SAQ
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by Goldorak from Canada (QC)
3.65/5 rDev 0%
3.65/5 rDev 0%
Located in the Les cours Mont-Royal shopping complex, this location of the "Société des Alcohols du Québec" is probably the easiest to find for tourists. It's right downtown near the corner of Peel and Ste-Catherine street, or just take the Peel subway station, there's an entrance to this shopping center from there, the store is on the second floor, I think.
This location gets bonus points because the stores are really upscale, snooty even, so my girlfriend goes window-shopping and leaves me alone with my precious, precious Beer.
***rant***
Most SAQs couldn't give a crap about Beer. I've even overheard managers saying that if it were up to them, they would eliminate them entirely from their shelves. Not big enough profit margin, not enough demand, alcopops are selling much better, etc. The funny thing is that they could have said the same thing about wine 20 years ago, when Quebecers would only buy Gin or Vodka. To change people's minds, they started by educating the employees, giving them wine tasting lessons, importing new products, putting out publicity and now we're the #1 wino province in Canada. Why not do that with Beer? I think this is a case of prejudice and wine-snobbery.
That being said, the manager at this particular location is one of the more Beer-friendly ones. He was in charge of the SAQ tent at this year's Mondial.
***end rant***
Like most SAQs, this place is spotlessly clean, even the worst cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder will feel at home here. Obviously, wine and spirits are king here, however the Beer/Alcopop (grrr) section has it's own little nook between the champagne and the higher end wines. This place usually has 90-95% of all the brews available in the SAQ catalogue, which isn't saying much. Mostly available are crappy lagers like Moretti, Asashi super dry, DAB and Faxe, as well as a selection of green bottled nightmares like Pilsner Urquell, Czechvar and God-awful Swiss Mountain Beer. Even if you've never had these before, stay away. Most have been there forever, only to be bought by people who want to try imported brews without knowing what they're doing, and never come back again. My advice is go for the stuff you think can age well, like the Unibroues (Terrible, Fringante and Quelque chose), Maredsous, Duvel, Saison Dupont and Chimay. Don't come here looking for Québec micros, the only ones you'll find are the aforementioned Unibroues (just those three) and Brasseur RJ's Rescousse.
They also have gift packs, like the four Koningshoevens with the glass, the Delerium Tremens/Nocturnum with glass, Mort subites with glass, etc. Be wary of them, a lot of them are pretty old, check expiry dates, and don't hesitate to open boxes at the cash to see if the glasses arent broken.
The majority of employees here arent Beer experts, but they'll gladly listen to all my rants and some of them actually seemed to care, or were at least somewhat sympathetic to my cause. Exchanges are done without fuss, and service is polite and friendly, even when I'm not :)
Aug 23, 2004This location gets bonus points because the stores are really upscale, snooty even, so my girlfriend goes window-shopping and leaves me alone with my precious, precious Beer.
***rant***
Most SAQs couldn't give a crap about Beer. I've even overheard managers saying that if it were up to them, they would eliminate them entirely from their shelves. Not big enough profit margin, not enough demand, alcopops are selling much better, etc. The funny thing is that they could have said the same thing about wine 20 years ago, when Quebecers would only buy Gin or Vodka. To change people's minds, they started by educating the employees, giving them wine tasting lessons, importing new products, putting out publicity and now we're the #1 wino province in Canada. Why not do that with Beer? I think this is a case of prejudice and wine-snobbery.
That being said, the manager at this particular location is one of the more Beer-friendly ones. He was in charge of the SAQ tent at this year's Mondial.
***end rant***
Like most SAQs, this place is spotlessly clean, even the worst cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder will feel at home here. Obviously, wine and spirits are king here, however the Beer/Alcopop (grrr) section has it's own little nook between the champagne and the higher end wines. This place usually has 90-95% of all the brews available in the SAQ catalogue, which isn't saying much. Mostly available are crappy lagers like Moretti, Asashi super dry, DAB and Faxe, as well as a selection of green bottled nightmares like Pilsner Urquell, Czechvar and God-awful Swiss Mountain Beer. Even if you've never had these before, stay away. Most have been there forever, only to be bought by people who want to try imported brews without knowing what they're doing, and never come back again. My advice is go for the stuff you think can age well, like the Unibroues (Terrible, Fringante and Quelque chose), Maredsous, Duvel, Saison Dupont and Chimay. Don't come here looking for Québec micros, the only ones you'll find are the aforementioned Unibroues (just those three) and Brasseur RJ's Rescousse.
They also have gift packs, like the four Koningshoevens with the glass, the Delerium Tremens/Nocturnum with glass, Mort subites with glass, etc. Be wary of them, a lot of them are pretty old, check expiry dates, and don't hesitate to open boxes at the cash to see if the glasses arent broken.
The majority of employees here arent Beer experts, but they'll gladly listen to all my rants and some of them actually seemed to care, or were at least somewhat sympathetic to my cause. Exchanges are done without fuss, and service is polite and friendly, even when I'm not :)
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