Specialty Beer Shops: Depanneur Lalime

Following our visit to Depanneur A.S. we walked along St-Laurent boulevard, under the overpass separating the Plateau from Rosemont - Petit-Patrie, and towards the shiny, metallic sign indicating Depanneur Lalime. They have been around for a while, though very recently they updated the facade of the building (yelp has an old photo with which you can contrast the new and old facade) and added signs announcing that they now carry microbrews - our reason for the visit. As we entered we were surprised that they not only carried beer and other related products, they also carry canned goods, and have a kitchen where they make pies (meat mostly).

Munich: Lowenbrau Beer Hall

Our second night in Munich we headed to Lowenbrau after a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, an amazing work of architecture and a great day trip from Munich. But if you are thinking about going just consider the two hour train, plus short bus ride, because it will eat up most of your day. The small town, where the castle is located is called Hohenschwangau, and has the most beautiful Alpine lake I have ever seen (this being the first one I had ever seen). We would have liked to stay a while in the town of Füssen where the train station is situated, maybe find a beer garden, but seeing as we had to catch the last train to Munich we had to make a run for it!

Specialty Beer Shops: Depanneur A.S.

On a beautiful Saturday morning we took a nice walk on St-Laurent street around the Mile-End neighbourhood of Montreal. Our first destination was Dépanneur A.S. a corner store which we would often pass by after some late night bagels at Fairmount, but never really found ourselves around the area during the daytime. We were always intrigued by the very nice and well displayed artisanal beer signage. That Saturday we finally had a chance to stop in and get a good look at what Depanneur A.S. is all about.  

Munich: Augustiner Beer Hall

When we arrived at the Augustiner Beer Hall we were disappointed to see the place packed with no place to sit. But, we suppose that that was to be expected only a couple short days away from the beginning of Oktoberfest. After doing the rounds a couple of times desperately looking for a spot we finally nestled up next to some travelers from Australia. They had been travelling around Europe for 6 months and on a whim made their way to Munich for the festival.

Brew Day: Vanilla Wulfgang Stout!!

Welcome to another awesome Brew Day adventure. A friend of mine commissioned us to make him a vanilla stout. Of course, we could not refuse. We developed a recipe based on a few criteria: vanilla, stout... voila. Well, he wanted the stout to be sweet and have the aroma/flavour of vanilla. So we did have a couple of factors to figure out i.e. how thick to make the mash, and mash temperature. Let us not forget the ingredients, hopping schedule, vanilla additions, primary, secondary, bottling, and most importantly the tasting. It is a little bit past one month since the day this brew was conceived, we definitely do not expect it to last much longer... it is a wonderful beer! The beer was named after my friend, who became my brewing partner for this collaborative brew. 

Munich Beer Gardens

Arriving in Munich from Vienna at 3 p.m. we quickly settled into our hotel room and headed straight to the Englischer Garten (English Gardens) to catch some beer drinking in the park before the sunset. I had first heard about beer gardens from Jean who had been during his first trip to Germany with high school. It seemed that people from my parent's generation all seemed to be familiar with the term, apparently they used to be popular in Montreal in the 70's. Though in Montreal today we have some good choices for enjoying a beer outdoors like the St-Ambroise Terrace situated behind their brewery along the picturesque Lachine Canal and the huge terrace behind St-Sulpice on St-Denis - just don't go there if you are expecting great beer.

Specialty Beer Shops: Le Bièrologue

The next stop on our beer journey is Le Bièrologue, located a couple blocks north-east of Bières Etc. on the corner of Ontario street and avenue Letourneux. And, a short walk from Marché Maisonneuve - an historical public space and symbol of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Le Bièrologue opened their doors in 2012; further evidence of the growing popularity of Quebecois artisanal beer. Though, we do not think any more evidence is required...Both of these beer shops are located in the eastern section of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. That is enough for the geography lesson, onward to the shop itself.