ottawa foodies

I'm looking for the best place to buy interesting beer on the Quebec-side of the River. I'm particularly interested in Quebec microbrew but am also interested in imports as well. I used to frequent the SAQ near the casino; still great for wine, but the beer selection isn't what it used to be. Any great stores/depanneurs and I should know about? (willing to travel!) Thanks.

Just stop in any depanneur as you are almost guaranteed to find something interesting. The best selection I know of is at the Jovi Market on Begin. But the big depanneur on the main drag not far west of the Dairy Queen has a good selection as well, with some stuff you won't find at Jovi.

Also keep in mind that you can get a completely different selection on the Ontario side - both of imports, as well as Ontario micros. No matter which side you live on, it's definitely worth going across the bridge to the other side. Over here both the LCBO and the Beer Store have great selections. In general LCBO for imports and Beer Store for Micros. But there are some good imports in the Beer Store, and some good Ontario Micros in the LCBO

There's a cover story in today's Citizen about "Le roi d'la bière", a depanneur owner in Aylmer (29 Dalhousie Street) who claims to be the biggest retail distributor in Quebec.

Never been there myself, and while the focus of the article is the deep discounts on brands like Blue and Coors Light, I imagine he must stock a better than average variety of microbrews and imports. The article certainly made me want to make a trip out there.

As for my regular depanneur, it's on Victoria Street near Laval, not too far from the Alexandria bridge. There's usually something new, the prices are decent and it's close by.

Citizen article:

www.canada.com

Great, thanks for the tips. I will check those out.

Update: I swung by Jovi today; what a great little store and a good selection of beer. I definitely see myself going back there a lot in the future. I figured Marche Gravelle would be a zoo today with the Citizen article, so I will wait to check that one out later.

Next time you're at Jovi, buy a 4-pack of Vondel. It's a Flemish brown ale that's heaven in a glass.

Ollie, you are correct, Le Roi d'la Biere does have alot, but the place everyone in Aylmer knows well is called Le Rapido, and they have a ton, and I mean ton, of beer. Imported, domestic, speciatly, you name it. it's on Front street, and their beer fridge makes a walk in at Loblaws look like a minifridge ina hotel room. I would higly reccomend it :)

Bump

I am 2nd'ing or 3rd'ing the roi de la biere and le rapido recommendations. Le Roi has deep discounts on big brands every once in a while, I used to stock up at this place with my buddies for baseball season.

I love this thread! Too bad I didn't find it earlier. La Trappe a Fromage is my favourite store in Gatineau. It's often cheaper than Jovi and has a bigger selection of Quebec micros. Plus lots of stinky cheeses. The location I usually go to is at 114 St. Raymond.

La Trappe a Fromage has recently started to carry Dieu de Ciel, a great micro from Montreal.

Bumping an old thread to see if anyone has found any other gems since. I've been to La Trappe a couple of times in recent weeks and it has a quite good variety of Quebec micros but I can't help think there has to be an even better option out there. Thanks!

It's a timely bump.

Marche Jovi is now Marche Omni, and they have added some shelf space for the beer. There's a nice review here beerblog.genx40.com

La Trappe near Maloney and Greber is under renovation and apparently will have an expanded beer section. I went last week and the staff said construction is spposed to be complete in June. (www.trappeafromage.com)

And there is one brand new store to report. Broue Ha Ha (867, boulevard St-René Ouest) opened up recently near the La Trappe location mentioned above. It's mainly a beer store with some artisinal food offerings. I was able to find several Quebec beers there that I haven't seen at La Trappe or Omni. The best thing about the place: they offer tastings! :-) (www.brouehaha.com/)

Happy hunting.

Thanks for the tips DD, will have to check those out.

Good to see that the Marche Omni carries La Barberie, I really enjoy them in Quebec City.

They had a great thing going that would be a good idea for local breweries: they made personalized beers for pubs and restaurants (and even grocery stores) in Quebec City. For example, my favorite sushi joint had a beer made for them, called Kimono after the restaurant, a pale ale with hints of ginger and lime, perfect with the sushi...

Jovi also has Dieu due Ciel and I adore their coffee stout.

I stopped by Marche Omni after work yesterday. This is the place I was looking for -- what a selection! And how nicely layed out. I was overwhelmed by choice so played it safe with a couple of mix 12-packs (Dieu Du Ciel and Brasseurs de Montreal), but I will be making regular visits to this place from now on.

I stopped by Broue-Ha-Ha and was pretty impressed. It does stock a lot of the same ones as Jovi and La Trappe, but has some others that I hadn't seen before. Picked up an interesting raspberry and chocolate stout from Tingwick that I'm anxious to try along with some others. I think it will be a welcome addition to the local beer scene. Jovi is still a lot closer for me but I definitely plan to return.