Another year has gone by, and as usual we have seen so many changes – not only the styles and execution of beer in Quebec, but the entire landscape at large. The popularity of more “extreme” sweeter beers like smoothies and pastry stouts isn’t exactly new in 2022, however the result of the rise of these wacky beers has created a counter movement that has refuled our desires for more balanced and easy drinking suds. Lagers and less acidic barrel-aged wild/sour beer are very much on the rise these days, which is creating the new experience of being able to walk into a trendy tap room to order a ..read more

Over the years I have been asked a lot of questions regarding the process of aging beer. I have been experimenting with it for the better part of a decade now, so I thought it was time for me to put my thoughts into a guide of sorts for those who have questions. Please keep in mind that I’m no expert. My opinions are based on my experience, some research, and a lot of conversations with like-minded people. I’ll make mistakes – feel free to correct me. First off, although there are not exactly absolutely unbreakable rules, there are certainly many things you want to avoid when considering placi ..read more

I think we were all hoping that 2021 was going to be a fantastic year compared to the cluster-fuck of 2020. Well, in some ways perhaps it was, but in others not so much. For me personally, 2021 has been the hardest year of my life, with some drastic personal changes that left me in not the best place from a mental health perspective. These changes didn’t really curb the number of beers I tried, but it certainly put a damper on my motivation to write, photo edit, and do beer-media things in general. That said, I’m trying to work on this and I couldn’t let a year go by without calling out my fav ..read more

This coming Friday May 21st, Brasserie du Bas-Canada will be “hosting” a spring bottle and can release! And by hosting, I of course mean that they will be having an online release where you can purchase a crazy lineup of eight new beers. Not only have Bas-Canada’s been one of the few who pioneered New England IPA’s in Quebec, and who have arguably reinvented the Imperial Sweet Stout in the country, but their popularity has also continued to grow steadily over the last three years as they delivered a steady stream of hazy IPAs, sweet stouts, fruited sours, and luxurious barleywines. To this day ..read more

When I was in university, I once took a course called “Cults and Controversy.” On the first day of class, the professor immediately let us know that she wouldn’t be using the word “Cult” when describing these groups and she didn’t want us to either. Why? Because the word automatically triggers a scary and negative reaction, one that overshadows having a good understanding of what a “New Religious Movement” actually is. I feel like there is a correlation here with the word “influencer”. First off, it sounds so god-damn arrogant; it instantly creates the desire to start eye rolling every time yo ..read more

Mellön Brasserie is a brewery I’ve had my eye on for a while now, naming them as one to watch in 2020 a few months ago. While they are currently deep into the construction process, with plans to open in late spring, I was lucky enough to be invited along to visit the brewery-in-progress, try a few of their brews and learn more about this exciting project. Mellön comes onto the scene at a critical junction for craft beer. The last year has seen huge upheaval as brewers find themselves competing for an ever-growing market, but also an ever-shrinking attention span as beer geeks focus on the newe ..read more

In late February, Brasserie Artisanale Gallicus celebrated their second anniversary. Since the ongoing public health restrictions have meant that they weren’t able to throw a big party at their location in Gatineau, they invited six other breweries from across Gatineau and wider Québec to create a limited edition 6-pack of collaboration brews to mark the occasion. Designed in collaboration with local artist Pauline Savey, the fantastically unique artwork on the cans of this series tells the story of the cosmic misadventures of an astronaut as he ventures into space to find a candle and the Gal ..read more

Now that 2021 is underway, it’s time to take a moment to look at the year to come. In Quebec as in the rest of the world, the last twelve months shook the beer scene quite considerably, but fortunately its still surviving, if not thriving. Things are constantly evolving, however, making it difficult to make any big predictions this early on. As such, what follows are a number of predictions based on trends we have already seen in Quebec throughout 2020 that will likely only become more prevalent as we move on to a new year. Of course, something random could come completely out of the blue (ret ..read more

Pastry stouts are not exactly brand new, but in 2020 they certainly took the Canadian brewing market by storm. In Quebec, Brasserie du Bas-Canada ushered in this glutinous beer style a couple of years back, with very few coming close to their quality. Now many are trying their hand at creating this sometimes controversial dessert beer. In Ontario, there have been a hand full of breweries doing them as well – like Bellwoods and Reverence for instance – however, not quite as many as we are seeing here in Quebec. Insert Third Moon Brewing. At the start of the pandemic, Third Moon Brewing had the ..read more

I’m getting a little tired of everyone going on and on about just how fantastic a year 2020 has been. Look I get it, it’s been awesome – everyone is healthy, we reversed global warming, we fixed the racial divide, we finally proved the earth is flat, and everyone is now on the same page from a political perspective, but we don’t want to jinx it, so let’s stop gloating already. Joking aside, despite all the unimaginable challenges faced by almost every industry, 2020 was still an impressive year for beer in Quebec. We had several brand new breweries open (and thrive) during this global pandemic ..read more