We usually review craft brews although occasionally we have ventured onto the dark side. That being big box brewer brews. And although we find in general the beers of mass consumption often lacking, as the old saying goes, even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while. Am I saying that this once proud craft brewer, now a big brewer Molson brand *, has found that proverbial nut? ** No, I am not.
Creemore has been hit and miss with us. We found their “Boundless” IPA out of bounds, and their Citrusy Pale Ale ailed. On the plus side, as in super suds, the Crisp Pils was just that, and their Schwarzbier was a tasty stroll in the dark. The point I am trying to make here is that we judge based on the beer, not the brewer. We prefer craft beers because in our opinion they are fresher, tastier, more interesting and definitely have far cooler names then “Session IPA”, an important distinction as noted in the COMDB Guide to Beer Tasting.
Dark and clear with a full head of steam. So far so good. Very mild fruit aroma and nothing else, this session is in session. The first taste is light fruit, then malt, then bitter. If I didn’t know better I would know for sure that this is a pale ale. Being mild in all respects and aspects it does lend itself to big swigs which can be a plus or a minus. Unfortunately the bitters tend to take over leading to an unbalanced pale making it less big swigable and in turn less sessionable.
Neither a great session IPA nor a great pale ale. It looks like this blind squirrel is still looking.
*Editor’s Comment: : Creemore Springs started in 1987 and was such a successful craft brewery that Molson bought them in 2005. They then expanded production capacity to a point where in 2009 they lost their official craft brewer status.
**Editor’s Comment: I think the nut in this case is the reviewer, and that being the case it appears that this Creemore Session IPA has found their nut.
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