Creemore Lager Today

old faithful · Post by **old faithful** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 6:48 pm

I picked this up on a whim today, and it seems to have less earthy intensity than before, less astringency. Maybe it is just the batch, but I find this current bottling the best ever. The taste is similar to before but seems more balanced, with the malt more to the fore.

Gary

cirrosis · Post by **cirrosis** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:51 pm

that is because with a new lab full of chemical additives the brewery can now focus on removing those nasty natural flavors that good old fashioned real beer used to taste like and take us to a world of beer where accountants and lawyers predict how your beer will taste like.

pootz · Post by **pootz** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 1:41 pm

The last Creemore I tasted was fresh but it tasted "flat" in the malt department...the bright malting that left that pugent biscuity aftertaste was missing....I taste one now and then to see if Molson had gone back to their old malts from the dominion malts they use now....but I don't hold my breath waiting...the old Creemore of years gone by is gone.

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 1:52 pm

I phoned Molson/Coors a while back asking if they changed the recipe. They promised me that nothing has changed, and they are still brewing Creemore in acordance with the slogan "100 years behind the times".

pootz · Post by **pootz** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:58 am

SteelbackGuy wrote:I phoned Molson/Coors a while back asking if they changed the recipe. They promised me that nothing has changed, and they are still brewing Creemore in acordance with the slogan "100 years behind the times".

......and the cheque is in the mail.

I don't think they're telling you the whole truth...no one is saying they changed the process or the measued amounts in the recipies...next time ask them if they are still using the original specialty malts they sourced from Gilbertson & Page. Ask if the malt they use now is 2 row import or 2 and 6 row domestic from Dominion.

howardt · Post by **howardt** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:22 am

cirrosis - 'that is because with a new lab full of chemical additives the brewery can now focus on removing those nasty natural flavors that good old fashioned real beer used to taste like and take us to a world of beer where accountants and lawyers predict how your beer will taste like.'

Gord Fuller is still the Brewmaster at Creemore and all of the beer is still brewed there. There has been no change to how the beer is made, go visit and see for your self.

Creemore has always purchased malt from Canada Malting for 90% of the blend and Briess Malting for most of the specialties. Neither the formulation nor supply has changed other than normal adjustments to accomodate changes from one crop year (or malting) to the next.

If you are off the brand because of the new owners - so be it, but that is different than random speculation without any basis to try and convince yourself that the flavour has changed. It hasn't.

old faithful · Post by **old faithful** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:16 am

I am glad to hear continuity has been maintained.

I will try the brand again soon but based on recent tastings I think it is better than it ever was.

Gary

pootz · Post by **pootz** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:06 am

howardt wrote:
Creemore has always purchased malt from Canada Malting for 90% of the blend and Briess Malting for most of the specialties. Neither the formulation nor supply has changed other than normal adjustments to accomodate changes from one crop year (or malting) to the next.

If you are off the brand because of the new owners - so be it, but that is different than random speculation without any basis to try and convince yourself that the flavour has changed. It hasn't.

The source of the malt change information was credible enough to make me believe the info about supplier change was more than "speculation". If this info is wrong then I stand humbly corrected and will have some words with my sources of information.

I suppose the point is that Molson corporate has such a poor reputaion for misrepresenting their products that consumer info from them lacks credibility. Perhaps in the future any consumer inquiry concerning Creemore product should be answered by a contact person at the Creemore brewery.......do you have a contact number?

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:08 am

Freshness and consistency are what I taste nowadays. At this point in time here in Ontario, I consider Creemore Lager & Urbock to be rare pearls in a sea of largely indifferent clones.

Less speculation, more degustation.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:57 am

I was a HUGE Creemore fan. I've still got a ton of the old bottles in Homebrew use.

I had last years Urbock ontap & in the bottle. Too much syrupy sweetness. It wasn't even a shadow of it's former self... it was very different.

The regular lager hasn't went as downhill, but I agree that it's not the same.

I don't know what the change is... maybe they've reduced the lagering time?

I drink more Wellington County Ale on draft now!

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 12:52 pm

Responsible Drinker wrote:I had last years Urbock ontap & in the bottle. Too much syrupy sweetness. It wasn't even a shadow of it's former self... it was very different.

I've always found the quality of the urBock to be variable from year to year, even before the Molson takeover. Some vintages were fantastic, some were not-so-hot.

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 2:29 pm

I had a visiting wine export manager from Portugal in town on Monday night and we had dinner at the Esplanade. We both had 2 pints of Creemore and I must say that I am as happy with it as I have ever been. It continues to be my #1 domestic beer of choice (not that I don't like others, but I rarely drink domestics) and I don't detect any deterioration in quality.

pootz · Post by **pootz** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 3:53 pm

Responsible Drinker wrote:I was a HUGE Creemore fan. I've still got a ton of the old bottles in Homebrew use.

I had last years Urbock ontap & in the bottle. Too much syrupy sweetness. It wasn't even a shadow of it's former self... it was very different.

The regular lager hasn't went as downhill, but I agree that it's not the same.

I don't know what the change is... maybe they've reduced the lagering time?

I drink more Wellington County Ale on draft now!

I'm the same RD....I drank this stuff from the time it first hit the tavern taps and the beer store and I am certain what I taste now is different...then it is up to individual taste as to whether that is an improvement or not...from my tastes it is not and the Ur bock changes slightly year to year anyway...probably as the result of the aforementioned changes in the barley/malt crop adjustments from year to year...that is not a problem for me I buy it anyway I like bock... sweet or hoppy as long as the malts are there and the body isn't too thin....but I don't buy the Creemore lager I used to as I feel it lacks something fundamental it once had.

We can pound on this all day and waste megs of bandwidth speculating...the brewer says it hasn't changed but many people taste a difference...myself included....so?...stalemate...end of convo.

Like you RD, I've moved on to other types and brands of beer as a personal preference anyway so it seems moot arguing with those who say there is no change in Creemore.....it's not much concern to me one way or the other.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 4:43 pm

Wow, haven't had the UrBock that recently. How is it right now?

Somebody lately did give me a ton of the Lager and it was a pleasure.

pootz · Post by **pootz** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:09 pm

Belgian wrote:Wow, haven't had the UrBock that recently. How is it right now?

Somebody lately did give me a ton of the Lager and it was a pleasure.

The 2006 new/fresh Ur Bock is on the shelves now...go check it out. I've already had a couple bottles....I have my impressions but I'd like to hear what you think first...so go get some