Another Terrific Mondial de la Biere

A little overdue and a tad incomplete, here is my post Mondial post.

Lisa Morrison (author: Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest) 

& Gary Lohin (Brewmaster, Central City Brewing Co.)

The 18th annual Mondial de la Biere took place a couple of weeks ago and unless you've been living under a rock you probably don't need an explanation of why it is considered to be the premier beer festival in Canada by beer enthusiasts'. With over 600 beers from 136 breweries to sample, including 26 craft breweries from Quebec, the five day festival is a beer drinker's paradise.

For the second year in a row I was fortunate enough to spend an entire week in Montreal at Mondial representing TAPS The Beer Magazine, where I got to meet so many TAPS readers over some incredible beer. Working the festival is a completely different experience than simply going to the festival to drink. It entails long days, lots of 'festival food', dealing with the inebriated on a nightly basis and losing your voice; though I love doing it every year.

The Grimley's made their way from Toronto to indulge 

in some of the 253 new beers never offered at Mondial before

We arrived to Montreal on the Tuesday afternoon to set up the TAPS booth. I had the pleasure of bringing along Eric Eccelstone with me for the week to help sell our merchandise, and frankly, to have a drinking partner. Eric, also known around Toronto as the other half of the Biergotter Homebrew Team, is the man behind the TAPS homebrew recipes that are found in each issue. We checked into our accommodations before heading off to Brasserie Benelux for some Alter Novis (Belgian Pale Ale with Brett), which was ridiculously close to where we stayed, before heading off to Mondial.

After getting the booth set-up the two of us set off to explore the new home of Mondial, Place Bonaventure. Other breweries and vendors were also setting on their site so we'd pop into different locations to say hi, grab a sample or two, then continue on. Right away the new location (totally indoors)  won me over. Air conditioned, lots of tables and chairs for patrons to rest, more food vendors and more space to walk around freely. The new addition of the beach volleyball court, DJ/dance floor, Petit Pubs and the cheese dome were all looking great before the festival got underway and were a big hit throughout the five days.

L to R: Eccelstone, myself, Jean-Francois Gravel (DDC), 

Caroline & Frederick Tremblay (Charlevoix)

With the booth set up we set off to the Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! brewpub to meet up with some friends. Four beers and some food later we all jumped in a cab and headed to Vices a Versa, a place I hadn't had the chance to previously visit, yet one I'll happily return to on future trips to Montreal. Armed with an incredible Quebec beer menu, classy music and graced with a European bistro flair, VV won me over the minute we sat down.

We said our goodbyes and headed back to Benelux for a night cap before calling it a night - we did have a long day ahead of us after all.

L to R: Jeannine Marois (Founder of Mondial), 

Jean-Francois Gravel (DDC) winning an award

Wednesday - Mondial de la Biere kicks off
We were up early and off to the festival to make sure that our booth was ready for the onslaught of people to walk through the doors at the 11am start time. The first day of Mondial is probably my favourite as a vendor. Wednesday is when the most passionate beer drinkers seem to flock to the festival, and many of them stop by our booth to see what we're all about. It's always a pleasure talking beer with people from Quebec, the east coast or the US. It's also the best time for TAPS when it comes to selling subscriptions!

Eccelstone and I would take turns heading out into the sea of people to fill our glasses with a different beer. Over the course of each day we were able to discover a wide array of new beers that we'd both never tried before, and re-visited many old favourites, including Hopfenstark's Berliner Weiss, which was tasting terrific.


Complete list of Greg Noonan MBiere Winners:


Platinum Medals
• Helles 
– 

Brasserie 
Dieu 
du 
Ciel! 
(Montréal)
• Fusion
 – 
Moor 
Beer 
Co. 
(Pitney,
 Royaume‐Uni)
• Saison 
Faucille 
– 
Southampton 
Publick 
House
 (US)

Gold Medals

2011 Mondial de la Biere 

Greg Noonan MBiere Winners

• La
 Pagaille 
– Benelux
 (Montréal)
• Grande
 Armada
 Réserve 
– Benelux 
(Montréal)
• Millésime
 2010 – Brasseur
 de 
Montréal
 (Montréal)
• Double
de
 Bonsecours
 – Broue Pub 
Brouhaha
 (Montréal)
• Bodebrown
 Wee
 Heavy 
– Cervejaria
 Bodebrown
 (Brazil)
• Helles 
– 
Hopfenstark
 (L’Assomption)
• Captain
 Swing 
Barley
 Wine
 –
 Hopfenstark 
(L’Assomption)
• Big 
Swell
 IPA 
– 
Maui Brewing 
Co.
 (US)
• Terre Ferme 
– 
Microbrasserie 
À 
l’abri
 de
 la
 Tempête
 (L’Étang‐du‐Nord)
• Pike
 Old 
Bawdy 
Barley
 Wine 
– 
Pike 
Brewing
 Co. 
(US)
• Russian 
Imperial 
Stout 
– 
Rogue
 Ales 
(US)
• Chipotle
 Ale 
– 
Rogue 
Ales (US)
• Chocolate
 Stout
 –
 Rogue 
Ales
 (US)
• Don
de 
Dieu 
–
 Unibroue (Chambly)

• Blonde
 de 
Chambly
– 
Unibroue
 (Chambly)
• Fin 
du 
Monde – Unibroue (Chambly)

Part of the 96,000+ customers

Over the next four days we sold a huge amount of TAPS branded BBbarfly bottle openers, TAPS branded glassware, subscriptions and t-shirts, some of which we'll have with us at festivals were attending throughout the summer. There were over 96,000 people that walked through the front doors, making Mondial the largest beer festival in Canada without a doubt.

We met a lot of great beer folks, drank a bunch of beautiful beer, hung out at a number of Montreal beer institutions (Le Saint-Bock, VV, Dieu du Ciel, Benelux, Le Chaval Blanc, and more), and fell in love with Mondial de la Biere all over again.

Congratulations to all the organizers for taking the new venue and building on the 17 previous Mondial's. I'm already looking forward to next year, which by the way, will take place between June 6 - 10, 2012.