Beer spots in Ottawa

Beyond the Pale (BTP) is a definite must stop, but no, you cannot get pints there (only small pour samples). Given the location of Mavericks, I would say hit up Beer Brother’s Bistro (great food, a quality beer list and a rotating cast). While it is not close to Mavericks, The Wellington Gastropub is close to BTP; the gastropub has excellent food, a great tap list and a rotating cask. They also brew their own house beer on site under the name Stock Pot Ales (the black IPA was killer!). In the same neck of the woods is the Hintonburg Public House. Their menu is a bit cheaper than Beer Brothers and gastropub, and the tap list is all local. A couple ‘Ottawa standards’ are The Manx and Arrow and Loon; both have a good tap list, but I find the food at the Manx way better.

Just my $0.02.

 

Cheers!

 

Don't bother with Arrow and Loon and Manx. Waste of time. If you stick to the Market, you'll get Brothers Beer Bistro, Black Tomato, Clocktower, and LCBO within 3 minutes walking distance. Arrow & Loon is bad food, okay beer. Heard good things about the wellington gastropub but never been there.

 

So assuming you have a car I would recommend starting with a trip to Beyond the Pale since they open at 12 - you can sample most of their beers on tap for ticks and if they have limited bottles you can probably buy up to two (check facebook and twitter for latest release information) along with getting a growler or two to go (they have 32oz sizes which I find are excellent without being overwhelming). Given that this will not take two long and you have time to kill I'd check out what the Wellington Gastropub has to offer on tap and if appealing the menu for lunch is much more reasonable. This will fill your time until 2 at which point I would say wonder back downtown and do some shopping at the King Edward LCBO (best selection in town) before heading over to Brothers Beer Bistro. They don't serve their full food menu from 2-5 but you can get charcuterie and their full beer list. You can then stay there for dinner too or if you want to switch things up I'd go to the Black Tomato for very good food and decent beer. If you want ticks you can also stop at the downtown clocktower but its not good beer. And of course this all depends on how sober you need to be by 8 and your tolerance.

So if staying downtown its not worth the trip but but I can't agree on veoting the Manx - the beer list is decent and the food is amazing...great music and other entertainment (like poetry slams) plus its pretty chillaxed during the day without being crowded. Not too mention a good scotch selection and an amaing weekend brunch menu.

 

Yeah, I'm with pushkinwow on the Manx, it's a nice pub.

Another restaurant that flies under the beer radar is the Smoque Shack. Great BBQ just outside the Market area and they usually have a handful of reliable locals on tap, if nothing mind blowing.

But yeah, go to the Wellington if you can, their in-house StockPot series brews are pretty delicious.

 

+1
Not sure if its still on tap, but the StockPot Ales Black IPA kicked some serious booty!

 

The Manx is great. Never had a bad night there.

If you go to Wellington, make a reservation. I've showed up just for a beer a few times now to find out even the bar is reserved (I don't understand this, but whatever).

 

Fatboy's BBQ is also pretty darned good, though the beer section is meh at best.

 

Pretty sure most things close around 2 - it will depend on what you want to do - ticks, one place to stay, food or beer? Or clubbing etc?

 

No worries - as in is your main interest to try as many local or new beers as possible and "tick" them off a list.

 

I'd just wonder around the market and see what sparks your interest. There are plenty of places with decent food and some beer where you can people watch which is always fun; personally I don't go into to the market too often so don't have many suggestions apart from what has already been mentioned.

 

Try the newly renovated Lunenburg Pub in the market. Outside of Beer Brothers, they've got the best draft selection in the market if their new menu is correct.