Mondial de la Biere, Day 2

Bier God Sean H. contemplates his beer. Mediation and careful consideration of each beautiful offering. Something that each of us can do to pay the necessary respect to the artists that lovingly made these beers.



Day 2, Tasting 1 was Stone's Levitation which had the taste of bitter citrus rind and a malty finish. Next was New Holland's Black Tulip. It was honey sweet up front. It had low carbonation and the finish was hoppy with a light sweetness. Then I had Dieu De Ciel's Rose de Hibiscus. Wow, it looked just like pink grapefruit juice except it was a bit more pink. It had a citrus, floral, tart aroma...really beautiful, like fresh cut fruit (ie melon). Flavour-wise, it was floral, tart and clean tasting. It left my palate "scrubbed" and fresh. Then I had Stone's Ruination...no notes unfortunately...I must have put my pen down and didn't get back to it...I will have to make notes with my bottle at home.


Dieu du Ciel's taps are pouring samples. Oh, happy day...


Pouring at the Petit Pub.

I left the festival to see a bit of Montreal beyond the beer tents. First a record shop called Cheap Thrills. It is on the second floor up a very old building. A mish-mash of used and new cd's, vinyls and books. This was a picture they had posted by the entrance:


Then to Montreal's version of St. Lawrence Market, the Atwater Market. We went on their subway called the Metro. It is very quick, clean and cheap. The market was just about to close so we were quick to find the Fromagerie Du Marche Atwater. A small section is designated just for beer. A good selection of Quebec micros and some imports. Across the street from the flower market, there is a SAQ (liquor store) that also had a few selections worth toting home to Toronto.



We had to hurry back to the hotel to drop off our purchases and meet the rest of our party to go to the Bar-B-Barn for dinner. They are not fancy but famous for ribs. Really good however, go hungry or there is no point. There's nothing else to say but look at how gorgeous the ribs were:



After dinner there was a trip to the north part of city to the Dieu du Ciel's brewpub. It was a busy Saturday night in the pub and it was quite crowded. Service was terrible and they were out of the cheese plate that I was looking forward to but at least I could get a pint of that beautiful Hibiscus beer I sampled earlier at the festival. Look how pretty it is:



After the gang took a leisurely walk back to the hotel. We stopped at Fairmount Bagels. At 11 pm there was a line up out of the small bagel shop. They were so good, we ate a few out of the paperbag without any butter or cream cheese. Delicious, warm and moist.