The Beer Scene In Paris Sucks (pt. I)

Let’s discuss the title of this blog post, “The Beer Scene in Paris Sucks”. While it may seem harsh, it’s not a lie. Though, there are a few caveats to this statement. 1) I’m jaded. I live in Vancouver, arguably one of the best craft beer areas in the world (don’t @ me, I said “arguably”). 2) I’m picky. I get to travel a lot for work which brings me to places like Portland, San Diego, Denver, Anaheim, New York, and so on. 3) I’m spoiled. Before arriving in Paris I had just left one of the most historic beer cities in the world, Brussels. Now on to the sucky parts.

Of the 6 breweries I visited while in the City of Lights 3 of the 6 were chains from other countries. And trust me, I do my homework on where I should spend my time drinking. I didn’t just roll in to the fancy tourist bars like a….tourist.

The prices for beer are ridiculous. The lowest you’re going to pay for a pint is about 7.5€ or $11 CAD and it can go much higher than that.

To buy single cans from the a bottle shop is worse than the price of a 4 pack at Monkish (look it up). I didn’t even end up buy anything to take home from the bottle shops I visited. Although I did find some beer to bring home from a couple interesting spots. More on that later.

Most bars and restaurants have extensive wine lists but just run of the mill beer lists.

All that being said, Paris does seem to have a burgeoning craft beer scene. I did see some glimmers of hope but I wouldn’t put it on any “must-visit” lists for craft beer nerds enthusiasts just yet. But I did manage to find a few great beer spots and eat some delicious charcuterie……

That’s A Lot Of Food For One Person

The Wednesday morning commute from Brussels to Paris was uneventful. I watched some Netflix on the train and closely guarded my luggage full of Cantillon. The train arrived at Gard du Nord around noon and I decided to make the rainy walk to my hotel from the train station. FYI, cobblestone and wheeled luggage aren’t the best combo.

When I arrived at the hotel lobby it was full of about 15 kids and a bunch of colouring stations. “Did I just walk in to a daycare?” Turns out the hotel was hosting some sort of field trip. After checking in and colouring a picture of Elsa from Frozen, I dropped my bags in my room, which had an awesome view, and headed to my first stop…….

Well, turns out the first stop, Mikkeller Bar, wasn’t open yet so I trekked up the street a few blocks to a local bottle shop, La Binouze Rochechouart.

It’s a small shop with a great beer selection from Europe and some hard to find selections from the US, but this is where I had my first glimpse of the outrageous beer pricing in Paris. I held off on buying anything to go because I thought I could find cheaper options elsewhere. (I was wrong. The high pricing has more to do with ridiculous beer taxation in Paris than local businesses overcharging). I did enjoy a couple local bottles on site though and paired them with a charcuterie board. A Hoppy Lager from Brasserie Popihn and a Brut IPA from Gallia Paris.

When I ordered the charcuterie board the bartender asked “Are you sure? That’s a lot of food for one person”. Damn you, Pierre. Yes, I want the whole board to myself!

With a few scraps of meat and cheese left on the platter I decided to walk off my gluttony up in the hills of Montmartre. When I visited Paris 10 years earlier this was by far one of my favorite places to explore. Less crowded than the Eiffel Tower, more culture than the shopping of Champs Elysees and you just get that general feel that you imagine old Europe having. It also has a very interesting blend of cultures with the cobblestone streets, local bakeries and old architecture mixed with public art a graffiti all over the place.

I’m going to spare you the details of Wednesday night and all day Thursday as it was full of work shindigs. But I will point a couple little highlights that I visited that should be added to your list of places to check out in Paris:

Du Pain et Des Idées – one of the best spots in Paris to get a croissant, I looked it up before my trip and it didn’t disappoint.

Caféinoman – I didn’t look this one up beforehand but it happened to be around the corner from my meeting spot for the day. It’s an awesome little coffee shop with great atmosphere. The cold brew was fantastic!

Why Is He Writing About Shopping, We’re Thirsty

Friday was only a partial day of meetings in the afternoon so after catching up on some emails in the morning I decided to go check out some retail stores I had on my list. Not that i’m big in to shopping but I do like checking out the better stores in the areas I visit.

Champs Elysees is the main shopping strip in Paris so I stopped their first after visiting Lenôtre to pick up some sweets for my sweet back at home. A small consolation for her not being able to make the trip with me. Honestly, the only shop I bothered going in to on Champs Elysees was Galeries Lafayette, an upscale French department store that carries some hard to find streetwear brands and has amazing displays and merchandising. (Yes, I nerd out on that stuff). Everything else on that shopping strip is pretty cookie cutter (Levis, Adidas, H&M, etc) so I took a couple snaps of the Arc de Triomphe and moved on to the next area.

Down in the 1st Arrondissement of Paris near the Louvre there’s quite a bit more shopping. I went and checked out a few stores I had on my list; Bleu de Paname (French contemporary menswear brand), Starcow (skate/sneaker shop), Carhartt WIP and Supreme Paris. I could stand in Supreme and people-watch all the tourists going in and out of there all day. It’s a trip! Also, the area down where all these stores are has a lot going on with live street performances, architecture (new and old) and tons of street art. It’s a great area and I highly recommend checking it out.

Damn, This Dude Eats A Lot Of Cured Meat

The 1st Arrondissement is great for shopping and culture but you can also find Brew Dog down in this zone. The UK based brewery has almost 75 locations spread throughout Europe and North America (4 locations in the US). I figured I’d go have a pint since I had 20 minutes to spare before I had to get back tot he hotel for my meeting. It was a pretty cool spot with a decent sized beer menu. It’s worth checking out if you’re in the area and parched from being on your feet all day.

With my 20 minute pint stretching in to 30 minutes I ended up having to run to the subway to make it to my meeting on time. I arrived at my hotel only to find out the people I was meeting with were 30 minutes behind schedule. Dammit! I could’ve had another pint.

With shop talk out of the way and a couple hours to spare before dinner I decided to hit a couple more spots. The first was a clothing store called Nous, which was started by former employees of the now closed Colette. It was in the same vicinity as Mikkeller so I figured, two birds, one stone. I should’ve double checked my Google search though as I ended up strolling in to a ceramics store of the same name. While they had some great plant pots and candle sticks, I’m more of a beer guy, so off to Mikkeller!

The Mikkeller Paris bar is a quaint spot on the corner of the street surrounded by old Parisian style lofts. As you walk through the front door there’s a small bar with 20 taps and a few tables butted up against the walls. Up a skinny spiral staircase you’ll find a second floor with a few more tables and a couple window views overlooking the street. This is where I sat and enjoyed a a whole slab-o-meat to my lonesome. Damn, this guy eats a lotta cured meat.

The next stop was a 1+ km walk from Mikkeller but it brought me through a, um, seedy area of the city. That might be my fault because I decided to take some back streets instead of the main road in search of some cool photos along the way. While I did find some cool photos, I was also white knuckling my camera and making sure my wallet was in my front pocket. As I speed walked through the doors of Brasserie de la Goutte d’Or I was elated to finally find a Parisian craft brewery based in the city.

It’s an open concept tasting room with big foeder barrels off in the corner. There are tables on the other side of the long, skinny room with a bar right in the middle and bar stools wrapping around. I pulled up a stool at the bar and ordered a “Cosmo #4” Wild Ale. The bartender noticed I wasn’t from around there and started speaking English. After mentioning I was Canadian he told me that their head brewer is actually from Montreal and that they’ve done some collabs with Brasserie Dunham out of Dunham, Quebec. How awesome is that? Gotta love a good Canadian connection.

I took the last few sips of my pint and high-fived the Canadian loving bartender before grabbing a couple bottles to bring home with me. Off to my last work function of the trip, dinner at Brasserie Flo.

I’ll keep my review of Brasserie Flo short because it was kind of a blur after I got there. I do remember drinking out of giant beer glasses, eating a pretty damn good steak and then getting on a late night party cruise around Paris…. annnnnd good night. The best nights are sometimes the ones you don’t remember and don’t have any photos from.

On that note I’ll end part 1 here. I guess the beer scene in Paris up til now isn’t sucking too bad but let’s see how my last day in Paris goes. It’ll be a triathlon of walking, eating and drinking………