The “Love Handles” department in Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine® is devoted to great beer bars. Here are the three beer bars that we explored in Issue 2 (Summer 2014).
Vices & Versa (Montreal, Quebec)
An oasis of creative beer in Montreal’s Little Italy, where the locals hang and visitors can try the best of Quebec’s breweries.
WHAT IT IS: Frequented by a mix of beer lovers, university students and professors, artists, and regulars, Vices & Versa (pictured above) hits that note of laid-back neighborhood bar and beer geek haunt. Since opening in 2004, it has become a Montreal beer destination, featuring thirty-two draft beers from great Quebec brewers such as Hopfenstark, Dieu du Ciel, and Brasserie Dunham, plus at least one or two casks tapped weekly.
WHY IT’S GREAT: The extensive and interesting selection of beers is an obvious draw, but it’s also the informed and friendly staff; the unfussy, casual vibe; the luscious back patio; and live music nights that make Vices the kind of bar you wish was your local. I’ve spent weekday afternoons reading and sipping imperial pints of single malt and single hop IPA from Le Trou du Diable in their spacious, sunlit rooms and cozy Friday nights bellied up at the bar, trying tasters and half-pints (or verres as they are called en Français). The emphasis is on fresh and local, as they also offer wines and ciders made in the province—and yes, they have poutine as well as a solid menu of pub favorites and creative rotating daily specials. —Heather Vandenengel
Hours: 3 p.m.–3 a.m. Monday–Wednesday (changes to noon–3 a.m. on June 1), noon–3 a.m. Thursday–Sunday.
Address: 6631 Saint-Laurent Blvd., Montréal, Quebec
Max’s Taphouse (Baltimore, Maryland)
In salty, pub-heavy Fell’s Point, this taphouse was prolific before prolific was cool.
WHAT IT IS: The Fell’s Point waterfront area of Baltimore has a long history of catering to thirsty seafaring types, including the odd pirate. Today, it caters more to tourists, another thirsty type, still offering more pubs per block than anywhere else in the city. I wager it also has more taps per block, propelled mainly by Max’s Taphouse, an internationally known institution. These days it seems like every city has a place with fifty-plus fonts. Max’s was pouring from seventy of them a decade ago and currently has 140 plus five cask handpulls standing at attention down the long bar like shiny Marines. When those get boring (they won’t), there are said to be 1,200 bottles in the cellar.
WHY IT’S GREAT: Putting 140 beers on tap is easy compared to keeping them interesting. Max’s succeeds on that count, mixing unusual, international craft beers in with the locals and regionals. Its cellar is driven partly by hosting two of the country’s most undersung beer events: Max’s Belgian Beer Fest in February and its Italian Beer Fest in July. Judging solely by quality, breadth, and rarity of the beers offered, the Belgian event is arguably better than any festival in Belgium. —Joe Stange
Hours: 11 a.m.–2 a.m. daily.
Address: 737 S. Broadway, Baltimore, Maryland
Blairally Vintage Arcade (Eugene, Oregon)
Vintage pinball arcade meets great craft beer tap list. What more could you ask?
WHAT IT IS: Formerly the home of Ninkasi Brewing Company’s studio for the Top Secret Records label, Blairally Vintage Arcade is a hidden gem of a beer bar tucked behind the brewery on Blair Boulevard in Eugene, Oregon. This spacious barcade, which is devoted to preserving, restoring, and sharing vintage gaming with the community, boasts one of the town’s best tap lists, with selections from Oakshire Brewing, Hop Valley Brewing, and of course, Ninkasi, among many others.
WHY IT’S GREAT: Blairally offers craft beer without any fluff. Practically a dive bar, these darkened digs are a gamer’s heaven with some seriously rare machines, such as Space Mission 1976, Strikes and Spares 1977, and Flash Gordon 1980. If, like me, you’re more into the brews than the scores, you are bound to find a fellow craft beer lover posted up by the taps. —Emily Hutto
Hours: 4 p.m.–2 a.m. Monday–Friday, 2 p.m.–2 a.m. Saturday–Sunday.
Address: 245 Blair Blvd., Eugene, Oregon