Crown Jewel
Cameron's Brewing Co.

473 mL can from the LCBO, included in Cameron's I ❤️ Craft Beer Vol 2 mixed pack. Coded Sep 15 2023 and served barely chilled.

Pours a deep ebony brown with ruby red highlights, boasting nearly two fingers of foamy, khaki-toned head. It lasts for the better part of five minutes, eventually reduced to a tight, creamy collar and filmy cap; several swaths of sticky lace are produced in the process. Tea-leafy, grassy hops on the nose, backed by notes of toasted, nutty malts, brown sugar, raisin and prune.

The flavours are along the same lines: toasted malts, toffee, leafy hops and some nuttiness, with grassy, herbal bitterness developing on the back end. Suggestions of cocoa and prune recede into a leafy, herbal aftertaste with some lingering toasted nut maltiness. Light-medium in body, with moderately low carbonation that adds a little prickliness to this brew's smooth mouthfeel. Good drinkability - I could knock back a couple of these in a row and be no worse for wear.

Final Grade: 3.58, a B grade. I have always had some fondness for brown ales, but their lack of availability would seem to indicate that I'm in the minority - heck, these days I'd need to go out of my way just to find some Newcastle! Cameron's Crown Jewel is a solid rendition of this increasingly marginalized style of English ale: it's not as sweet as some browns, instead favouring a more balanced approach, featuring a hop profile that really does remind me of Newcastle. I've had better browns, but this is a respectable imitation that I'd drink again without a fuss.

 

Nov 29 2023