To round out our Beerfest Weekend, Charles and I decided to make a little side trip into the town of Creemore on our way back up north to Penetanguishene.
The reason for our side trip?
More beer of course!
Creemore is home to the Creemore Springs Brewery, whose fine products happen to be a personal favourite of mine. I had done the tour before, while working in the area, but Charles isn't from around here, so it was a new experience for him.
We arrived just in time to sample their Kellerbier, which I can't believe I have never tried before, before embarking on a tour of the facility.
As a side note, I am infinitely familiar with their Premium Lager, Traditional Pilsner, and Urbock, but have never seen the Kellerbier on tap (until today) or at the LCBO. The Premium Lager has been one of my favoutite beers for a long time now.
What makes Creemore Springs line of beer so fabulous is their commitment to time honoured tradition, and their focus and dedication to their craft.
Each batch is made with only four ingredients: Malted Barley, Hops, Yeast, and Water. The last flowing from an artisian well owned by one of the Breweries 3 founders, and located just outside town.
They brew 4 batches of beer each day, with each brewing generating enough beer to fill 19,000 bottles.
The Lager and Pîlsner then age for 21 days, the Urbock and Kellerbier for 30 days.
With no additives or preservative to increase the shelf life of Creemore Springs, it is best enjoyed within 8 weeks of its brew date, which can be found printed on the case.
It was very educational to see the copper kettle, the kegging machine, bottler, and the filtration machine where the beer is filtered through diatomaceous earth as part of the brewing process. Kudo's to you if you knew that diatomaceous earth was dirt with a very high concentration of fossils in it.
Also cool to find out that each newly filled case is "drop tested" by having a machine purposefully drop it 2 feet to do a final check for imperfections in the bottles.
Now owned by Molson, Creemore Springs hasn't changed their brewing process at all since the purchase 7 years ago. The upside of being a craft brewery owned by a Major Corporation? National distribution. You can now enjoy Creemore Springs Products across Canada, as opposed to just rural Ontario.
After our tour, we sampled the Premium Lager, picked up some Creemore Springs Pint Glasses, and a mixer 6 pack each, and headed across the street to The Old Mill House pub for a burger and a pint of Kellerbier. It really does have a great, clean, fresh taste. Rich and full flavoured.
Then it was time to hit the road back to Penetang.
Back to life, back to reality. Beer in hand. (Well, in the trunk, actually, since its illegal to drive with a beer).
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