You have to love Cammo Brewing. Cameron (sole owner and brewmaster) puts a lot of thought and effort into his brews, and he allows me to
sample them, even though he knows they often get low scores. He takes the feedback and tries to improve his methods - which is a win-win for me. Today's beer is an alphabet soup of an IPA. I'm told that IPAs are the easiest and most forgiving of the beer types, and I wonder if this will be better than his
Watermelon or
Headless Monk.
The beer is brown and it is topped with a steadfast and frothy head that speaks ill of other, less industrious heads loudly and with an air of derision. I don't know what it dies down to, as I've waited long enough, and this thing is like a wad of marshmallow topping in its staying power. The aroma is not particularly hoppy, despite being an IPA. It smells a bit citrusy and grainy. I think there is floral hops just dancing around the edges of perception. Now that I notice them, they are more pronounced than I at first thought - they are just very light against the heavy malt background.
First sip is very, very sharp. It bites like a rattler into the tongue and won't let go. The hops have this bitter spike that they drive into the tongue unceremoniously and then the malt just kind of kicks the back of your throat while you're down. If I can say anything about it - this is not a sipping beer. I even tried a couple more sips, and it tames out a bit, but sipping is not the speed of this beer.
A full draught has to be better. Tip-in is carbonation burning brightly with folds of flowering hops gently touching the taste buds - not at all the bite that was in the sip. The middle is mild and sweet. It has toffee and molasses notes to it with a bit of an orange citrus hint. The finish is where the hate lies. It tastes bitter without including any hop flavor. It's like licking the underside of a motel bed.
Bottom Line: An inelegant beer, it has some serious promise, but remains unfulfilled.
1.25/5
Addendum: It gets WAY better when it warms up a little. Upgrading the score to reflect this.
2.0/5