1) Dieu Du Ciel
One of my favourite breweries and of the five varieties available in my city, my two favourites are the Aphrodisiaque, a cocoa and vanilla stout, and Péché Mortel, a coffee infused stout. Péché Mortel is made with real coffee beans and contains a strong aroma and taste of an espresso.
So a trip to Montreal meant that a visit to the Dieu Du Ciel brewpub was high on the list. The brewpub contained about 17 beers on tap on my particular visit with two more brews chalked off the board because they were sold out. There are many seasonal varieties and even one cask which are not available in bottled form. I tried the Saison (perfect for summer) and a stout. Perfect beers!
2) Brutopia
I had heard a lot of good things about Brutopia and I am glad to have tried them. Located within minutes of Concordia university and the Fantasia film theaters, the brewpub is conveniently accessible during film breaks at Fantasia. On top of that their rates are the cheapest I have found in Canada with a half-pint costing just $2.41 (Cdn).
I tried their IPA (fragrant and not too hoppy, excellent), Honey Nut Ale (a mixture of their Nut Brown & Honey Ale, nicely balanced) and their seasonal Chocolate Stout (delicious, smooth without any lingering bitterness).
3) Les 3 Brasseurs
The 3 Brewers have multiple locations in Montreal, with one location around the block from Brutopia. They offer a sampler size of 4 of their beers easily named blond, white, red and brown. Well worth the visit.
Due to time limitations, I could not try two other places on my list -- Benelux and Reservoir (highly recommended).
Third-Wave coffee
Alberta has been leading the third-wave coffee flag in Canada thanks to Phil and Sebastian, Fratello and Transcend coffee along with numerous other fine cafes. The good thing is Montreal has been making plenty of progress over the last few years and now has several excellent cafes. I had a short-list of six places of try but I could only make it to four:
1) Flocon Espresso
Excellent cafe which carries beans from Metropolis out of Chicago and Stumptown.
2) Olive & Gourmundo
A beautiful location in Old Montreal that not only contains excellent coffee but has remarkable food.
I had the best chocolate brioche of my life
3) Cafe Veritas
Located in Old Montreal and a block from Notre-Dame, with magnificent single-origin varieties that change regularly. They also carry beans from 49th parallel.
4) Cafe Myriade
At one point they carried beans from Phil and Sebastian but currently they carry 49th parallel varieties. They are just a block from Concordia Hall theater.
Cafe Rico was unfortunately closed over the weekend when I was in Montreal so I could not try this and I missed trying Caffe in Gamba.
Overall
One can easily spend a few weeks sampling and savoring the many brewpubs and cafes that Montreal has to offer.
