My last post highlighted some of the ways that beer bars get things wrong (read here). Today I want to look at the other side of the coin – how beer bars can get things right. I am going to do so by highlighting two bars I visited on my current trip to Montreal and Ottawa. Both places exemplify qualities that I admire in a beer bar. They are quite different in atmosphere and overall approach to beer, but both are noteworthy.

A new kid on the very busy Montreal beer block is Isle de Garde in the La Petite Patrie area of the city. It is a mid-sized, modern, understated place with light chrome, wood and a spacious feel to it. I appreciated that the ambient music was kept quite low (and no t.v.s). It offers an inviting space for beer contemplation. It is officially a brewpub with four of its own beer always on tap. But it is much, much more than that. They actually have 24 tap lines with the remaining 20 lines dedicated to various Quebec craft brewers, including hard-to-find breweries. The list, which rotates, was quite diverse and covered the range of flavours and colours. They also have a daily cask offering as well.

But two features separate Isle de Garde from other beer bars. First (and they are not alone here, but it is rare), they offer multiple serving sizes – 100 ml, 300 ml or 500 ml. And the price differential between them is fairly small (although the 100 obviously is a bit more expensive per ml, but that is fair). No set taster tray offerings, just as many small sizes as you want. Supreme flexibility. I was impressed.

But what really won me over is that it is the only bar I have frequented where the tap system has been set up to allow three different temperatures – 4, 8, and 12 degrees. This means, quite frankly, regardless of what style of beer you order, you can get it at its ideal serving temperature. I immediately wish other places make the investment of a similar system.

The second bar is in Ottawa. Brothers Beer Bistro has been open a couple of years on the edge of the Byward Market. It is smaller with a cozy atmosphere and a higher end food menu. It offers 15 taps which are constantly in rotation with a mixture of Ontario and Quebec craft brewers and higher quality imports. They seem to revel in finding rare and one-off beer to profile. They supplement this with over 80 bottles. It is an impressive list, again offering a mix of good imports and Ontario craft beer. The range of offerings are impressive. They have something for everyone, from light blonde ales and lagers to a selection of almost a dozen sours and lambics.

They lose points for the lack of small serving sizes – offering only three preset sampler trays – but they make up for it by being quite generous with pre-purchase tasters. The highlight of the bar, and what makes it the best beer bar in Ottawa, is the staff. They are highly knowledgeable and engage in very sophisticated conversation about beer. It is a rare experience for me to find servers who understand beer styles with such intimacy and depth, and it added to my experience there. They knew more about Ontario brewers than I do (understandable) and seemed to know just as much as I do about imports and classic versions of styles.

The two bars offer very different experiences, but both were impressive. No place is perfect, and I know there are other excellent beer bars out there, but both of these places stood out for me on my current travels. And for good reason.

There are many ways to build a quality beer bar, but any good bar will share at least some of the features of these two places.