Montreal and Quebec recommendations?

I'll keep in touch bud, As we get closer to Biere week if I have some bottles that interest you I would be interested in trading, My family live in Ontario so I have access to some Ontario craft beers too and from time to time a nice BC special.

 

Since chances are you'll be be visiting BOTH Montreal and Québec City ( which i strongly you do ) :

Montréal :

Vices et Versa is an absolute must if you want to have access to a lot of good beers in just one spot.Make a note of the ones you like.
Dieu du Ciel I know it has almost become cliché but it still is the best brewpup in Montréal hands down .

Then walk down two blocks west on Laurier street and make provisions at le Marché Rahman.Maybe not the best selection anymore but pretty good nonetheless and very practical.If you absolutely want the very best selection,you need to go to le Marché Peluso on Rachel street east.And while you're at it,why not eat the best poutine on the very same street at La Banquise ?

Then you've got a tough decision to make if you do make the drive from Montréal to Québec City :

if you take Highway 20 ( South shore ) : You have to stop by les Brasseurs du Monde in St-Hyacinthe.It is not that far off the highway and they have an absolutely amazing tasting room with close to100 beers ( regular beers and specialty ).All made by them.No food other than the usual popcorn and such though but very nice tasting room.

If you take Highway 40 ( North shore ) : You have to stop by Le Trou du Diable in Shawinigan.You have to get out your way somehow bt you'll be thanful you did.Every bit as good as Dieu du Ciel but you get great food on top of it.

Once in Québec City.La Duchesse d'Aiguillon i the best spot to get micro brews.Don't know much about beer places though.Le Pub St-Alexandre used to be good but haven't been there in a long time so don't know if that has changed .

Enjoy your trip in La Belle Province !

 

Not beer related but there is a train that runs from Montreal to Quebec City. It isn't appreciably faster than the bus but it is more comfortable and you can sometimes find deals that make the price difference negligible.

 

For Quebec City I recommend a new app that was released 2 weeks ago , super easy user friendly same style as google maps but with all microbreweries and bars who have microbreweries on tap plus what beers they have on tap at that moment with descriptions and food menus , its called AuMenu , its free on the app store , if you need more info on QC city you can reply ive been here for the last 20 years , cheers

 

here is the website https://www.aumenu.info/

 

I posted this in another thread but wanted to post it here too to make sure everyone got thanked

Greetings all. I've been keeping an eye on these Montreal threads since I was heading up there for the first time this past weekend. Thanks for all the info and tips! A few bullet points:

1) Holy crap did I love Montreal! How the hell do you guys keep it so damn clean up there? We stayed downtown, went to a show at the Metropolis, took the subway numerous times, and walked pretty much the entire length of St. Laurent and I don't think I saw so much as a cigarette butt anywhere. Just a gorgeous city with more good food, beer, and nice outdoor spaces than we knew what to do with. And so affordable for a big city (especially with the exchange rate).

2) People were super friendly and easy everywhere. I got the sense that having my French phrase book in hand bought me some goodwill for making an effort, because nearly everyone quickly switched to English when necessary with no attitude whatsoever. A surprising number of people seemed very interested that we were from Boston and quite chatty (I guess we didn't run into any hockey fans )

3) Liked Benelux a lot and absolutely loved Vices and Versa. Very impressed with the quality and variety of beer offerings up there. Had everything from a great smoked polish lager to a tasty DIPA to one of the better Dopplebocks I've ever had. Hell, I was even digging the 5$ Molson Canadians at the club. On that note, we had an "Experimental IPA" at Vices and Versa that could absolutely have come from a hyped New England place like Treehouse or Trillium - cloudy, soft, non-bitter and fruity with an amazing nose. Our waitress didn't speak much English so we couldn't quite figure out who made it (might have been Three Musketeers?). It was on tap there on Friday but had disappeared before we got back to the hotel that night to look it up on the online menu. Anyone have a guess as to what it was?

4) Had two of the best meals of my life at Tavern Square Dominion. Brilliant charcuterie plates. I think we earned points because my friend is an adventurous eater who devoured the pig ear that our waiter seemed vaguely apologetic about. That was the one offering that was a bit too much for me though (I can handle the gelatin but the cartilage was a deal breaker). Fantastic cocktails and the coolest Absinthe gadget I've ever seen.

Can't wait to go back since we barely scratched the surface. Will look to set up an in person trade or something next time since I have pretty easy access to some of the heavy hitters in MA and VT.

Thanks again for all the info!

 

Were you wearing a tutu or something that prevents you from seeing the ground? Glad you had fun!

 

You are right, the Experimental IPA is from les Trois Mousquetaires!

 

Well, if I put the hyperbole aside I guess there was a *little* trash on the ground once we went under the bridge heading towards Vices and Versa. But other than that, compared to Boston anyway, the place looked like Disneyland

Thank you!! They ought to stop experimenting and just put that shit in cans au plaus vit! I really did think it was sitting exactly in that trendy Trillium/Treehouse IPA sweetspot.

 

It's funny how you praise Montreal for its cleanliness when most residents would actually say quite the opposite.I've been to Boston twice and thought it was very clean.It is a good thing that we get a different point of view.

For the rest,you are definitely spot on though.People here are very much laid back.And most will kindly switch to english if they feel you have a bit of trouble with french.The fact you even care to ask in french deserves merit.The beer scene is bursting.If i were an American,i would definitely spend a lot of holidays north of the border.Just the 25-30 % exchange rate makes it a no-brainer

 

Too funny. People told me that this was the first nice weekend of the year, so maybe people just hadn't been out and about long enough to mess it up yet

 

They also recently went around blasting the sidewalks off to clear away all the winter garbage. I realized this because after your post I looked a lot and was surprised at how clean everything was. Admittedly, Montreal is super clean. The cigarette butts (and ones from joints) are the only litter that I would say is problematic.

 

iles des gardes offers good food, atmosphere + good choices for local craft. your wife will love this place.

cheval blanc brewpub is totally opposite re atmosphere, they brew excellent small batch one off. maybe the best ipas and iipas in town.... its hard to beat moralite from ddc tho.

brou haha has great poutine, and $1.75 4oz tasters during the day.

 

MTL is clean, mais QC is spotless.

 

In shops.The brand new IPA from Les Trois Mousquetaires should be at the top of your list: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/11056/235853/

Others worthy :

From Dunham : http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/11056/235853/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13905/172787/

From DDC : http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1141/4907/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1141/83643/

From Benelux : http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13804/224808/

And if you're still in the province around july 21-22 or so and happen to see anything Auval on the shelf,take all you can get and consider yourself blessed by the Gods of beer.Auval typically distributes their beers to cherry-picked locations around that time each month.Cheers and enjoy your stay in La Belle Province !

 

For a cheap night in Montreal get yourselves some Fairmont bagels and a bottle of Fin du Monde, climb up Mt Royal and soak in the view!