Creemore Lager

Dear Replicator,
    I was in Toronto, Canada last Christmas, visiting some friends, and I was introduced to a premium lager called Creemore Springs. It was a great beer! I have searched high and low for something similar in the United States, but nothing comes close. Please help, because I would love to make this beer and share this nectar of the gods with my friends. They’re going to love it!

Paul Gora
McAllen, Texas

Creemore Springs is a European-style full-bodied lager, and that is somewhat unusual in North America, where lagers are often drier and less full-bodied. That full-bodied flavor explains your difficulty in finding an acceptable beer in Texas. (These beers are out there, but you have to look harder than for most other beer styles.) Most North American lagers are normally Budweiser clones that rely on a high percentage of adjuncts to lend the “light” color, body and flavor that is common in this style of beer. You’ll just have to resort to making your own full-bodied lager to satisfy your thirst!

I spoke to Gord Fuller, head brewer at Creemore Springs in Toronto, about making this beer at home. As a “premium lager,” Creemore Springs uses 100% malted barley to make this beer. This full-on maltiness is what makes the beer premium. Gord says they use about 10% crystal malt (40° L) in the malt bill to give this beer a little color, and some additional maltiness comes from the non-fermentability of the crystal malt. Creemore Springs uses Czech Saaz hops, at an IBU level of about 25, to achieve a nice balance between the malt and hop bitterness.

The yeast that Creemore Springs uses is a private strain, one that was actually an old Stroh’s yeast. This yeast produces a slight estery (fruity) flavor that is somewhat unusual for lager yeasts. None of the lager yeasts from Wyeast and White Labs offer quite the right combination, so here I would suggest that you use one of the lager yeasts listed below, but ferment at about 58 to 60° F to add a bit of fruitness that lager strains produce at higher temperatures. Then, after the yeast has finished fermenting, drop the temperature of the beer to about 35–40° F for a minimum of 2 weeks to lager the beer and give it a chance to mellow out in the colder lagering temperatures.   

You can get more information about Creemore Springs Brewery at http://www.creemoresprings.com/ on the Web, or by calling the brewery at (705) 466-2240.

by Steve Bader 

Creemore Springs Premium Lager
(5 gallons, extract with grains)
OG = 1.048  FG = 1.014  IBUs = 2.5  ABV = 4.5%

Ingredients

• 6.6 lbs. Coopers light malt extract syrup
• 1 lb. crystal malt (40° L)
• 6.1 AAU Czech Saaz hops (bittering hop)
• (1.75 oz. of 3.5% alpha acid)
• 3.5 AAU Czech Saaz hops (aroma hop)
• (1 oz. of 3.5% alpha acid)
• 1 tsp. Irish moss for 45 min.
• White Labs WLP810 (San       
•   Francisco Lager) or Wyeast 2112       
•   (California Lager) yeast
• O.75 cup of corn sugar for priming

Step by step
    Steep the crushed crystal malt in 3 gallons of water at 150º F for 30 minutes. Remove crushed grains from wort, add malt extract syrup and bring to a boil. Add Saaz (bittering) hops, Irish moss and boil for 60 minutes. Add Saaz (aroma hops) hops for last 5 minutes of the boil.
    When done boiling, strain out the hops, add wort to 2 gallons cool water in a sanitary fermenter, and top off with cool water to 5.5 gallons. Cool the wort to 80º F, aerate the beer and pitch your yeast. We recommend making a yeast starter. Allow the beer to cool over the next few hours to 58º–60º F, and hold at these cooler temperatures until the yeast has fermented completely. Then drop the temperature of the beer to 35 to 40° F and lager for a minimum of 2 weeks. Bottle your beer, age for 2-3 weeks and enjoy!

All-grain option:
    Replace the light syrup with 8.25 lbs. two-row pale malt. Mash all your grains at 155º F for 60 min. Collect enough wort to boil for 90 min. and have a 5.5-gallon yield. Lower the amount of the Saaz boiling hops to 1.5 oz. to account for higher extraction ratio of a full boil. The remainder of the recipe is the same as the extract.