How did I end up reviewing Creemore Springs' Lager? Well, I had several people on Twitter tell me that I must try this beer - I rarely say no, so here we are!
Creemore, like Granville Island, is a microbrewery owned by Molson Coors. Granville has a Cream Ale and a Pale Ale available here in the Manitoba market, while Creemore just has this beer, their "Premium Lager".
For 6 bottles of Creemore's Premium Lager, it's approximately $10.50 before tax and deposit. Like most lagers, it has an ABV of 5.0%.
Appearance: Slightly darker (honeyish) than a usual lager, reminiscent of Sleeman's Honey Brown Lager. Very minimal foam, but lots of bubbling going on, like most lagers.
Aroma: A mixture of grain, malt, and a slight hint of caramel. Overall, this is your father's lager.. that is, if your father is someone who likes generic lagers.
Taste: First thought I got was "I'm drinking Molson Dry, but lighter". It has that weird grainy maltiness you get in a can of Molson Dry. Tastes like just about any Canadian lager I've had. Slightly bitter on back of the tongue, slightly sweet (almost corn/grain combo-like). Certainly not the worst I've had, but not even in the top 70% of best, either.
Overall Thoughts: For a micro, needs improvement. If you enjoy lagers, you will enjoy this. If you are looking for something satisfying that has a burst of flavour, go for something by Flying Monkeys, Paddock Wood or Tree Brewing. Will I buy this again? Nope. Who do I recommend it for? People who love lagers.
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8 comments:
After going on vacation to SOuthern CALifornia, and trying their watered down beer. I think any Canadian beer, tastes premium! LOL!
I'm generally not a lager fan, but Creemore Lager is far, far superior to a generic lager. It's a macro'd micro (given that they're owned by Molson) but I'll always choose this over anything else by Labatt, Molson, Sleeman, Moosehead or any generic "import" lager at most bars given the choice. Manitobans haven't seemed to enjoy Creemore products in my experience, at least from what I've read online (the Half Pints guys didn't like their Kellerbier last year, from what I recall) -- maybe something's lost in the travel compared to what I've had here in Toronto? The ratebeer and beeradvocate ratings for both these Creemore brews are definitely pretty solid, especially for their styles, and I tend to agree with them. Not my favourite styles, but pretty decent for uncomplicated, readily-available beers.
Anonymous: if you only had watered-down beer in SoCal, you REALLY missed out. California is full of pretty phenomenal beer beyond the shitty multinational macros. You might need to look for it, but not even too hard.
@Anonymous: LOL!
@Nick W: For me, the gold standard for "lagers" has become Skjálfti by the same brewery that makes Lava Stout. They used an abundance of hops in said lager, but also the ingredients were quite.. decent. I've tasted too much raw barley, oat and wheat in my day coming from a grain farm to taste an overpriced grain water.
It's certainly a better brew than the domestics (tidbit: I drink Molson Dry more than most domestics). Perhaps it was due to trying Granville's pale ale that made me expect a bit more. I'm used to lagery pale ales (ala Half Pints St James, Labatt 50), but this beer just didn't seem worth it.
I also noticed it really hasn't sold well here in Brandon, some of the local LC staff said they personally didn't enjoy it, but in some cases, when they see the price tag, they would rather save $0.75 for a 6 of budweiser instead, unfortunately.
Too bad it didn't do it for you man - to be honest, I'm a little surprised. As a lager, I think it stacks up quite well (as Nick mentioned, the BA Bros rated it "World Class"). It's quite drinkable and pretty tasty IMO.
That said, it's still a lager - the style doesn't really lend itself to anything amazing.
Hey Folks
Karen from the brewery here. Like Mike and Nick, I am very surprised by some of your thoughts. First I think you have to understand what we are trying to achieve with the beer. To compare it's flavour profile to a Pale Ale or an aggressively hopped lager would not be fair. We were inspired by two of the great pilsners in the word when we developed the recipe, Pilsner Urquell and Budweiser Budvar. With that in mind we set out to brew a very well balanced yet flavourful lager. The beer is all malt - primary two row Canadian Pale Malt with a fair charge of roasted carmel malt - lending the slightly roasted nutty character to the beer that is not typical to a Lager. Saaz hops add the floral notes to the beer but primarily balance out the malty character and finish the beer with a straight forward bitterness. I tend to pick up fruitiness in the middle of the beer that comes from the yeast. For me it appears usually after the beer is two weeks old but I think dissipates as the beer ages. I am little concerned that you folks may be drinking the beer past it's freshness date or the beer has been exposed to warm temperatures. Cranky (not sure how to address you) anyway you can tell me the date code and if where you bought it cold stored it. I would be happy to send you a fresh pack to taste if we find the beer was past it's freshness date - 10 weeks cool stored, 5 weeks warm. As a parting comment we know the latest trend for craft is extreme or uber flavour beers but we at Creemore continue to believe that it is much more difficult to brew a flavourful well balanced beer that have layers of flavour nuances. Thanks to everyone for their comments we are excited that folks today are having such great conversations around beer. Cheers Karen
Hi Karen, I appologize about my bit of a Cranky review, but I am "The Cranky Beer Blogger." I think it has to do with me not drinking lager anymore. I've heard that the batch *may* have been sitting in a warehouse for a bit too long. I know that your "cousin" brewery Granville Is. had a beer that wasn't even in "season" when it was first shipped out here.
What I would be interested in? Kellerbier or UrBock.. those beers look like real delights!
I have to say though, I didn't feel ripped off buying it, compared to buying Alexander Keith's Ambrosia Blonde.. now that bad was disgusting. Creemore Lager IS a good beer to watch a hockey game with.
Hey Cody
No apologies needed, people should always speak their mind. Based on what you wrote I suspect you would like something a little more hop forward. e-mail me at karen.gaudino@creemoresprings.com I would like to get you some urBock or Keller to try. Keller will be out April 1st and urBock goes away then so if I plan it right I can get you a can of each to try.
And thanks, it because of people like you, elevating beer conversations, that folks are becoming more interested in beer.
Cheers Karen
PS - I never did hear back from Creemore..
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