Les Belles Bieres du Montreal

Montreal is a city full of delicious food, sexy people, and all the beer in the world. It's an amazing place and I spent five days there taking in all of the above!

First of the two famous Montreal brewpubs which are a must for the beer lover is Brutopia:

I tried two beers there: Jeanette the waitress' zombie apocalypse pick IPA and her summer recommendation, a Cherry Wheat Ale.

The IPA was pretty good, but not zombie apocalypse material. It pours a nice amber colour and has a good head on its shoulders (haha!). You get a nice citrusy hops on the nose but I found the taste quite metallic.... Meh at best.

Now, the Cherry Wheat Ale.... that's the ticket. In case you don't know, it's hot as hell in the summer in Montreal. All humid and sexy and whatnot. So, you need a nice easy drinking and refreshing wheat ale to make the days bareable. This is that beer!

You get the cherry smell right from the beginning and as you can see, it pours a nice hazy orange/goldish colour. Its got a great cherry tartness to it but still finishes just a little sweet... So well balanced, so drinkable, soooooo gooooood!

Next stop was the go-to brewpub of Montreal and the reason for my visit: Dieu Du Ciel!

I met up there with a friend from high school, Zach, and together we hammered a few down.. I'm just too excited!

First one I tried was a cask conditioned American IPA. To be clear, cask conditioned means it's served out of the vessel it fermented it, like back in the olden days. No forced carbonation or filtration here. No sir! What does that result in? Real Ale.... and that's something that's not so easy to find at the local pub.

But, back to the beer

Look at that head! And it lasted the whole way through... I was sipping it for over half an hour and yes... still a nice foamy top! Know what that means? Protein! It's so good for you it's not even funny.

It's hard to tell from this dark picture but the beer is a hazy dark amber colour and has barely a hint of carbonation. It's served at about 4 degrees so you get all that good flavour. Hops are there from the word go and  they offer a floral/grapefruity taste. The mouth feel is really something.... it feels like your mouth is puckering in the sofest way possible.... I know that sounds ridiculous, but so is this beer!

Next I tried some of Zach's Imperial Stout au Cafe... how regal.

This bad boy is strong at 9.5% and it's very very dense and savoury, so they only offer it in half pint servings. Not a bad idea. It's got an extremely creamy mouth feel and tastes like a chocolate laced coffee orgasm. Yes, that's how I want to describe it. You want it, don't you?

Finally, I tried an English Mild Ale (4.2%). I tried this instead of our waitress' zombie apocalypse suggestion. I just wasn't in the mood for a Belgian Blonde that night....

This is a good session beer. Nice amber ale: fairly light on hops with a very smooth finish... It's the kind of beer you sit and sip while seriously discussing zombie apocalypse survival strategies. Or it's a nice beer to sip and take in the amazing atmosphere. Dieu Du Ciel a small spot with wooden chairs and tables haphazardly strewn about and full of people loudly chatting in english, french, and wacky combinations of the two.... Perhaps it's heaven?

In conclusion, this place is awesome! Go there! Now! Also, the beer list is ridiculous, so plan on spending a few hours (or days) glued to your chair.

Next up, Halifax! Canada's ocean playground.... or something.