La Voie Maltée

October 25, 2008
Établissement visité le dimanche 12 octobre vers 20h30. Ambiance: Brique et boiserie foncé. Musique en sourdine. Service: Notre service était visiblement sous l’effet de subtance illicite, plein d’erreur dans nos commandes et dans les prix. Ça c’est replacé quand elle a changé de section. Sélection: Lors de mon passage il y avait 9 bières maisons, soit 5 régulières et 4 saisonières. Nourriture: Menu style pub disponible mais rien pris. Je préfère de loin l’ambiance du pub de Jonquière plutôt que celle de Chicoutimi. (110e rating d’établissement)

January 17, 2007 [ Updated October 16, 2008 ]
Halfway between sports bar and brown bar, this brewpub builds an interesting bridge between styles which still clearly indicates its difference to St-Dominique street partygoers looking for a cheap pitcher of swill. They have many of their own beers on tap (usually 10 or 11), the Criminelle imperial stout being the most impressive. Their regular beers are all very clean if not forgettable. Their Belgian styles used to be distinctive, but have since fallen into the generic treatment their regular beers seem to be getting. Nothing’s not worthy of a pint, but the well-travelled craft beer lover might find them uninteresting. The food is quite good too, the seafood pizza I had was quite tasty, as were the Rouleaux de printemps (spring rolls). They have another location with the same beers in the neighbouring city of Chicoutimi, but the atmosphere there is a lot louder and geared towards hipsters. Too bad you need 2 days off to get there and back from Montreal.

August 24, 2005
A large pub with wood panelled walls, somewhat dark, not that cozy close to the entrance, but in the back it is nice. Nice range of 8 own beers of an OK quality. Friendly staff, bilingural, but I had slight difficulties understanding them, but we were there on a loud night, since there was a concert in the street just outside.

August 21, 2005
A pub-like environment with a heck of good beers on tap. Many beers from belgian inspiration. Totally surprised!

July 22, 2005
Large, dark, pubby establishment with summer patio. Wide range of beers on tap, most of which are fairly well-made but none spectacular. Service was pretty good. The atmosphere was comfortable. Didn’t eat.

July 17, 2005
Large open space, large terrasse. Exposed brick walls and lots of dark wood inside. Wooden tables and comfortable seating that was well-spaced. Not overly crowded despite being quite busy. Smoke level was generally manageable. Very friendly, knowledgeable, helpful and bilingual service. Most people here seemed almost eager to practice speaking English. Wide range of well made beers are worth the long trip. Without a doubt, despite the remote location, this is one of the better brewpubs in the province.

January 4, 2005
I totally wasn’t expecting brews of this quality from a place so frickin’ far away, 6 hours from Montreal. 7 regulars on tap, 4 seasonals. I was lucky, they pulled out their best of 2004 to bring in the new year during my last visit (dec2004). A real top notch barleywine, probably the best I had all year, even beating out Dieu du Ciel’s offering. I was shocked. Their Grincheuse Belge Orange is as close to an Orval as you can get outside of Wallonia, and all the other Beers I sampled were just great. One of the owners was quick to show me off all of their awards and rave reviews, while the other one, the brewmaster, was a lot less cocky, and simply gave me a quick tour of his facilities, talked shop a little and let his Beers do the talking for him. They have an industrial permit for the brewery, so you can have growlers filled to go. But they only fill one or two of the regular Beers, not the seasonals. Service was a bit slow, and if you don’t speak french, make sure you have someone in your party that does, because you’re not going to be understood. I agree with Rasta, this place is easily in the top 3 brewpubs in Québec. Too bad it’s sooo damn far away!

December 27, 2004
La Voie Maltée is a very clean bar, looking a lot like a restaurant from the inside with brick walls, rather modern, lots of mostly belgian beer advertising. At the moment, they sell only their bitter for take out in growlers and jam pots, but this may change rapidly as the place is making a name of itself. Last year, they’re said to have brewed a bit over 900 hectoliters, which compares with Dieu Du Ciel in volume. La Voie Maltée is probably second only to DDC as far as Quebec brewpubs are concerned in terms of beer quality. They should always have one of their strong beers for the geeks, but their basics are all well made. Service is beyond remarkable, very flexible and talkative staff makes you feel welcome. Reminds of the Moan and Dove as far as great beer places where you don’t necessarily expect them.