beer in Montreal: Rickard's Red, Labatt Bleu, etc.

From BEER_webalbum

Rickard's Red: I'm happy to say that Beer Advocate reviewers look down on this beer as much as I do: (link). Apparently it's from Molson, which is a bad start. As advertised, the color is red. Lots of large bubbly carbonation, much like a a Natty light or something. Head shows up and promptly disappears. Kind of like soap. Tastes vaguely like beer. Malty. Some unidentified shit on the bottom. Definitely not bottle-conditioned, so I chose not to drink the shit. I'm trying not to think about it. Two thumbs down. It wasn't even that cheap.
Labatt Bleu: in all of its many forms, it sucks. That's all I really remember about it since we used it for drinking games. When we crossed the border the driver informed the guard that we had some Labatt, and the guard said, "You came all the way to Canada and all you brought back was Labatt?" Of course we didn't mention the un-sealed Bailey's, vodka and whisky. Or the illegal hockey player the NHL paid us to smuggle over in a very large and violent suitcase. Shh.

Besides the aforementioned beers, all of the beer I tried in Montreal also sucked. Boreale seemed to have some good efforts, but nothing worth writing home about or buying. The best thing I had in Montreal was actually a beer from Alsace (France) called "Boris" that has a vaguely socialist label and goes well with mild cheese.
Is it too cold to brew good beer? Did the French spawn the Quebecoise with the specific intention of proving that their beer is better than somebody's? I guess it makes sense because Montreal is such a hot spot for 18 year olds looking to drink at a bar/club for their first time. I suggest drinking only Unibroue (though it's not any cheaper there) or English beers such as Carling and Carlsberg. Neither of these is good nor bad. I'm not sure how that sentence was supposed to go... but you know what I mean. Of course, just across the border in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are some of the best moderately small breweries in America, so I guess the best thing is to buy before the border. Unless you're underage, in which case, stick to liquor. It's quicker, and you'll pass out or puke before you can make any little French-Canadian-American babies or statutory offenses.