ottawa foodies

Looking for recommendations on pubs that serve either hoppy beers or mead. I know next to very little about beers, but a friend is in from out of town, and has made such a request.

Thanks :)

The obvious suggestion is Pub Italia for the sheer breadth of selection. I've never noticed mead anywhere before. If he's looking for something extremely hoppy like the Flying Monkeys Supercollider (or Atomic Smashbomb IPA etc)... I'm having a tough time coming up with places that serve it (And if anyone knows of one, I'd like to hear about it!)

I've seen the Mad Tom IPA at the Manx before; it looks like Arrow and Loon has it as well. Sir John A has a surprisingly good selection normally although I'm not sure if they have anything particularly hoppy available at the moment. Generally not a lot of hop-bombs on tap. Some mildly hoppy beers are available many places (St. Ambroise Pale, Kichessippi, etc).

Alternatively, it might be worth the trip across the river to Brasseurs du Temps. The beers are hit or miss, but if s/he likes beer, they'd probably appreciate the trip and they have a few that are on the hoppy side.

Would love to find Mead also. Haven't had it before and it's been on my list for years.

I second PB&A's suggestion of Brasseurs du Temps. Good choice!

hoppiest beer in town i have found is "Churchkey" at the manx. Muskoka mad tom IPA is very good too, seen it at the arrow and loon

PB&A 's entry pretty much covers it calling out the beers to look for. Can't go wrong with Pub Italia with their sheer selection. Or call ahead to other places to look for the beers mentioned above (or contact the brewery to see where they are served)

If you're gonna cross the river, pass on Brasseurs du temps, and head over to Aylmer Main Street for L'Autre oeil. 200 some odd brewskis, and good grub like chili, nachos, panini in a cozy heritage house.

I've never seen mead in a pub, but the SAQ near the casino usually has a few bottles of two or three meads (much better selection in Montreal, seems it's not that popular out here).

Oh, it might be handy to know that it's called "hydromel" in french.

As well, the LCBO carries Moniack Mead from the UK and has for many years.

Some domestic mead producers are listed here, I haven't seen them in the LCBO myself but perhaps Vintages might carry them from time to time:

www.winesofcanada.com

I don't know of any pub serving mead either. Moniack is dry, British-style mead, quite nice but not available often - but is available now.

SAQ at most stores right now carries Mediéval, a very sweet mead from Intermiel. Dark amber and probably not to everyone's taste. More expensive than Moniack ($25 instead of $16, both for 750ml bottles).

I'm amused that Inkling's link lists many BC meaderies, one from Ontario, and a whackload from Québec...

Had the Churchkey at Manx recently, it is certainly hoppy and rather bitter, not sure how it measures up against extremely hopped beers...

Off topic but ..."damn it Jim" .. Beau is back - Stittsville LCBO

WOO HOOO!!!!

I have recently seen a few vatieties of mead at The Beer Store....they were in multi-coloured large bottles and were roughly $12 EACH. I don't recall all varieties, but Blueberry Mead was one of them.

I have recently seen a few varieties of mead at The Beer Store....they were in multi-coloured large bottles and were roughly $12 EACH. I don't recall all varieties, but Blueberry Mead was one of them.

@Bobby, great find. Thanks!