Beantown Pub

I had a ticket to the Thievery Corporation / Massive Attack show at the Orpheum in Boston last night. Feeling pretty well recovered I decided to fight through a long day of work and then an evening show. Before the show I headed over to the Beantown Pub on Tremont Street for dinner and a beer. I hadn't been there before and was only going on the reviews I found on the web.

The bar winds it way from the front entrance all the way to the back where it overlooks the pool/games area and an adjacent room with more tables. I found a spot nearly at the end and took a quick look at the draft options. Allagash White. Hell yeah! A tasty Belgian white is food friendly and easy drinking. The bonus is that Allagash does this style really well so there is lots of flavor in a nice light-bodied beer. The bar area is well kept and nice looking but looking around you can tell they see a lot of traffic and do their best to keep things looking fresh and clean.

While I enjoyed my beer I struck up a conversation with Travis, a recent transplant from Seattle who lives in Northern Rhode Island and works as a server at L'Espalier in town. He was also going to the show and killing time before his friends arrived. We talked about all sorts of things and genuinely enjoyed the random meeting. He recommended I check out one of the Wine Monday fixed price dinners at the restaurant. His experience is that the sommeliers go all out to great memorable pairings and explain the wines and pairings in down to earth terms. Maybe I'll put my money where my mouth is sometime soon and book a reservation at L'Espalier. I might just run into him again that way.

For dinner I ordered a Paul Revere pub sandwich which consisted of pastrami, corned beef, Swiss cheese, red onions and a sweet dressing with a side of fries. The meat was warm, tender and juicy and the combination of flavors of everything on the sandwich hit the spot. The fries were very well cooked and hot. I saw reviews that said their New England Fried Chicken is also very good so I'd say stopping in for a bite shouldn't be a nervous choice.

They had multiple Sam Adams selections on tap and several other local (New England) brews that should satisfy a wide range of drinkers. I also saw quite a bit of wine going out so the after-work crowd seemed well lubricated.

The show was fantastic and the groovy music of both bands floated me home to New Hampshire. Having had another new dining experience in the city I am even more sure Margot and I need to spend more time there to see what we can turn up.

Cheers!

--Jason

Montreal Pub Tour - April 2010

Our first Montreal pub tour was back in May of 2009. Here is the link to that entry and the fun we had.

http://ancientfirewineblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/beer-drinker-update-for-montreal.html

The plan this time was to hit a few new places and of course try some new beers. We ended up choosing 3 places, including Brutopia from the first trip, and tasted 12 styles of beer before the night was through.

809 Rue Ontario Est
(514) 522-0211
Sherbooke Metro Stop (Orange Line)

Le Cheval Blanc offers a combination of house brewed and unique import beers. All selections written on floor to ceiling chalkboard adjacent to the bar. The pub was nearly ½ full when we arrived around 5 PM, new patrons at a pretty good clip.

Euro feel / dark with a punk edge. Maroon and green color palette with funky feel, café or diner like with an eclectic collection of musician pictures hanging on the wall. We could not help feeling like Kerouac could start reciting at any time while the crowd snaps their fingers in approval. Our waitress with her bright red hair and combat boots made us feel surprisingly at home. Though her English was spotty and our French limited we managed to speak the language of beer quite easily!

Cream Ale ( 5.4% ABV )
Creamy – bitter + strong after taste
Smells like warm butter
“Repeat favorite in the making”
Would be great with hot buttered popcorn

Cask Drawn Warrior IPA ( 6.4% ABV )
Yeasty and hoppy nose
Served at cellar temp
Smoky, rich and strong

Margot – ”A serious beer drinkers beer; not for the faint of heart.”

A contemplative customer enters and walks right to the chalkboard
and thinks, “Maybe I will try something I have not had.”


Blonde Lager ( 5% ABV )

Sharp and refreshing
Neutral aroma
Slight citrus taste in the finish
Would be good with a slice of orange/lemon
This feels like a classic “I wanna drink beer” beer

Noire ( stout, 4.1% ABV)

Strong mocha nose
Low carbonation
Margot – “I never like dark beer, but could drink a pint or two of this”
Tastes like a dark chocolate latte
This feels like an “experience beer”

Saison Blanc ( 6% ABV)

This beer is re-fermented with the while yeast Brettanomyces
Perfect for fish, fried or not
Clove and banana nose reminiscent of other Belgian styles
This is a “pairing or food” beer
Very dry, not as rich as Belgian dubble and tripel style

245 Sherbrooke West
(514) 543-9750
Place-des-Arts Metro Stop (Green Line)

Benelux is located in an old bank with the vault used to create a more private space in the back. Definitely a place to see and be seen with a very different clientele, think younger and hipper, than Le Cheval Blanc. Busy on a Friday night after work.
We added some food to the mix here.

Tex-Mex Chicken Panini (contained mushrooms and a spicy sauce which was light). Green olives on the plate as well – it was good with crunchy bread, but not super-special. Hit the spot with and after the beers

Chips (didn’t find out if they are made on site or not). Kind of like Cape Code plain chips

Bock ( 6% ABV )
Mild nose and medium body
Somewhat earthy, a little chocolate flavor
Bitter

Olives and mushrooms paired very well with it

Lux Rouse ( Red Ale, 5% ABV)
Standard red ale.
Good but not memorable, we both agreed
Did not pair well with panini

Moonboot ( Belgian, 9% ABV )

Very clean, served in snifter so good aromas were very accessible.
Aromas and flavors were on par with typical Belgian double/triple fermented styles
Metallic smell from the glass was a little weird
The alcohol was not perceptible, but did not take long to make itself known!

1215 Rue Crescent
(514) 393-9277
Lucien-L'Allier Metro Stop (Orange Line)

Bruopia was the only stop that was a return visit. This choice was based on the solid selection from prior visits and close proximity to our hotel. It turned out that, with the exception of the Raspberry Blonde, the beers didn’t impress as much this time which might mean we would only come here to drink the selections which we know and could expect to be safe. Those are good and are worth it.

Smoked Porter
Subtle flavors, mildly bitter
Woody, reminds a bit of maple sap (not sugar)
Lighter smoke than expected
Didn’t pop, I actually didn’t finish it

Raspberry Blonde
This is our current and continued favorite in Montreal
“Will it beat the Noire?”
Smells like raspberries
Tastes of raspberries and citrus
“Raspberry lemonade OR iced tea?”
Grain and malt flavors are very perceptible and in balance

Gingembre
Smells like ginger sautéed with butter
Mild/low carbonation
Smells better than it tastes, not spicy and no perceptible sweetness
Medium dry
Better as a late drinker when unique tastes are not as crucial
Needs a little sweet and a little citrus

One observation is that the lighter beers made for better night drinking, which makes sense but was obvious in practice.

We weren't finished yet, but I'll save that for my next posting.
Cheers!
--Jason

Beer Drinker Update for Montreal

We just got back from 3 days in Montreal and part of plan was to sample the local and big brand Canadian brews. We sampled a decent selection of styles and from one perspective they can be categorized into two classes, local microbrews and microbrew styles distributed by the big brand companies we all know.

On the local microbrew front we found two locations that craft the beer on site and serve it from the bar and in the restaurant in the same location. Both are on Crescent Street which is where the food and drink action is based on our experience. We have eaten on St. Denis as well, but the scene on Crescent was more lively.

Brutopia has been around since the mid-90's and has a straightforward location from which to serve their excellent brews. We tried the Raspberry Blond, Belgian 9% and the Java Stout. Margot clearly preferred the Raspberry Blond, but could appreciate the Belgian as well. The Belgian was the best beer I had all weekend and I had several to confirm this finding. A full bodied beer with a good head and strong aromas, it would be tough competition for many carefully crafted beers. The Java Stout was very good, with strong aromas of chocolate and coffee, but I felt it would be better served with a second fermentation and paired with a rich chocolate cake. The complement there is subtle, but I stand by it. The Raspberry Blond was a typical blond ale with a strong assertive berry aroma and hint of fruit acids in the finish. There were a whole bunch more we could have tried, but we need to check in elsewhere so time was short. We will be back and I would recommend this as a must go for anyone wanting to check out the Montreal microbrew scene.

Les 3 Brasseurs on Crescent is one of the Canadian locations of a French chain which is well known for good handcrafted beers and tasty pub food to go with. We tried the sample which includes their white, blond, red and brown ales in cute little snifters that amplify the aromas. All of the beers were tasty, with the white and red being the consistent favorites. Belgian white style beers seem to be of new popularity in Montreal (I might have missed this on past visits, please don't take offense) and the lot of them are pretty similar, unfiltered, with strong spice and citrus aromas and served with a slice of orange. The red tasted a bit of honey and had medium body and a clean finish. The blond and brown weren't uniquely notable, but worth the sampler size. The food in this joint was very good as well and the service was fast, although they weren't busy. We would recommend a stop here as well.

Another local item was the Du Minot sweet cider. I ordered this after dinner at Hurley's (see my next blog post for more info on where we ate) and very much enjoyed it. Du Minot is produced in Quebec about an hour south of Montreal. If you are a cider drinker and can find it on the menu or in store it is worth the time.

Now on to the beers from Molson, Unibroue and Anheuser-Busch. Molson, as you may well be experienced, makes a whole bunch of beers with wide distribution and great quantities. I didn't have any of those this time around. I do like the Molson XXX mostly because it is 7.3% alcohol and has some character for a big production item. Rickards is a microbrew styled line produced by Molson and is worth a look. We tried drafts of the White and the Honey Brown and found both quite pleasing. Neither was as good as the local items above, but that is to be expected. If you are in town and want something more than Molson Export or Molson Ice, Rickards might be the choice. They make a Red and Brown as well. Molson also has an interesting offering called Molson Dry which appears to be 10.1% alcohol, but it appears to be a kicked up version of their standard beer and I couldn't bring myself to try it.

Unibroue is well known for their strong beers, with several at or above 8-10% alcohol. These were the first of the strong Canadian beers I ever had and in some ways is what keeps me coming back. We can get these in the states, but it wasn't until recently I started seeing them show up in the places I normally bought beer. I only tried one selection of theirs this time, the Blance de Chambly, another white ale. Once again this was unfiltered, with good aromas and flavors making a nice paring for a bacon cheese burger. If you are looking for something to give you a good kick try Fin du Mond or Maudite, both of which are 9% and remind you they are in the room.

Anheuser-Busch is the importer of a Belgian brown ale named Leffe which I found in the grocery store and thought I would give it a try. If you like Belgian brown ales or want to appreciate strong aromas and flavors in something new try and find Leffe. I haven't seen it in NH so far, but it may be out there.

All in all we achieved what we set out to do, but we are very sure we only scratched the surface based on the recommendations we got as to where else we should go and what else we should try. Montreal, we will be back, be ready...

Cheers!

--Jason
http://www.les3brasseurs.ca/eng/our_famous_beers.php
http://www.duminot.com/cider-mill.htm
http://www.brutopia.net/brutopia.htm
http://www.unibroue.com/products/bieres.cfm