Ottawa and Montreal Recommendations

Beyond the Pale and Beer Bros Bistro in Ottawa. Dieu du Ciel, Benelux. Vices et Versa in Montreal.
Along with several others of course.

 

hey there, these are two older threads about Ottawa but the information is still relevant (one and two). Others will be able to speak more intelligently regarding Montreal than I.

 

Hey, here is pretty much a copy paste of suggestions I made trough PM to another BA visiting montreal. Hope it helps:

"To be honest, in my opinion the Quebec scene is still lacking in terms of top quality bottled IPAs, as there are some, but not so many that are worth seeking. The best in my opinion is the DDC moralité, which is quite easy to find and it's cheap. It's a collaboration with John Kimmich from the alchemist, so it's kind of a a mini heady topper. Also, the yakima IPA from Le Castor is quite good but a tad pricey IMO, and if you are lucky, the newest batch of brett session IPA from Pit Caribou, that's also very good.

The best IPAs are mainly found on tap only. In my opinion, Le Cheval blanc, the first microbrewer to open in Quebec in 1989 is doing some of the best IPAs in montreal. Stuff like coco bonheur, double bonheur, rayon vert, gilligan IPA are always outstanding, and there's usually at least 1 on tap. It's also walking distance from Le Saint-Bock, and they usually have a decent to great invited taplist, and l'amère-à-boire, which makes some of the best Czeh lagers in north america.

If you want to buy bottles, the best store is pretty much Le Peluso. Short drive from downtown. And the 2 best taprooms are Isle de Garde and Vice & Versa. They have 24 and 32 taps, usually some rarer stuff from the province.

In terms of brewery, look for Dunham saisons and wild ales, and Trou du diable wild ales, or "brassins spéciaux". They are pretty much the most sought after, and ambitious yet well accomplised beers of the province in my opinion, in addition from stuff from DDC.

 

Hi SJL, I live right across the bridge from Ottawa and am steady on the hunt and have pretty much hit all the spots. If you'd like PM me and I can recommend all the places. We have a pub across the river from Ottawa with about 500 varieties! I'd be happy to meet you for a beer Cheers!

 

Station Host in Montreal is a must visit

 

if you have access to a car, then I would say try L'Espace Publique. They are a little brewpub on Ontario street. They're IPAs are really good, and if you are lucky then they'll have extreme2000 on tap. A must try!

 

I agree with most of what Caudalie says in regards to IPAs in Quebec. We're making some decent strides, but it's still far from what you'll find on the West Coast or in Vermont. Tap-wise, I really like Sabotage, which you can (only) get at Benelux downtown. I also have very fond memories of Post Colonial (probably on tap at Station Host), but I haven't had it in a long time. I'm not a huge fan of Moralité, personally, which I think is good but overrated. I find it lacking in body, which makes the Heady Topper comparison seem kind of strange to me. Definitely worth a try, at least. My personal favorite bottled IPA is Pit Caribou's IIPA de la Sorcière, which is basically a beefed-up version of the Brett session IPA. If you can get either fresh, it would be well worth your time (if a tad pricey).

 

A lot of Benelux's IPAs are good IMO. Definitely a safer bet than going to a bottleshop and buying the first thing with 'IPA' on the label. I personally love Moralité, but you are right about it being pretty light. Yakima's definitely the bigger, richer one of the two. Now I just gotta keep an eye out for la Sorcière (cause I adore the Brett Session)...

The thing with IPAs in Quebec (for OP or anyone else visiting) is that you just gotta be a little more careful than when you buy them than you do in the states. That said, I think that here you can get much better, more solid Belgian styles just blindly picking off the shelf than you can in the states. So you just have to pick your battles, I guess. Either way stuff's definitely improving on the IPA front.

 

Can't really add more than what's already been said except message me if ever you're interested in an in person trade

 

Be vigilant about checking bottle dates at Peluso.

 

Dieu du Ciel in Montreal

 

Definitely agree when it comes to Belgians, that's a strong point in Quebec. When I travel to the US, I almost exclusively grab IPAs to bring home, since the selection is so great and the quality so high. Not to say things are all bad up here on that front, but anyone coming up for a visit probably shouldn't expect to be wowed by the local hoppy beers.

 

Can anyone with more experience (I'm new to cellaring) recommend a beer by Dieu du Ciel worth aging? I'm thinking Rigor Mortis, although not sure how it would age... Or if there's something else?

 

Equinoxe de Printemps, their maple scotch ale. Ages beautifully.

 

Really? I wasn't a big fan of it fresh... How long should I let that one marinate? I'll give it a go!

 

Really all the big ABV beers from them except the Chaman their Imperial Pale Ale.

 

I find a year does the trick, takes away the unpleasant bite.