Montreal! 12.22 & 12.23

So I just drove to Montreal and back within a 28 hour time period.. alone.. with no hotel or accommodations.  Crazy?  Maybe.  Worth it?  For sure.

Yep, that's right.  For a concert.  All the gas, all the food, beers after.. for a concert.  But hey, when you love a band.. and I really mean love them, and they've broken up and decide to do an actual official farewell tour, but doesn't hit any US cities on that tour..  well heading just over 5 hours north doesn't seem that crazy.

Alexisonfire.  Sonic amazingness.  I don't care if you don't agree.  Their URL says it all..  go look..   yep, it's true.  I had the privilege of seeing them in Worcester in May of 2010..  turns out that was the last US city they were to ever play.  But no one knew it at the time..  they announced a break-up.. then rumors of a reunion tour surfaced.  They finally announced a date when all the tour dates would be released... and on that date, whooomp whoooomp!  NO US DATES!  Well slap me silly..  guess I'm going to Montreal!  And I decided that while there I'd enjoy some poutine finally and see what Montreal has to offer for beers!

Pre-concert I checked out what seems to be Montreal's version of of like a John Harvard's or something - Rickard's MVP Sports Bar.  I samples the Rickard's Dark and the seasonal.  The dark was a nice interpretation of a a European-style porter, roasty but smooth and slightly sweet..not too heavy.  The seasonal had a great balance of spices but maintained a nice crisp bite to it, like a winter warmer minus the warmer aspect.

Both were solid - not outstanding, but not meant to be.  I then did a little researching for beer bars around the venue, be let's face it, it was like 10 fucking degrees plus windchill there.. I was not walking far!  First place I went to was called Le Saint Bock - had an amazing Canadian and French craft selection.  My goal of the night was to finally try poutine, so I ordered a  Saint Bock Biere de Noel.  Can't find this online.. but it was a huge 9.0% ABV winter-style.  Tons of spice with a nice Dunkelwiezen-type body.  BUT then I saw the menu.. no poutine.  So I booked it the fudge outta that place!  The next place I went to welcomed me warmly and actually trashed the previous bar for being a hoity-toity "French bar"  HA, this place is hilarious! Les 3 Brasseurs.  Another brewpub.  I got my pountine, with smoked meat nonetheless!  Apparently the real way to have poutine in Montreal!  Also snagged their 6 beer sampler, boom!

Right to Left - White, Blonde, Amber, Brown, special and Winter!  The blonde and amber with slightly bland, generic.. the special was a dark Belgian-y style that was decent.  The winter was surprisingly solid, spicy and malty.  The stand-outs where the white and the brown.  Nice coriander, citrus and wheat in the whole and the brown had a tart, carbonated touch on top of roasty, nutty malts.  Definitely check this place out, the bartenders were unbelievably cute and super nice to boot!

*just remember to wear tons and tons of layers.. fucking cold!  Oh, and laugh at the hookers in the the windows when they tap the glass and point seductively at you!*