Creemore Springs UrBock
Creemore Springs Brewery Limited

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, 473mL in a pint glass. From Allen's Supermarket here in McGregor, Ontario. Lot number A22251125. My 5th beer from the Creemore, Ontario brewery, and for 2025. Radically recommended by Sundae the cat...

Pours a thin head of foam. Mahogany brown color. Taste is sweet and too malty for me. Some caramel or molasses mixed in. I really don't like this one at all and won't buy it again. I had 2 stouts before this beer and decided I only want half of this Urbock, so I poured the other half down the drain. Just wasn't feeling it. Sorry guys.

I might give it another chance on next release to see if i change my opinion then, but for now i didn't like this beer.

Poured a 473ml can into a pint glass. A one finger tan head on a clear dark brown. The head diminishes to a ring. Some very fine dispersed lacing.

Some weak malt smells. The flavour is malt forward. A bit thin for the style. A very mild hop finish.

Medium body and carbonation. True to the style but rather flat and subdued.

 

 

NOTES: This is a special edition Creemore Urbock, from a 473mL can. ‘Fire-brewed with spring water’. Otherwise it’s the same, didn’t warrant a new category but I figured I should mention. Fresh, bought as soon as it was added to the LCBO lineup.

Pours a clear, dark ruddy browned amber. A foamy and thick two inch head very slowly coalesces into a densely thick quarter inch cap with remarkable staying power. Dense but spidery lacing accompanies the drink on the backside of my glass. Very nice

Strongly malty, sweet, slightly savoury on the nose with a mild hint of yeasty doughiness in the background. Caramel malt for sure and perhaps semi indistinguishable dried dark fruits, maybe I can smell a tad bit of dried dark cherries or raisins. Toasty and clean.

Getting to the level of maltiness and doughy undertones in an unfiltered beer is definitely a surprise here, one I personally quite enjoy and this definitely has the hallmarks of bock beer, don’t get me wrong. It has flavours of unfiltered Belgians in there however, and I can see how this would turn some reviewers off when compared to other typical bocks.

Sweet, delicious caramel malts up front with some doughy aftertones, mild spice on some sips that recall a sort of dense rye bread/a savoury, nutty whole grain bread. Lightly toasty, but more in a nice caramel malty way, not particularly dark in a roasted character of stouts or other dark beers. Bitterness is low, but particular grassy notes of the hops can definitely be smelled and tasted — they stick around long enough to carry the dominating sweetness across the palate to the finish line. I read somewhere that it was crackery — not whatsoever. Biscuity? Maybe if the biscuits are dense, doughy, yeasty, or very sweet. This is more like straight up, fresh moist bread. Gentler spicy notes up front on the tip of the tongue, like the tiniest hit of clove/indistinguishable prickly spice, and vaguely nutty throughout. If you like malt, for this style it’s quite a tour-de-force.

Medium bodied, maybe a bit on the lighter side of medium, very moderate amount of carbonation that is made up of very tiny bubbles, creating quite a creamy sip on this one. Will add to the heavier feel in the stomach. Sweet, mild finish that really enhances that bready quality as you exhale through your nose. Alcohol is indistinguishable, the malt is star here.

Some might decry the lack of complexity found in benchmark examples of the style, but I found as a malt lover, they really nail everything you love and want in this kind of beer. Nothing wrong with taking one thing and hitting the bullseye on it. I like beers that know their strength and play to it. This is not a jack of all trades beer, but it’s probably better for it.

Phew! Lent is now over, but I figured I’d have a Bock to celebrate the Easter season. This is not a lentenbock — not like I’d find one here in Canada, but close enough to celebrate. I fasted a few times throughout the season, including the culminating 40-hour fast. Abstaining from all food and beer brings a deep appreciation back to these things, and respecting them as well. This feels like a meal in a can, not an aperitif or digestif at all, but a main course, sipping slowly through a dinner. Admission: I love malt, I love sweet beers. It follows that I really loved this beer from Creemore springs. It was fresh as the dickens, I definitely recommend getting this on tap if you can.

Pours dark, copper colour with thin but robust head that recedes but lingers. Strong but sweet, smooth and delicious. Malt and prunes/dried fruit aroma and flavour overtones. Low bitterness and carbonation. Like this one.

625ml bottle poured a 1 finger head into glass medium sweetness and malts and medium bitterness.
smell of cherry meduim body with slow carbonation
overal l its good
cheers.

Look: Dark amber semi transparent. Pours with a 2 1/2 finger tawny head. Head disapates to heavy lacing after 5 minutes.

Smell: Raisins, and caramel. Slight dry grassy notes and plenty of toast aromas.

Taste: Very sweet, and malty with rye bread and pumpernickel. Sweet aftertaste which fades leaving a final bitter note.

Feel: Medium creamy body. Plays at the front of the mouth and palate.

I look forward to this seasonal release every year. If you love sweet malty beers this will be right in our wheelhouse. A-.

500ml can poured into a pint glass

L: Deep, but intensely clear copper/amber with a smooth and even off-white head, which formed quickly and dissipated almost as fast. Very little lace.

S: Dominant bread crust with a tinge of dried fruit. This is all malt, all the time on the nose.

T: "Liquid bread" is the foremost thought when sipping this. Supple and dark like a pumpernickel, with enough bitterness to hint at the deeper notes of the crust. Not a lot of overt sweetness to be found, perhaps a small tinge of honey in the background, but also not a lot of identifiable hop flavour. A nice touch of acidity gives the beer some added life on the tongue. The finish is clean, but does linger, and retronasal reinforces the ubiquitous bready qualities.

F: Medium bodied, with a silky, slightly bright carbonation that keeps everything nicely harmonized.

O: This beer exemplifies the harvest season: deeper than the crisp, bright notes of the summer while hinting at the need for warmth in the season to come. It's deceptively simple, but its simplicity is I think the key to its success. Very drinkable and satisfying for this time of year.

 

Clear deep red with a smallish head with a cap. Sweet malt nose. Mild sweet body, no strong flavours. Smooth, not crisp.

 

this might be professionally and traditionally made, but it didnt move me much. its really sweet, even for the style, and lacks the sturdy malt depth that i like in the style. instead, it has sort of a monotone malt theme, kilned or toasted and longer boiled and nutty and brown sugary, which i guess is a lot of descriptors for something i just described as uniform and minimal, but it just doesnt quite have the complexity i like, despite the relative richness. the yeast for me could be a lot more robust too, this is precisely the type of beer i want to taste an old assertive german lager yeast in, and it never comes to be, has the same generic lager flavor as the rest of the beers these guys make, and it ends up a missing element for me. notes of chestnut and brown bread, a little noble hops, and some minerals at the end among the residual sugar. a fine tip of the cap to the lagers of old, but it comes across a bit conservative to me, and this was not my favorite beer we had in the quaint creemore springs brewery tasting room, which is a wonderful place to visit!

A bit too malty. Never thought I’d say that.