Strange Brew

How to make a gray Saturday sunny? Find out that a new locally brewed beer has been born. In this case it is not 1 new beer but 6! Yes 6 new beers from Brasseurs de Montréal.

I have opted to try 3 of them for a little degustation with some family members...

LA MONTRÉALAISE: La Griffintown. Blonde légère et cristalline, 5% alc/vol. This beer tasted like many blond beers but nothing particular unfortunately to differenciate it from the availbale selection out there and was far less exciting than a Boréale or Belle Geule blonde.. A bit deceiving.

LA BELGE: La Van Derbull. Blanche arôme de corriandre et curaçao, 5% alc/vol. Refreshing and has this bit of opacity I usually enjoy(alias: Blanche de Chambly). It was okay. Before I can really comment on this one, will have to re-taste a very cold one with a slice of agrume quelqconque in it. Maybe some of it's ingredients missed my taste buds.

L'ORIENTALE: La Chi. Blanche, riz, agrumes & gingembre, 4.5% alc/vol. Did someone say: ginger?. I am just plain mad about Ginger Beer. Was very dissapointed by this one though. My first sip brought me an aftertaste of Vick's vapor rub. If this was ginger, it was either artificial or overdone. I thought that maybe I am too critical, but other guests did not appreciate the after taste as well.

Overall, I was disapointed by the beer, still I give them a great WOW for their marketing/packaging and will try the 3 others from that series: Anglaise, Écossaise & Québécoise (yes, I will sacrifice myself into drinking beer for U). These beers may not be available at all dépanneurs, but if you ever walk by the corner of Berri & Duluth, step into Épicerie / Dépanneur chez José ... and discover the treasures held in their beer fridges... you can travel the world by beers for less than a first class ticket from ODR to NKT, also if you go on a Saturday between 5-7pm, you can always get a taste of a new product. By the way this store definetly desrves 6 stars out of 5 (too bad they don't give out beer miles, I'd be on a tropical beach writing this)!