Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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La Brasserie La Fosse célébraient leurs 3 ans! Découvre ce petit joyau du comté de Portneuf devenu rapidement un incontournable
En décembre dernier, la brasserie La Fosse située à Donnacona dans la région de Portneuf célébrait leur 3e anniversaire! Ayant navigué entre démarrage d’entreprise, gestion de pandémie mondiale et conciliation travail-famille, c’est un succès de voir où ils en sont après seulement 3 années d’existence! Et on peut dire qu’ils semblent bien naviguer le courant!…
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A look Into the Quebec Beer Past with Some of the Best Beer Content Creators Around
This beer hobby of mine has been going for almost twelve years now. And like any niche interest, things always change over time. That said, given that craft beer is relatively new and extremely popular these days, the industry has changed drastically over the last decade as brewing techniques and our communal palates have evolved…
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Beerism + BAOS + Vox&Hops Join Forces Once Again for Ultimate 2022 Top Ten Quebec Breweries List!
Another year has gone by, and as usual we have seen so many changes – not only the styles and execution of beer in Quebec, but the entire landscape at large. The popularity of more “extreme” sweeter beers like smoothies and pastry stouts isn’t exactly new in 2022, however the result of the rise of…
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Enracinée dans la vieille capitale, levons notre verre aux 25 ans de La Barberie!
Le 4 mai dernier, une brasserie pionnière de la scène brassicole du Québec célébrait ses 25 années d’existence. Si tu es résident de la Capitale-Nationale, tu ne peux certainement pas t’imaginer le paysage brassicole de la ville sans la mythique Barberie. Bâtisseuse d’une scène locale brassicole, il s’est développé depuis et tout autour un quartier…
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Beerism & BG Brasserie Urbaine present “Blendism”
A lot of people ask what it means for someone like me to do a collaborative beer with a brewery. Honestly, it’s a good question. Also, it kind of depends on the situation. Sometimes I’m simple involved in the concept and describing what I’d like, while other times we actually talk about recipes – grain…
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BG Brasserie Urbaine Launches “C’est Juste d’la Bière” – Also, my Friends are jerks
So as you can see, my perfect face is on a beer can next to these three other morons who don’t know shit about beer. I hope they’re thankful that I’m elevating them as much as I am, but I’m sure they don’t appreciate it at all given that they are self-obsessed ass-clowns. Joking aside,…
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A beerism Guide to Aging Beer
Over the years I have been asked a lot of questions regarding the process of aging beer. I have been experimenting with it for the better part of a decade now, so I thought it was time for me to put my thoughts into a guide of sorts for those who have questions. Please keep…
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Beerism + BAOS + Vox&Hops Join Forces Again to Create the Ultimate 2021 Top Ten Quebec Breweries List
I think we were all hoping that 2021 was going to be a fantastic year compared to the cluster-fuck of 2020. Well, in some ways perhaps it was, but in others not so much. For me personally, 2021 has been the hardest year of my life, with some drastic personal changes that left me in…
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Brasserie Du Bas-Canada’s Spring Release: A Beerism Exclusive!
This coming Friday May 21st, Brasserie du Bas-Canada will be “hosting” a spring bottle and can release! And by hosting, I of course mean that they will be having an online release where you can purchase a crazy lineup of eight new beers. Not only have Bas-Canada’s been one of the few who pioneered New…
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For me It’s Black and White: Belittling, Bullying, and Devaluing Beer Babes is Completely Unacceptable and Wrong
When I was in university, I once took a course called “Cults and Controversy.” On the first day of class, the professor immediately let us know that she wouldn’t be using the word “Cult” when describing these groups and she didn’t want us to either. Why? Because the word automatically triggers a scary and negative…
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Speak Friend and Enter: A Sneak Peek of Mellön Brasserie
Mellön Brasserie is a brewery I’ve had my eye on for a while now, naming them as one to watch in 2020 a few months ago. While they are currently deep into the construction process, with plans to open in late spring, I was lucky enough to be invited along to visit the brewery-in-progress, try…
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Gallicus Celebrates Two Years With Out of This World Collaborations
In late February, Brasserie Artisanale Gallicus celebrated their second anniversary. Since the ongoing public health restrictions have meant that they weren’t able to throw a big party at their location in Gatineau, they invited six other breweries from across Gatineau and wider Québec to create a limited edition 6-pack of collaboration brews to mark the…
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Looking Forward: Mike’s Beer predictions for 2021
Now that 2021 is underway, it’s time to take a moment to look at the year to come. In Quebec as in the rest of the world, the last twelve months shook the beer scene quite considerably, but fortunately its still surviving, if not thriving. Things are constantly evolving, however, making it difficult to make…
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Third Moon Brewing Delivers All Things Lovely Including This Trilogy of Pastry Stouts
Pastry stouts are not exactly brand new, but in 2020 they certainly took the Canadian brewing market by storm. In Quebec, Brasserie du Bas-Canada ushered in this glutinous beer style a couple of years back, with very few coming close to their quality. Now many are trying their hand at creating this sometimes controversial dessert…
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Beerism + BAOS + Vox&Hops Join Forces to Create the Ultimate 2020 Top Ten Breweries List
I’m getting a little tired of everyone going on and on about just how fantastic a year 2020 has been. Look I get it, it’s been awesome – everyone is healthy, we reversed global warming, we fixed the racial divide, we finally proved the earth is flat, and everyone is now on the same page…
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A la Fut Releases Five Barrel-Aged Versions of Diligence – A Belgian Quad
Although Trappist inspired Quadrupels were all the rage in the craft beer community about ten years ago, we have seen a significant decline in their popularity since – and in the last few years, barely any contemporary breweries are touching them. That said, I have noticed (at least here in Quebec) that some breweries are…
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Hindsight is 2020: An Interview with 5e Baron and Silo
Opening a new brewery is no easy feat, but even less so when there’s a global pandemic going on. Since March, a series of seemingly contradictory and fluctuating lockdown regulations has added to the archaic, outdated and complicated liquor laws that already hampered microbreweries from getting off the ground across Quebec. As we get towards…
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Avant-Garde Releases Three Barrel-Aged Sours That are Both Classic and Modern at Once
Avant-Garde Artisans Brasseurs have been on the scene for the better part of a decade, however most of that time has been spent contract brewing. About a year and a half ago they opened their very own brewery and the already great beer got even better. Co-owners Shawn and Renault have always done a great…
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Birra Bar à Bières Maison Brings Out a Family of New Cans
Little Italy brewpub Birra Bar à Bières Maison has always been a popular spot in an area known for some great microbreweries and beer bars, catering to both a local clientele and visitors from across Montreal and Quebec. In the last year though, the pandemic has changed their approach and they have joined many other…
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I Got My Friends to Review Hopism – A Beerism/5e Baron NEIPA Collaboration
For those unaware, I recently teamed up with the amazing Gatineau-based brewery 5e Baron to collaborate on a beer. We went with a double dry-hopped NEIPA brewed exclusively with Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin – and we called it “Hopism.” The beer sold out at the brewery within a few hours but many cases made their…
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5e Baron does Beerism! New logo! New Collaboration! New Site! New Glass!
Delivering a myriad of hazy IPAs and crispy lagers, (as well as a sprinkling of stouts and sour offerings), Gatineau’s new kid on the block Microbrasserie 5e baron has been pumping out can after can of fantastic and ever-improving offerings since they opened – just after the start of this terrible worldwide pandemic. Even though…
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Champ Libre Brasserie & Distillerie Releases Three Exceptional New Beers
An article by Noah Forrest Last weekend, I made my way out to Champ Libre‘s beautiful brewery in Mercier. Although one can’t currently hang out in or outside bars/tasting rooms at the moment, I wanted to get my hands on several beers that were being released that day. And wow, I do not regret going.…
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Brasserie Générale Celebrates 7 Years by Going in an Exciting New Direction
An article by Noah Forrest Quebec City’s Brasserie Générale have recently reinvented themselves on several levels through their brewing styles, their branding, and even their name. In fact, they have been working on this for some time now. I remember trying their IPA “IZI” for the first time a few years back and was enticed…
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Out with the New in with the…Old? The Return of the Lager and Rise of the #crispyboi
An Article by Mike Davis What trends have marked the Quebec beer scene in 2020? It seems that while we were once a few years behind the U.S., the latest fads and hype styles have quickly made their way through la belle province, resulting in an abundance of #hazybois, pastry stouts and fruit infused are-they-beer-or-not…
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Examining La Confrérie Artisans Brasseurs – An Interview With Alex Larrivée
La Confrérie Artisans Brasseurs opened their doors earlier this year. This family run operation is one of several breweries I know of that have had to open during such a challenging time for businesses. Located in the rural landscape of the Eastern townships, La Confrérie is found in Windsor, just north of Sherbrooke. This is…
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Messorem Bracitorium Continues to Guide the Montreal Haze Scene
In the span of less than a year and a half, South-West Montreal’s Messorem Bracitorium has become a household name in the Canadian craft beer community. Their model of delivering a constant stream of new hazy beers weekly is not only impressive, but seems downright impossible. Not only are the beers good, but they each…
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Lagabiere’s 12 Months of “Balade en Radeau” Comes to an End
An article by Noah Forrest Releasing new beers constantly is certainly a huge challenge for brewers. It means less tweaking and creates a lot of potential risk for producing something sub-par or even just bad. The contemporary consumer wants something new all the time, which certainly adds pressure for breweries to pump out new products…
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Beerism’s Guide to the 2020 Péché Day 4-Pack
An article by Noah Forrest It’s been pretty warm this last week, but I’m well aware that it’s simply a tease. March is a sneaky month that gets your hopes up just long enough for you to let your guard down. And then bam! Fifty centimeters of snow or perhaps negative thirty degrees winds. That…
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Brasserie Harricana Finished Off 2019 with Several Brilliant Barrel-Aged Creations
An article by Noah Forrest I often see Brasserie Harricana as that quiet brewery in the corner, brewing exactly what they want to, seemingly unconcerned with the ultra modern trends of hazy, hopped up everything. In fact, they barely brew IPAs at all, period. Their strengths lie in classic, clean styles, often of German influence,…
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MonsRegius Releases a Whole Line of Imperial Stouts called Nocturna
An article by Noah Forrest The mighty IPA in all its forms has certainly dominated the craft beer scene for decades, and is arguably responsible for the worldwide success of modern beer as we know it. The style has managed to change drastically, yet has remained popular and is arguably more sought after as a…
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Microbrasserie 4 Origines Launches “Innovation Series” – An Interview with Owner Michael D’Ornellas
An article by Noah Forrest. Innovation when it comes to craft beer can come in all different forms. It can mean continuing to perfect that clean Pilsner you’re working on by adopting new methods, or it can mean discovering a new wild yeast strain from the wildflowers growing behind your brewery. It can also mean…
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Beerism’s Top 13 New Quebec beers of 2019!
An article by Noah Forrest Another year in beer has gone by, which means that I’m somehow compelled to put together a list of my top new Quebec beers from the last 12 months. The first time I wrote a top 10 list-type post was largely to pick fun at all the awful articles floating…
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Kahnawake Brewing Co. Continues Their “Building Bridges” Series with Another Bottle Release
An article by Noah Forrest Kahnawake Brewing Co. opened their doors in early 2018. Located in – well – Kahnawake, they have been delivering a wide range of offerings with an emphasis on providing something for everyone – whether it’s a clean and simple blonde, a hazy New England IPA or a luscious stout. At…
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Avant-Garde Throws First Bottle Release After Expansion
An Article by Noah Forrest Avant-Garde Artisans Brasseurs have been on the scene for quite some time, but this year, things really changed for them. They began as contract brewers out of Oshlag alongside several others. However, as the winter came to an end earlier this year, so did their time with Oshlag; Avant-Garde opened…
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Brasserie Champ Libre Hosts November Bottle Release
An article by Noah Forrest The holidays are approaching, which means that breweries are going to be releasing more and more special offerings leading up to Christmas. It’s the time every year that we see an influx of barrel-aged beers hitting shelves as well as bottle/can releases happening almost every weekend. This weekend specifically, Brasserie…
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The Dark Side of Brasserie du Bas-Canada’s 2nd Anniversary Release
An article by Noah Forrest This coming Saturday, Brasserie du Bas-Canada is celebrating their second anniversary with a big bottle and can release! If you can manage to drive out to Gatineau for the festivities, I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed – this year’s lineup is particularly impressive. It’s actually pretty mind blowing that…
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Half Hours on Earth Delivers Near Perfection Across the Style Spectrum
An article by Noah Forrest Although Half Hours on Earth has become well known in the Canadian beer scene, I feel like they are somehow still our best kept secret. In a climate that had people lining up for a Bellwoods Milkshake IPA or trading their Lambic for Brasserie Auval, I’m often perplexed that Half…
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A Guide to Brasserie Dunham’s Fall 2019 Bottle Release!
An article by Noah Forrest When the leaves start changing colour and falling off the trees, we all know that Halloween is around the corner. And sure, I guess that’s fun and all, but more importantly it’s also the time of year when Brasserie Dunham releases a bunch of barrel-aged beers. Yes, that’s right, this…
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Messorem Bracitorium – Are We Heading Towards Greener Pastures?
An article by Noah Forrest Messorem Bracitorium opened their doors only last month, yet for the Montreal beer geek, they are essentially a household name at this point. On August 3rd there was a soft-launch, where their first canned IPA was released. It sold out within a couple of days. Let’s just say they’ve been doing…
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Five Months of Lagabière’s “Balade En Radeau” – What We’ve Seen So Far
An article by Noah Forrest I first discovered Lagabière back in 2013 after trying a bunch of their stuff at a visit to Festival l’Oktoberfest des Québécois. The brewers were two young brothers who had some impressive potential. Over the years they grew, honed their craft, and established themselves as one of the better breweries…
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Our Love Affair With the Never Ending Brasserie Auval Honeymoon
An article by Noah Forrest Brasserie Auval first hit the Quebec beer scene back in September 2015. Located in Percé within the Gaspésie region of Quebec, the brewery is headed by owner and brewer Benoit Couillard, who also co-founded Microbrasserie Pit Caribou before leaving to open this new endeavour. Auval arrived with beer styles that…
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Robin – Bière Naturelle: Another Eastern Townships Treasure
An article by Noah Forrest Robin – Bière Naturelle opened their doors in February this year. Located in Waterloo, about an hour and a half east of Montreal, this townships-based establishment isn’t your typical brewery. In fact, they don’t actually brew at all. Instead, Robin purchases un-fermented wort from a fellow townships brewery called Brasserie…
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Champ Libre Hosts Summer Bottle Release
An article by Noah Forrest Summer is finally here! I’m very excited to stop complaining about the cold so I can jump right into complaining about the heat. I can just see myself now, laying half naked on the couch dreaming of snow flurries; feeling like a damn hypocrite. Summer also means that there will…
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Brasserie du Bas-Canada Continues their Hop Dominance
An article by Noah Forrest Within a couple of years, Brasserie du Bas-Canada has gone from being one of the many (and I mean many) new breweries on the block, to producing some of the most sought after beers in the province. Their level of hype at this point is massive; certain bottles are even…
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Microbrasserie À la Fût: The Wild Pioneers of Quebec
An article by Noah Forrest Mixed fermented beer with fruits and other adjuncts are pretty common now in the modern craft beer spectrum. Some are brewed with either wild yeasts or acidifying bacteria, or perhaps both. There is something magical about the combination of Brettanomyces and acidity, especially when coupled with wine (or spirit) barrel…
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Brasserie Harricana Continues Refining their Wild Barrel-Aged 7205 Series
An Article by Noah Forrest Back in 2017, Brasserie Harricana launched a new line of bottles entitled 7205, which are aptly named after their address. These beers would become experimental one-offs showcasing the wild and barrel-aged side of things. Each is categorized numerically, having begun with 7205-001. I’ve had most of them to date, and…
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Small Pony Barrel Works Launches 2019 Culture Club
An article by Noah Forrest Small Pony Barrel Works are now well into their second year of existence. This brewery and barrel house is located in Kanata – a suburb just west of Ottawa – where they exclusively create barrel-aged sours. I did a deep dive review of the four first bottles that dropped in…
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A look at the latest Wild Beers From Microbrasserie Le Castor
An article by Noah Forrest Breweries in 2019 have the challenge of trying to balance consistency with innovation. The insatiable craft beer nerd wants a new beer every week, so the pressure to pump out products in a conveyor belt-like fashion is all too real for the contemporary brewer. As well, not only do we…
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Brasserie Champ Libre Throws Spring Bottle Release!
An article by Noah Forrest Today might be Péché Day, but Brasserie Champ Libre is also having a pretty epic bottle release! That’s right, they are releasing a slew of new barrel-aged variants as well as a brand new beer altogether. Read about the event right here. If you’re not already aware, Champ Libre is…
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Beerism’s Guide to the 2019 Péché Day Pack
An article by Noah Forrest Wait, another Péché Mortel article? Yes, that’s right, two Péché articles in one week. What the hell is wrong with me. If you missed last week’s post, five friends and I attacked 18 different versions of Dieu du Ciel’s Péché Mortel in one sitting. It was quite the ordeal. You…
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