Sheltered Girl Meets World

Attended: Festibière d'Hiver (Gatineau, Quebec)

 

Serving hot 2009 BDT Messe de Minuit at the ice bar. Reminded me of hot apple cider.

 

As much of a beer lover that I am I have not tried many of the craft beers available in Quebec.  Which is why I jumped at the opportunity to attend Festibière d'Hiver, Winter Beerfest, hosted at the Château Cartier in Gatineau, Quebec.

Admission was free but beer samples and food required tickets which could be bought for 50 cents / ticket.  For the average 5% ABV (alcohol by volume) beer 4 tickets were required for a 120ml sample but if you wanted to be adventurous and try some of the higher ABV beers you could expect to shell out 6-10 tickets.  The food available seemed perfect for a beerfest - bison pogo, foie gras poutine, beer risotto to name a few and were sold in small portions for anywhere from 6-10 tickets.

 

Sipping on my Milk Stout by the bon fire.

I tried a wide variety of beers from a wheaty Blanche de Chambly from Unibroue to a creamy Vache Folle Milk Stout from Charlevoix to the oh so delicious aged Messe de Minuit from BDT served hot at the ice bar.  The latter being my favorite beer of the evening because enjoying it warm, huddled around the blazing bon fire felt perfect.

 

I want to learn more about Quebec breweries and their beer and will have to do my homework before the summer edition of the Gatineau Beerfest.  I just hope the summer event can top an ice bar and dog sled rides..

 

Lining up to get the beer that will save us from the cold.

 

 

Sipping high ABV beer by the bonfire makes a person feel very warm.

 

Eaten: Huevos Rancheros @ Edgar

(Huevos Rancheros @ Chez Edgar)

I don't have the best camera - I may be one of the few food bloggers out there who don't have a gigantic SLR with a blinding, seizure causing flash.  I have a dinky Canon Powershot point and click that doesn't even have a view finder.  Sometimes the photos turn out gorgeous and sometimes the photos turn out to be a blurry mess.  Unfortunately on my first visit to Chez Edgar the photos were lack luster, not a true depiction of the food we were served.  Luckily it wasn't hard to convince the boyfriend that we needed to return a week later and do it all over again.