When we were down in North Yorks recently, I had a fine old time sampling some of the local brews.I brought home a few bottles of various different beers, but I managed to squeeze the odd sojourn to the pub in as well and partake of some wonderful ales.
One of these beers was not exactly local in the Yorkshire sense, but it hailed from a town which is close enough to make no difference.
CAMERONS have been brewing beer at The Lion Brewery in Hartlepool since 1865. In 2002, however, the brewery was bought by Castle Eden Brewery and a new company formed. They produce cask, keg and bottled ales and lagers, some of which are: Nimmos XXXX, Castle Eden Ale and the seasonal Knights range.There most famous ale though, is STRONGARM. It's brewed with challenge, fuggles, target and goldings hops, and with roasted crystal malt.
THEY SAY: "Well rounded, ruby red ale with a distinctive tight creamy head. Good balance of malt, hops and bitterness." Abridged from: http://www.cameronsbrewery.com
Camerons Strongarm comes in keg, bottle and cask, depending where you buy it from. I had a pint from the cask which set me back just over 2 quid.
Strongarm POURS more of a light brown then ruby red, and is topped by a light tan-coloured, creamy head formed by the masses of rising bubbles. The head is moderately long-lasting and leaves a respectable amount of lacing down the glass.
The AROMA is sweet and fruity, rich and malty with hints of caramel.There's quite a noticeable roasted aroma from the malt, and a little peppery spice from the hops. there's also a faint earthiness and a trace of wood-like aroma from the hops.
It's medium bodied with quite a smooth mouth feel and an initial TASTE of sweet, caramel malt. There's more fruit in the flavour, but it's kinda indistinguishable - dark-ish, vine fruit at a guess. Again, the woodland theme kicks in with earthy, oaky flavours from the hops but not a lot of bitterness - no more than average. It does turn slightly more bitter towards the finish, which is fairly dry.
• THE VERDICT •
At 4%ABV, this is a decent enough session ale. It's a little thin on flavour and could certainly be more complex, but it's refreshing enough and it's hard to find much fault with it. It promises quite a lot in appearance and aroma, but it's a little disappointing flavour-wise. It's not bad though, just not very exciting. A decent beer for making a session of it, it would also go well with any sort of pub grub, but failing that, a good thirst-quencher.
