The Bar Towel

Seems the rumours were true: http://www.creemoresprings.com/live/pilsner.php

Can anyone help me figure out how this will differ from their flagship lager? I thought it was brewed in the Czech style, which I thought meant it was likely a pilsner already.

sstackho wrote:Can anyone help me figure out how this will differ from their flagship lager? I thought it was brewed in the Czech style, which I thought meant it was likely a pilsner already.

it's not terribly interesting. not much detectable noble hops, and i think they're using the same yeast strain as their original, judging by the aroma. it's much lighter, both in flavour, colour and body than their original lager.

Oh goodie, that's just what this market needs.

sstackho wrote:Oh goodie, that's just what this market needs.

Could be worse - they could have called it Creemore India Pale Ale.

"a pilsner in Creemore??? - given their water profile, this sounds like a new method of marketing Molson Canadian. Of all styles, this is the absolute last I see coming from here. It falls into the 'what's wrong with this picture' category. Perhaps the info is wrong."

This was my comment from another thread and it begins to look all the more realistic. Remember, the big breweries strategy to eliminate us (the craft competitor) is to hopelessly blend and confuse. The Ontario Brewing Awards are a big brewery sponsored misinformation fest. The Fort York Festival is a big brewery controlled (the beer store) misinformation fest.

If, in fact, the Creemore offering is any less flavourful than a King or Stone Hammer Pilsner, then I am very suspicious as to why they would bother to put it out. They already market Molson Canadian, why do they need this - so they can blend the perceptions of 'quality' beer together of course - a long, slow incideous process.

I won't get all paranoid about Molson marketing this Pils until I see it on a tap handle in a Sask. bar

My understanding is this is a "summer seasonal" to balance the UrBock winter seasonal. I see Gord Fuller helped develop it. I suspect this won't consume production as a full time brew at Creemore...unless they have massive unused capacity or they hand the "formula" off to Molson to make at one of their "plants".

As for whether it will stand out in Ontario's crowded craft beer pilsner pool, that's another story. The set up they have in Creemore preculdes doing the double and triple decoction that a "traditional" pilsner requires...I doubt if Molson's will seek a German agent to source the requisite moravian malt, proprietary pilsner yeast or the whole cone Saaz hops from Zatec...and as Rob states the water in Creemore is too hard to brew a "traditional" pils

Traditional Plzen like Budvar, if tasted fresh, has a complex aroma: a bouquet of apricot blossoms from Zatec dry hopping with a note of fresh-baked bread from the tripple decocted moravian malts, like marmalade on sourdough toast. The taste is rich and sugary up front but balaces with a sharp herbal astringency followed by a long, crisp finish.

That traditional flavor profile is only possible if it is made with the low-sulfite, low-carbonate water of the Czech city of Pilsen, its original home. Many have tried, but it's nearly impossible to make a good Pilsener elsewhere without doctoring the water, and even then, it will never taste the same.

For this reason I wonder why local craft brewers dote on making this elusive style.... it is near impossible to recreate...only "approximate"...and the approximations are faily good and vary from hoppy like King to malt pronounced like Brickman.

...those who hawk a locally made pilsner as "traditional" rely on the ignorance of the public who are largely unexposed to real Pilsner beer...we do have access to Urquell, Budvar and Staropramen but these pasturized (poorly handled) imports are a pale imitation of the fresh Czech lagers by the same name served unpasturized on tap in Bohemia...I have only tasted commercial CZ Pilsners less than a dozen times on tap less than 3 weeks from racking....but it was glorious!

I'm not panning Creemore before they start, and actually I wish them luck....I like craft Pilsners but let's not get people's hopes up in promoting it as "traditional"....to me that sounds like standard Molson ad copy dreck.

Pootz - could you recommend a good "real" Czech pilsner that is readily available in Ontario?

Gedge wrote:Pootz - could you recommend a good "real" Czech pilsner that is readily available in Ontario?

My favorite is Czechvar ( budvar)
or Staropramen...just be careful where you get them...if you see them at the beer store then there is a good possibility they are in good shape...check the date code and anything older than 6 months pass up....at the LCBO if they are in green bottles and unrefrigerated and open to light...yez takes yer chances.

Urquell in the can is usually OK. Locally I like King or Stratford or JR Brickman...although these are not authentic....they get close and the closest to a Czech Plzen is the King...but again...get if fresh.

If you see the other 3 czech pils on tap ( Budvar, Staropramen or Urquell...go for it and let me know who has them

I cracked a can of this tonight to drink during the Bob & Doug special (coo roo coo coo coo coo coo coo!), and I thought it was pretty decent. A little lifeless right out of the fridge, but once it warmed up a touch, it started to open up, and a nice herbal hop character developed. I doubt it's as good as a fresh pint of Urquell or Budvar back in the old country, but I'd compare it favourably to many of the canned European lagers/pilsners we get over here.

Noone else has said this, but i am sure its on people minds, that in general tjere is a lack of imagination in Ontario. Just as Canadians get a crowded market in my industry with a lot of small and big firms producing what they say the people want, because they haven't been taught any different. Yet the US market in my industry is 15 years ahead of us, because of imagination of several buyers, sellers, and go-betweens.ANd that has influenced the European market by 5-10 years. But Canada is still the caboose.

Tried some today...I'm impressed. Doesn't have the Pilsner mouth feel and the floral notes are dimure but this is a very decent approximation.