In-and-of itself the Creemore Premium Lager is a very good beer. It is a golden colour going on slight copper (lighting here is poor unfortunately). The nose is clean with no estery notes - proper for a lager. I'm not getting any malt nose off it either - which is neither here nor there for a lager (you can have malt nose, or not, depending on what type of lager since there are a dozen or more beer styles under the banner "lager"). There is a distinct and ever-so-slightly sweet malt character on the palate - not thick and overwhelming, cloying; but solid and rather pleasant. Because of this I'm actually surprised I'm not getting a malt nose - gave it a very good swish in my glass but nothing.
I forgot to measure the specific gravity of the thing out of curiousity sake.
There is a certain, subtle character to it which I'm having trouble determining is a slight "ale" character left behind by the yeast (which is a no-no in a lager), or whether it is from the malt.
Hopping is reasonably subdued. I'd guess maybe 15 IBUs (mainstreams are around 10), perhaps as high as 18. But no more. With the lower bitterness and the malt character, along with the colour, I'd say it is a pretty good example of a Munich Helles Lager.
All-in-all it is an extremely drinkable beer - something I could drink a fair bit of very easily and not complain about. It's quite different from your mainstream beers from Molson, Labatt, and the likes, but still something that people who normally drink mainstream beer would thoroughly enjoy. If it were still independent I would even put it back into regular circulation on my list of beers. And even knowing it is owned by Molson now, I do want to pick up a bit more (once I have a job again) to do another tasting under better conditions. Though I don't think I could in good conscience buy very much of it.
See the Beer Judge Certification Program website for details on the Munich Helles Lager Style.
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