Episode #225: Top 10 Breweries in Quebec for 2025 with Matt McGachy of Vox&Hops + Noah Forrest of Beerism | Adjunct Series
For the first time ever, the Top 10 Breweries in Quebec is now officially an all-BAOS experience - from the podcast to the video to the blog! Twenty-twenty-five marks our seventh year of collating the best of the best breweries in the glorious province of Quebec, with Matt McGachy of Vox&Hops and Noah Forrest of Beerism joining Cee and Nate of BAOS to celebrate the top producers in the region. For the second year running, here's how the point system works: each of the four hosts prepares their Top 10 list of favourite Quebec breweries they consumed in 2025, with #1 receiving 10 points, #2 getting 9 points, and so on. All of those numbers are added up, and bam, you get the collective Top 10. One thing to note is that these are ALL just opinions, and are based on the beers that the boys actually drank over 2025 - if they didn't drink it, they don't include it, period. With that said - who do you think landed the coveted Brewery of the Year spot? Fetch some of your fave QC brews and hit play!
A quick note from Nate: As always, these are the top 10 Québec breweries as chosen by Matt, Cee, Noah, and me, based on our experiences from breweries we visited and/or tasted from in 2025. We visit and drink from a lot of breweries, but we can never get to them all. We fully recognize that there may be other breweries we didn’t get to that are worthy of a mention. Let us know if there’s a brewery you think we missed, and we’ll try to make sure we get to them this year!
BRASSERIE DU BAS-CANADA
Gatineau / Hautes-Plaines
Bas-Canada changed the haze game in Québec back in the late 2010s, being one of the pioneers of the style in the province. I still remember the first time trying Bas-Canada crowlers on the pod in like 2018 - it was life-changing for someone who couldn’t access quality haze back then. Even though I lived in Montreal for a decade, getting my hands on BdBC was next to impossible without a car and a willingness to pull a 4-hour return trip, so I had to accept that I’d rarely have it in my life. Now, there was a bit of a kerfuffle on Instagram after our 2024 Top 10 episode, with a couple of passionate BdBC drinkers taking a large issue with them not making our list. As we reiterated on this year’s episode, none of us drank any of their stuff, so how could we honestly include them on the list (even though we knew they’re killer)? There are around 350 breweries in Quebec, so it’s impossible to get to everything. Due to that drama, I personally made sure that I drank at least 10 BdBC beers in 2025 (so did Nate); I surpassed that number, et voila, they landed on the list. My fave was their barrel program - both their barleywines and stouts are impeccable, easily some of the best in the province, if not the country. Happy to have them back in the Top 10.
NANO CINCO Brasserie Artisanal
Québec City
Back in late April, I headed out to Québec to attend some brew days for the BAOS 10th anniversary event. I was in Québec City for the Noctem brew day, so of course I made sure I swung by Nano Cinco for the first time. I’d had a decent amount of their impeccable beer in 2024, and I kept that run in 2025. Good lord, they’re just spectacular. From their killer Lagers to their god-tier haze, not to mention their burgeoning barrel program, they’re really doing everything right. I didn’t get to as many of their beers as I would have liked, mostly because the brews in distro are often 2+ months old by the time Nate finds them, but I’m hoping to go harder in 2026. I’ve been trying to get the guys on the podcast - they’re not super comfortable with English, which I totally understand, but hopefully we can make it happen at some point.
KAHNawake Brewing
Kahnawake
We made a large boo-boo in 2024 and neglected to include Kahnawake on the list, so we absolutely rectified that for 2025. Drew, Keegan and Sam have been slaying - while they’re renowned for their killer haze, the fellas dominate all styles. From non-alcs to English styles, barrel-aged Stouts, Farmhouse and Barleywines, all the way to Lagers and Smoothies, they can do no wrong. The kitchen is also spectacular, pumping out creative dishes that truly complement the brews. The coolest thing they did was figure out the distribution game - due to the legal situation, they were stuck on the reservation and unable to send their beers out into the wider province. Instead, they contracted through Avant-Garde, and now they have numerous SKUs available province-wide. Check the recent pod with Drew below for the full story.
5e BARON MICROBRASSERIE
Aylmer
The two-time Brewery of the Year gang at Aylmer’s 5e Baron are in the building! Our perennial faves, Jacob, Stephen, Dimitri and the team are truly delivering an impeccable experience. Renowned for their crispies, Stouts and West Coast IPAs, 5e have really cemented their reputation in their almost 6 years in business. Arguably, their standout style is their Westies - name another brewery that knocks out so many pine-forward brews in every single possible variant. From crushable Pale Ales, to pinier 6-7% bangers, to the punchy DWCIPAs, with both new and old school approaches, there really is no way to go wrong. They’re so into it that they’re holding a Best Coast WCIPA festival on January 30th, 2026. Get down there.
bad bones
Dunham
Voted the highest rated non-American brewery in the world on Untappd, Bad Bones has achieved more acolades in less than 18 months than most breweries do in a lifetime. Zack and Ryan are literally world-renowned for their murky, punchy haze, and in 2025, they finally ventured out into four beers of varying styles - a Lager, a WCIPA and a barrel-aged Blackwine + Imperial Stout. Ryan came on board in 2025 to helm the Lager program, which is super exciting as Zack can focus on knocking out the murkiboiz, and Ryan can zone in on the one style. They also opened their own taproom down the road from their production in Dunham, and from what I hear, it’s a vibe, with a massive beer garden in the summer. I can’t wait to finally get out there and drown myself in some blurryboiz.
Le Ketch - Microbrasserie du Littoral
Sainte-Flavie
Some of the most exciting NEIPAs are being pumped out of the seaside town of Sainte-Flavie, thanks to Guillaume and the team at Le Ketch. They seemed to come out of the blue back in 2022, going from a chill local brewpub to a provincial powerhouse, brewing some of the best haze in the country. The GOAT of hops, Peacharine, is also synonymous with Le Ketch, with Guillaume brewing more Peacharine beers than basically any other brewery outside of New Zealand (I’d love to know if that’s a fact or I’m just making that up). While their distro is limited, it’s absolutely worth the trip out there to see it for yourself. Nate goes a couple of times a year, and I’m insanely jealous. I had more Le Ketch in 2025 than any year prior, and it was such a bloody treat, I’m super grateful and hope to be smashing them weekly in 2026.
Microbrasserie Sir John
Lachute
When I lived in Montreal, I’d buy Sir John cans whenever I saw them. They were one of the first haze lords that focused on distribution, so it was amazing to be able to get murk of that quality relatively regularly. And while they’ve always been fantastic across the board, something happened in the last year or two, and they’ve elevated their game something crazy. We had the boys on the pod in 2025, and the beers we drank all year was just insanity. The haze is more consistent than it’s ever been, and every other style is just bangin’. We went out to the brewery in May for the blending day for our 10th anniversary collab, and everything we tried was bonkers. I’m ecstatic to see where they take it in 2026. Not to mention that Max saved the day at our anniversary festival, and Simon was the life of the party. Absolute legends.
PUB BREWSKEY
Montréal
Damn, Top 3 already? Of course, BreWskey landed right in there. Derrick and the squad brew some of the most exciting and consistent beers in Québec - their haze is leading the way, obvi, but they’re the Smoothie Sour lords, their barrel program is criminally underrated, and if you’ve been to the pub, you’ll find almost every style on the board done to perfection. They opened up their L’Annexe back in 2023, bringing them to three killer spaces with different vibes for you to enjoy their impeccable wares. I loved hearing about Derrick’s impact on brewers like Zack and Ryan of Bad Bones (they talked about it on the pod) - and while he’s dominating in his own world, he’s helping the next generation of brewers develop amazing brewing chops to bring even more fire to the people. An absolute must if you’re in MTL.
Mellön Brasserie
Montréal
Mellön have had an interesting almost five years in business. Opening dead in the middle of the pandemic, they’ve gone on to create a neighbourhood phenomenon in Rosemount. I went past the brewery on their fourth anniversary back in May; I came down with a stomach bug so I wasn’t able to stay, but I wanted to pick up the anni brews. When I pulled up, the place was more packed than any brewery I’ve ever seen. The line for the bar (FOR THE BAR) was down the street, and people were drinking out of expensive glassware in the neighbouring parking lot. It was incredible to witness, especially in an age where folks are saying craft beer is dead. Their friendship with my Toronto locals at True History is super cute, and everything I had from them in 2025 was legit fire. Their crispies are god-tier, while their haze is on point, and their Stouts and BA stuff are fantastic. Can’t wait to actually get to MTL and sit on that patio with a slice of Pizza Toni and a LUKR crispy.
Messorem Bracitorium, 2025 Québec Brewery of the Year
Montréal
THREE PEAT! For the first time, a brewery has landed the Brewery of the Year for three years in a row, and it’s Messorem, as you may have expected. Receiving a perfect score from all four of us, no brewery in Québec (scratch that - in Canada) has done what Messo has done. Their brand is arguably the most recognizable in the country; they’re at every beer festival in the world (at least it feels like they are); and they absolutely dominate every single style they brew. While they have some very close competitors in the haze category, we couldn’t think of another brewery that does Lagers, WCIPAs, barrel-aged everything, Smoothie Sours, and Brown Ales like they do. The taproom is otherworldly, delivering one of the best craft beer experiences north of the border. If you wear their merch to a brewery outside of Québec, you’re almost guaranteed to have someone come up to you expressing their love of the brand. I got to hang with Marc-André and Seb in Tampa, FL, at Tampa Beer Week back in March, and it was amazing to see the love they get in person. I also saw Messo stickers at every brewery down the East Coast, and when I sent photos of each to Filion, he knew the brewery every time. Absolutely well deserved, yet again. Congrats, legends, let’s see what 2026 holds.