Mondial de la bière 2011

[Virgile]

Hello all,

I am planning on going to the festival this year and I would like to hear your advice about which beers I should absolutely taste while I am there.

I would probably prefer to focus on the ones we cannot find regularly in Montreal but feel free to recommend them anyway if you really like them!

Here is the list of brewers ( http://festivalmondialbiere.qc.ca/pdf... ).

Thank you.

(Also, what is the best time to attend the event as it probably draws a big crowd.)

[Shattered]

How much is one ticket? All this "prices are good, beers only cost 2-3 tickets" tells me nothing.

[Virgile]

Sorry, 1 ticket is 1$.

Also, servings are supposed to be 4oz but if u get the commemorative glass its often a bit more.

[Shattered]

Thanks!

[looosia]

Was there on Friday and samples were between $4-8 for either a half-glass or full glass. Glasses are $9 to buy. Too bad it was indoors as I felt like I was 15 and drinking at my friend's parent's basement.

[SourberryLily]

more like 2-4$ for half a glass, i didn't see any over 4 coupons for a 4 oz (i'm sure there were just that they were rare)

[estilker]

Most high alcohol Belgian beers were 5 coupons. Saint-Bock had the biggest (and most expensive) selection of Belgians.
Come to think of it, even the 3% fruit beers or the 5% ones were 5 coupons there. And the Belgian ones in the le p'tit pub were only 4. Wondering if this is because of the hefty fee each exhibitor pays and the p'tit pub is organized by the Mondial organisation themselves?

[SourberryLily]

Hmm did they change the prices? I had 2 belgians at the Ptit Pub europe and they were both 2 coupons. From what i gathered when i asked her they were all almost hte same prices.

And yes i remember last year Saint-Bock had some trappist for a whopping 6 coupons, didn't check again this year.

[Shattered]

In any case you've confirmed what I've always heard: It's a rip-off and with Quebec's excellent microbrew/import culture, a largely redundant one at that. Now that it's indoors, I missed even less.

[estilker]

Sorry, but I really have to disagree on Quebec's excellent import culture. As with all things alcohol, QC and the SAQ has a very lousy import culture.
The Mondial gives you the opportunity to try beers from all around the world. I would say that 95% of the beers you could try at Le P'tit Pub Europeen and Le P'tit Pub Oktoberfest are never available in QC and it is refreshing to be able to try some top notch beers from the world's best and innovative brewers (think the Italian Baladin, American Dog Fish Head and the years before the Danish Mikkeller, not too mention all the unique Belgian breweries, some of them real trappists, made by monks that is ).
True, people who go to taste QC microbrews might as well go to a good Dep (Paradis de la biere), and yes this province can pride itself in making some tasty beer.
But for someone serious about beer, the Mondial is a not only a delight but also a must.

[Virgile]

Part 1:

So I ended up going on the Friday at 2:30 and stayed until around 5:30.

I was with a friend and we had a blast. We ended up tasting about 8-10 beers each and liked most of them. We found prices to be good, the majority of beers could be exchanged for 2 tickets. There were very few beers at just 1 ticket and even less at more than 4.

The place was not too crowded and there was good turnover in the seating areas. Service was fast, the longest we waited was 2-3 minutes.

I will repeat what was said in this thread: go inside to buy your tickets, the lines (if there are any) are much shorter.

I do think they should separate the stands better because we spent 90% of our time at the Oktoberfest Pub (American microbrews) and the Petit Pub (European). The rest of the event is mostly big companies or brands you can easily get at most deps, food stands, and some Quebec micros scattered around.

Part 2:

We had so much fun we ended up going back around 8pm with more friends. We stayed for 5 minutes. The place was packed with massive lines everywhere.

Part 3:

I may go back on Sunday if it's not too crowded to taste the Quebec micros that I do not know.

[Virgile]

Tasted list: (those I remember, some I only took a sip, or two, from my friend's glass)

Petit Pub Europeen:
Aventinus Eisbock (very good)
Organic Georg Schneider's Wiesen Edel-Weisse (nice, refreshing blond. One of the few at 1 coupon)
La Corne du Bois des Pendus (OK)
Kriek de Silenrieux (very strong, and good, cherry taste. A bit too sweet for my taste)
Super Baladin (OK)
Brighella (very good)
Witte Spelt (White beer, the only beer that we did not like, we thought it tasted weird)

Pub Oktoberfest:
60 Minutes IPA (good)
Midas Touch (good)
Death and Taxes (good)
Wild Raspberry Ale (OK)
Arrogant Bastard (good)

Regular stands:
BoqueBiere Spicy Brown (very good)
Boquebiere blond, can't remember which one (very good)

[Peaches to Poutine]

Glad you liked the BoqueBiere ones! It's nice they're not too far from my house.

[The Chemist]

This was my first time going and it was a bit of a disappointment. It seemed like the vast majority of space was taken up by local producers who sell the exact same beers at the better deps. I had the most luck at the 'Oktoberfest' booth with the American Microbrews. It struck me how young the average taster was, as well. I am used to wine tastings and being the youngest person by a decade... it was refreshing. I didn't see any 'douchbaggery' but I went during the early afternoon. Maybe they only come out at night? Still though, much smaller event than I would have thought.

[SourberryLily]

NOTABLE CHANGES THIS YEAR:

You can only drink from the official festival glass or plastic cups given at stands. You can use a Mondial de la Biere glass from a previous year. You can still buy microbrew glasses but you are not supposed to drink from them. Security will catch you and ask to empty your beer (nothing dramatic, you're not kicked out).

In good news, the general costs for a sample has gone down. There are more 2-3 coupon beers now. There are themed pubs that will serve some microbrews from around the world, for brews that do not have a stand. Good news is these rare finds are actually cheap! 2 coupons :)
I remember last year paying 4-6 coupons for certain beers...

Another good news, it's easier to find seating even during the crowded periods. I enjoyed it when it used to be outdoors, but it was hell to find a rock to sit on.

No lineup at bathrooms, wow!

Lastly, as usual, don't stand in line at the front ticket office. Go inside the Mondial room, and there are ticket stands all around. They all have some lineup but it's always shorter then the front one.

[estilker]

This is my personal list. A lot of heavy beers but quite normal for this born and bred Belgian :-)

Aventinus Eisbock (Germany)
Gouden Carolus (Het Anker - Belgim)
Open Baladin (Italy)
Super Baladin(Italy)
Imperial Ghisa (Italy)
La Trappe (only trappist beer in Holland, brewed in the monastery one of the 8 in the world)
Flying Monkeys (Ontario, although I usually get some in the LCBO)
Palo Santo Marron (Dogfish Head, USA)
Midas Touch (Dogfish Head, USA), a coup de coeur with saffon and grapes
Final Absolution Trippel (Dragon Mead, USA)
Bourbon Barrel Barley Wine Ale (USA)
Death and Taxes (Moonlight Brewing, USA)
Cuvee des Fleurs (Southampton Brewing, USA)
Hopus (Lefebre, Belgium)
Liefmans oud Bruin (Belgium).

The 2 petit pub's + Saint Bock is where it's at!

I heard they now have a private import license. So you would be able to buy the beer you like.

[Virgile]

Nice list!

[randa_h74]

The last few years I been when it was windsor station, the lineup to get in was insane! From what I remember, we wait over an hour just to get it. Seeing as how you went and now that it has moved to bonaventure, are the waits to get in as long?

[megmtl]

Just so everyone knows, you do NOT have to wait in the first line. Everyone gets in this line to get tasting tickets, but there are ticket stations in the festival as well, usually with little to no lines :) Save yourself some time and just walk in!

I went last night and the new venue is bigger and while I'll miss the outdoors aspect of Windsor, this is a much better setup, with more room to walk around and more places to sit down. Also, one more tip :) There are 2 stations with multiple bottled beers, mainly microbrews, but the menus are hard to read and the lines are long, so I recommend printing out a list of these before you go, so you know what you want when you get to the front of the line. I'm happy to report that other fellow beer nerds had also done this last night so we weren't the only ones :)

[Peaches to Poutine]

One day I'll be able to go to this. One day. Dammit.

Allagash from Maine is really quite good, as is Flying Fish and Dogfish Head too.

I am saddened to see that Greenwich brewing from the UK won't be showing up. They are responsible for the best beer I ever had. Best they aren't as I cannot go.

Dammit.

[Virgile]

For American beers:
Dogfish Head is definitely on my list for their IPAs (my favorite style of beer).
I will try Flying Fish an I have heard good things about Stone.
The Coconut Porter from Maui, even though I don't really like porters I'm intrigued.

For Canada/Quebec:
I have tasted at least 1 beer from most of the brewers listed, but I am thinking of trying some from BoqueBiere as it was recommended here on Chowhound.

International:
That is where I am the most in need of recommendations!

[Simon Patrice]

I'm not sure if I can recommand another site here but if you go to www.bieropholie.com and ask Martin T. the same question, he'll have tons of recs for you. He's really knowledgable. The site is in french but if you don't speak french and ask Martin in English he should still answer.

If I'm not supposed to talk about other sites here, then, my apologies.

[Peaches to Poutine]

BoqueBiere is delicious. I got to take a tour of their wee brewing facilities earlier this year.

[jfprieur]

Yeah this event used to be fun but it has turned into an unabashed douche/drunkfest that is not really about the beer but about getting blitzed. Nothing wrong with that but worth noting if that is not your cup of tea...

[Virgile]

While I do not intend on getting drunk, I am definitely planning on walking home. I figured that I could safely taste around 16 beers if I don't rush. (4oz per tasting so I believe thats 4 pints)

I have looked at the beers descriptions and there are a lot of strong beers so I might have to change the plan.

[vanierstudent]

If you get the commerative pint, you'll get more beer. Just a heads up. If you are planing on trying that much beer, it may be worth it.

[Virgile]

Yeah I saw that but the goal is to try as many different ones as possible, getting more beer per serving would defeat the purpose. Although I will probably be there with one or two friends so maybe we could get the glasses and share the servings.

[vanierstudent]

Hi there, I just went there today. I got a few good and bad news.

Good news: Security as been tighten up, security is present, and cops are actually giving ticket to drunk people that are disturbing/getting out of the festival without putting the commemorative glass into the bag they give to you.

They also change the location, for a bigger one, so its not as cramped as last year.
Bad news: A lot of Macrobeers as started invading the beer scene. Molson, Heineken, Boris etc...

Also, it officially became a douche drunkfest, with a website for singles and Music Plus (french equivalent of MTV) present on the scene. ughh

[SourberryLily]

The large brewers were always there, you just didn't notice them because they had smaller stands.

[vanierstudent]

From personal experience, don't go during the 5-8. It will be slammed. Also, I hope they start checking IDs, since a lot of people who look underage crossed without any problem, without the staff even checking if they were legal.

Maybe after lunch and before 3?

[Virgile]

Good to know, I was actually thinking of going friday after lunch.

I think I saw somewhere on their website that underage people can go in, they are not supposed to get a hold of the tickets to exchange for beer though (yeah, right).

[vanierstudent]

I heading there around 8PM today, I'll tell about my experience.