La Barberie

nickfl

Florida

3.7/5  rDev -5.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $$

I stopped by this place while on vacation in Quebec. It is a bit out of the way, but not too far from the historic district. It is in a nondescript building and at first I was afraid it might be closed but one I found the door it was actually quite busy, even on a Tuesday afternoon. The taproom was quite cozy, lots of wood and handmade pitchers hanging above the bar. They have a sampler, which conveniently included all eight of the beers that they had on tap. The beer itself was enjoyable, some were more interesting than good, but I have the impression that taps rotate frequently so that helps to explain the odd ingredients. Service was good, though they took cash only. Worth checking out and seemingly the best bet for local beer in Quebec City.

01-16-2012 00:29:02 | More by nickfl

Glory

Quebec (Canada)

3.48/5  rDev -10.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $

A little place out of nowhere but quite friendly and comfortable.
The bar is in the center of the room and the beer list is writen on the chalkboard.

9 beers on tap and two or three of them are conservative styles of beer. You get everything between Fruity to Pine to Vanilla, Chardonay and even tea...I'm not a fan of these type of mixes.

I also got a IPA from the cask with is great..you gotta love cask beers

They serve samplings in a little tray witch is very nice and inexpensive.

I was'nt really impressed with the beer except the Amber with earl grey tea witch was verry uncommon and suprising.
But overall they should try getting only four beers and doing them right before making any crazy type of mixes with fruit and herbs.

The staff member there was very nice and helpfull. He had every info on the beer !
They do not have the permit for food and its a Work Coop

I think every beer lover should at least stop at La Barberie when in Québec city.

Cheers Lads

WS

01-08-2011 18:32:49 | More by Glory

CBA

British Indian Ocean Territory

4/5  rDev +2.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Decent pub that definitely gets lots of locals particularly at lunch from the surrounding businesses. You can bring your own food in and make use of their microwaves, cutlery and other kindly provided eating necessities. Nice touch. They apparently knock out a ton of different styles, but as far as I could tell only run 6 taps. Lots of variation on rousse, blonde and amber with a few odd ball selections (a blonde chili pepper beer?). So I think it's a bit hit or miss. Service was great. Good place to go to relax, talk and enjoy reasonably priced beer. Awesome local art on display as well. Worth the short walk from the old town.

12-31-2010 17:12:27 | More by CBA

Flynvet

Iowa

4.71/5  rDev +20.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

I visited La Barberie during a brief business trip to Quebec. The brewpub is a little way outside of the old city center where we stayed, but very well worth the 15 minute walk. Dominick and the rest of the bar staff quickly recognized me as a thirsty American, and skillfully gave me a wonderful taste tour of French artisan brews. They currently have 16 on tap plus a cask conditioned bitter! Their selection ranges from classic white and red beers, to a Stout Au Cafe (my favorite). The La Barberie head brewer, who has not shaved his iconic beard since the brewery opened 13 years ago, is also skilled at pushing the envelope with some high ABV offerings. They currently have a Barberousse at 8% and a Stout Imperial at 7.5%. This is a stop you must make while in Quebec. Ciao!

10-05-2009 15:55:04 | More by Flynvet

alesafe88

New York

2.48/5  rDev -36.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 1 | service: 4 | selection: 2 | $$

My girlfriend and I were up here on vacation and were desperate for a decent beer. We'd been all over Quebec City and on the advice of a cheese shop clerk (excellent cheese!) we headed down to La Barberie. Wow, what a mistake!

The atmosphere and overall vibe was great! We were convinced that this was going to at last be the beer stop we were looking for. Boy, were we wrong. We tried beers 1-8 on the tasting menu. I can't even recall what most of these watery swills were, but suffice it to say that it tasted as if Keystone Light were reflavored with various fruits and spices and passed through a Britta filter before coming to the table. One example was Sangria beer and another was ginger and lime. In the first case our Keystone had been cut with half Sangria. In the second, lime and ginger had been added to Keystone. In other words, no attempt was made to craft beer. Rather, bad beer was flavored in multiple ways before coming to the table. Not sure if this is actually how they made it, but it sure tasted like they did.

The only hope for this brewery would be (IMHO) to start over with a good, strong, flavorful ale and build from there. Without some decent beer in the lower register they're not going to make good blends.

07-19-2009 00:09:26 | More by alesafe88

irishkyle21

Ontario (Canada)

3.84/5  rDev -1.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $

It was a cold August night but I like patios so thats where we ended up. We ended up here after some sightseeing (around 10 on a Thursday). The place was pretty busy but not crowded. I was going to get a carousel sampler but we didn't have the time so I downed 3 quick pints. The three beers I had were mild of the pack, nothing that made me jump, just good drinkable beers. The service was good and the prices rather cheap. We didn't have any food (I don't even think they have any) cause we just ate at a little restaurant. I had a great time in Quebec City and La Barberie helped by quenching my thirst for beer.

09-11-2008 05:31:28 | More by irishkyle21

smcolw

Massachusetts

4.1/5  rDev +5.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $

For $12 I received a sampler of eight different beers on tap (on 8/20/08). That's it. There are soft drinks but nothing else. No food what-so-ever. They do allow you to order pizza for delivery there.

This bar is something of a dive. There is a narrow deck of 14 or so four-tops. The bar itself is dark and windowless.

The beers were unusual and very good. There seems to be a large variety of beer produced here and the styles appear to be completely at he whim of the brewer. And this is all you get--a real beerphile's paradise.

08-21-2008 01:09:33 | More by smcolw

ZorPrime

Quebec (Canada)

3.93/5  rDev +0.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Well, this place is somewhat strange for a brewpub, or at least for me. Nice looking although seems a little bit on the cheap side... Tables and chairs looks all funny and the overall look is quite fun since the table and chairs are all from different sets! Nothing is the same there.

Ordered a sampler since it was my first time there and all their selected beers I had never tasted!

When I went there, there was a good choice of beers (I went there in June 2008). The beer choice was good. Actually the only bad beer, IMO, was the SANGRI-BIÈRE which I don't like at all. Found that the Rousse Bitter is quite nice, one of my favorite. Nice color and nice taste. Very resfreshing! Another one, Blanche au Agrume et Miel... simply awesome. Very nice beer for a hot sunny day. I'm so glad that they bottle that one for Le Monde de la Bière grocery.

Another fine beer was the Cuivrée au coings... only available there.

Their is some board games if you want to relax and do something funny instead of just drinking and talking. Which is cool.

Still have to go there again and edit the review, if needed.

08-19-2008 00:44:28 | More by ZorPrime

Goldorak

Quebec (Canada)

2.8/5  rDev -28.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 2 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | $

I've got a few friends living in Quebec city and my fiancé and I always get invited, but rarely ever go. But this time a couple we know just got a baby, and there's the whole 400th anniversary of the city going down, so why not. And every time we do get there, we're always end up telling ourselves 'why don't we come here more often? It looks just a great as any old town in Europe and it's only a few hous away!'

Anywhoo, the only parking lot with spots left close to the 400 festivities was, as luck would have it, right in front of Barberie. It's in the basse-ville section, tucked in a quiet corner near the sweet looking train station, next to an overpass (and the aforementioned parking lot), where few tourists find their way. So it was pretty quiet, save for a few 20-something hipster locals.

The overall atmosphere can be summed up as 'hippie'. It's a work co-op, so it's a bit worn down and not too organized, but warm and welcoming. Plenty of potted plants, paintings on the walls - some of the walls themselves are painted murals - with a few board games laying around. The cozy patio was open, and offered plenty of shade.

A lone server eventually came up to us. He seemed to know his products somewhat, but was dumbfounded when my friend asked him how fizzy the Beer he was thinking of ordering was. 'It's fizzy like Beer' he answered. Enlightening! But he served us fast enough.

8 Beers on the menu, pretty much all of them were of the freak show variety. Honey stout? Lime and Raspberry amber? Lime and Ginger Blonde? There's nothing wrong with the occasional off-the-wall Beer, but this is just too weird. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if they were actually well brewed, but more often than not they show very perceptible faults. Minou and her pal went for the Lime & Raspberry, which smelled like a bad hair salon and tasted like artificial lemon juice. My other friend's Lime & Ginger was okay, but only in the 'I'm glad I only got a 3oz taster of this' kind of way. My pint of IPA, the only 'conservative' Beer on the menu, was not overly hoppy, but good enough.

Do I recomend going out of your way to have a drink here? For the atmosphere, sure, but caveat emptor, it's always a crapshoot with the Beers and that's unfortunate. But prices are on the cheap side. And stay away from the Beer-to-go option in those mason jars, I drank one once litterally minutes after I got served and it was ruined. No food available, but you're a short walk away from the pier market, ten million tourist trap restaurants and a decent pizza place called Pizza Mag. Look it up.

08-17-2008 21:36:10 | More by Goldorak

fireqc

Quebec (Canada)

4.5/5  rDev +15.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $

Now talk about beers! If you go in Québec, you must stop at La Barberie. Take the sampler, a nive piece of wood like a "carousel" where the glass stand in it. They are 8 beers on tap all the times but not the same! In fact, they change beer almost every hour! So if you want to taste all of their products, you have to go there once a week for a year!!

Their beers are quite good! Unfiltered ales make the taske a pleasant experience! They brew in 500ml bottle and if you like one that not available in bottle, that's ok, they can sell beer to go in Masson pot (before 23:00)!!

The tasting room is small (even after the renovation) but during the summer, a terrasse do a great job. Keep in mind that place close at 01:00 (other bars in Québec close at 03:00).

Nothing is perfect, so if you go there and you feel hungry, they serve no food except "crap" during the happy hour. I suggest, bring your food with you and go there! Usually, restaurant say "bring your wine or beer", this bar said "bring your food!!"

FIRE...

02-19-2008 20:58:52 | More by fireqc