Mission Springs Big Chief Cream Ale

Brewed by Mission Springs Brewing Co.
Style: Cream Ale
Mission, Canada

My first clue that this bottle was off: the neck was empty. However, my hopes remained alive when I heard the Psst! as the top was popped off.... but no, it was a cidery vinegary mess in the end. too bad, I’ll have to give this another chance I guess.

I eat at the Mission Springs resturant regularly and almost always order the Cream Ale if I get it in a cold frosted glass. IMHO they don’t serve it cold enough. It tastes better cold. I find the aroma is quite promising although there’s not much of a head. The taste starts out well but ends up kind of "flat" and "thin". It’s like there’s potential there but something is missing. Still... it’s a helluva lot better than Canadian big brewery beers.

Bottled, bought this for a tasting session. What a dog! Pour was thin, with minimal loose head and negligible lacing. Aroma was ok, hints of chestnut and crystal malt, somewhat promising hop aroma...chinook? Centennial?. Taste was disappointing...any hop taste present was overwhelmed by stale "tap taste." Malty flavours were underdone. I can only guess that this batch was badly bottled and had gone stale.

Dull dark straw colour. Light, faintly malty aroma. There is a hint of wood and fruit and a light citric note but not much overall. I’ll pass, thanks, there’s better out at Mission Springs.

Pale golden, slightly hazy with a thin white head. Pale malt, a touch of peach/apricot. Flavour is very similar, very fruity yeast, long apricot finish with low bitterness. Thin-bodied.

Looked more like an amber, this cream ale had some malts in the nose. Flavour included some hops which made it taste a little more like a plae ale than a cream ale. Slight sweetness to the finish.

Not as exciting as one might hope for from one of the newer breweries on the West Coast of Canada. This light copper colored ale is described by the brewery itself as ’a lighter bodied copper colored beer. A good beer for those who like OK Springs Pale Ale or Rickards Red.’ Based on fuggles hopping and Pale Ale, ESB, and Honey Malts, this brew is more a Pale Ale than that of a Cream Ale. Perhaps not surprising when they peg it as a contender to OK Springs and Rickards rather than a Shaftsbury Cream Ale or similar such offerings from other local haunts like R&B. Quite a mild ale that pours surprinsingly flat. 1/2’ head quickly gives way to a virtually clean slate, a minute collar and no long term lacing of the glass. The honey hops start to come through on the aroma and flavor after letting the beer sit for awhile, that tend to push this brew towards a Pale Ale/Honey Lager blend rather than the Cream Ale its supposed to be. Visually, it does mirror the copper/golden colors found in the OK Springs Pale Ale and similar ones like Granville Island. Taste wise though, it really lacks any true characteristics to help make it memorable.

Called honey cream when I had it. Amber color.Light pleasant malt nose. Smooth malt flavor ends with faint cigar butt dirty line taste