So I'm traveling to Montreal for a weekend and wanted to know if anyone out there knew of any good local Montreal or Quebec based craft breweries to keep an eye out for. Recommendations appreciated.
Brasserie Dieu du Ciel. They're in Montreal and they make some really good beers but I've never been there. If I ever make it to Canada I'd stop in a DDC.
Dieu du Ciel. You won't regret spending any time there. If they have Isseki Nicho on tap when you go, drink one for me. An Imperial Dark Saison. One of the best beers I have ever had in my life, no fooling.
Brasserie Dieu du Ciel was one of my favorite places up there. This place is also one you might want to watch for: http://www.beeradvocate.com/mag/13598/a-la-fut/ One great tip if you like La Fin du Monde; its super cheap there! Bombers were like $3-4 (compared to $9 here in a store) So, you have to eat while you're up there. -Schwarz's is a good time, but expect to wait. Great Jewish brisket. Chat up the guys behind the counter...they are great! -Au Pied du Cochon is a fantastic meal. If you can get a reservation, great; if not, line up by the door before they open...you might get lucky. -There are a ton of great breakfast/brunch spots in pretty much every neighborhood. -At the Jean-Talon farmers market there is a shop, Boucherie An-Nasr, that sells kebabs and kefta. BOMB! My wife still talks about how amazing they were. We bought one to split and after one bite I was back in line getting another. Best part is when you are done, walk 2 doors down to Marche Des Saveurs Du Quebec, a local market and browse the bottles of beer and wine. Montreal is a good beer city, but a better food city.
There is DDC, but there are also a lot of other great breweries/brewpubs here. QC Breweries to watch for: DDC (a little of everything) Dunham (hoppy, wild and 'different' beers) Le Castor (especially the Yakima IPA) Charlevoix/La Vache folle (Belgians and some other stuff--especially the milk stout) Les Trois Mousquetaires (mainly lagers) Pit Caribou (little of everything) Trou du diable (little of everything) Auval (hey, you never know when you might randomly be here at the same time as a release) Montréal Brewpubs/beer bars: Benelux La St-Bock L'Amère à boire Le cheval blanc Station Ho.St Vices et versa Dieu du ciel! MaBrasserie and a bunch more Bottle shops: Everyone will say Peluso, and it does have a very good selection, but it is pretty out of the way depending on where you are staying and if you have a car. There are tons of different little bottle shops all over the city that have good stuff for you to take home, but there is a lot of variation between what they have. Keep an open mind and you can find something great that you can't get outside of QC almost everywhere. Also, be especially careful of IPAs in any stores you go to. The brewers here have started to get much better about dating their bottles, but you will still come across a lot of stuff that flat shouldn't be sold. If there isn't a date, I would avoid it. DDC, Le Castor and Auval are definitely making the best IPAs here (especially the latter two) and they all date so you should be fine.
I will add one thing, Auval is going to be extremely hard to find unless your here the right day or get a good trade while here. DDC and Le Castor should be anywhere who sell good beer! cheers!
So the girlfriend and I are staying near the Basillica of Notre Dame...does that make any of those places more of a can't miss than others?
Well your going to be not too far from the metro than and as long as you can get there most of those places are easy to get too. Don't miss Dieu Du Ciel!, and if you have time benelux would probably be fun. Le Saint-bock has an amazing selection but for the really good beers it can get quite expensive. Mabrasserie and Peluso are probably a little out of the way. If you want to bring a couple bottles home it might be worth checking out Le Fromagerie Atwater in the atwater market. A short walk from Lionel Groulx metro station on the green line they have a small room in their cheese shop filled to the brim with nice Microbrews. I personally used to go all the way to peluso when I couldnt find something where I live but after @TheDoctor suggested Fromagerie Atwater I will be going there as often as I can for rare releases ect...
