally created for the meadery’s bar. There’s the delicious Beekeeper's Mojito, made from raspberry mead, lime, and mint. Then, the Hops and Summer Honey drink, a canned version of the Bee Fashioned.

Since the launch of these products, four flavors of sparkling meads in cans are available throughout Abitibi-Témiscamingue. David mentions that with his alcohols, he wants to expand his products beyond the region. For this reason, the Miellerie de la Grande Ourse made a significant expansion in 2024. “We went from 500 to 800 hives.”

« When I give tours, I explain to people that meads are different »
David Ouellet

The Reputation of Mead

Beyond his work at the Miellerie de la Grande Ourse, David is also a member of the Association des producteurs d’hydromel du Québec. He hopes that one day alcohol merchants will have a "mead" section similar to the beer and wine sections.

“We have a long way to go. We conducted perception studies. In many people's minds, mead is the medieval syrup they tasted once and didn’t really like” says David.

He has made it his mission to educate. “When I give tours, I explain to people that meads are different”

Abitibi-Témiscamingue Loves Mead

Indeed, in the minds of consumers, mead is often perceived as a syrupy alcohol. An overly sweet drink that you sip from a stainless steel or earthenware cup. That’s not the case! There are, among others, sparkling and dry meads. In this case, it’s a low-sugar alcohol.

“What excites me in life are dry meads. I thought it would be a difficult market to tame,” explains the beekeeper. Once again, that’s not the case! “The first year I started selling mead... I had 10% of the Quebec market, just in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. We’re 2% of the province’s population. People here were waiting for our mead. We already had some notoriety with the meadery,” the entrepreneur says with a smile.

“The first year I started selling mead... I had 10% of the Quebec market, just in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. We’re 2% of the province’s population. People here were waiting for our mead. We already had some notoriety with the meadery»
David Ouellet

From La Grande Dérive to Essaim Voyageur

Of course, our friend David is not one to rest on his laurels! He is currently preparing a new alcohol. “We have a brandy coming out soon. It’s called Essaim Voyageur, a honey brandy.” Certainly, this alcohol will appeal to many enthusiasts. He takes the time to explain that “To make a brandy, we distill a 13% alcohol mead. When we distill mead, we heat the liquid, and the first ingredients to evaporate are the alcohol. First, the head alcohols go, then the tail alcohols. So we aim for the heart alcohols, which are the most interesting.” Thus, they collect the heart alcohol. Essentially, this is the eau-de-vie. The one already produced by the meadery is called "La Grande Dérive."

To get to brandy, they take the eau-de-vie, in this case, La Grande Dérive, and let it age in oak barrels for a year. During this time, there’s a micro-oxidation process. This process browns the alcohol. This micro-oxidation gives notes of vanilla and wood. A year of aging is what can be characterized as a young brandy.

A Boreal Gin

In addition to these two alcohols, there is the honey gin NORD. The botanicals in this drink come from our boreal forest. Only the touch of coriander is cultivated; the rest is wild. The honey gin NORD is a top seller at the Miellerie de la Grande Ourse.

Finally, to taste cocktails specially created with the Miellerie de la Grande Ourse’s alcohols, the best place is the bar. Directly at the meadery, on the beautiful terrace where a field and a 180-degree sky become the backdrop, the cocktails are particularly delicious! A shop is also on-site. Very convenient for buying bottles to take home or give as gifts.