I've been in a great mood lately, I really have, and I feel bad about some of the low scores I have been giving in my recent reviews. I will reiterate something I have said many times in this blog (or on Instagram live with Dan), we are rating beers, not breweries. Given the model that craft breweries operate under - new releases coming every other week or thereabouts - it is hardly surprising that some of the outputs are going to be of lower quality than others. As a drinker, I don't mind this at all, if breweries are willing to take chances, try new hops/adjunct combinations in the hop that they might hit on a stroke of pure genius, then I'm willing to try them. In fact, I quite like trying a beer that challenges my preconceptions about what should work. If the result is good or bad, its all good fun along the way and I get a better understanding of my own personal preferences. All that being said, I would like a beer that knocks my socks off soon, is that too much to ask? Would that be a Christmas miracle? Consider me your Tiny Tim waiting patiently for the Scrooge that is my Beer52 advent calendar to rock up at my gaff with the beer equivalent of a fat Christmas goose. I so want to wish a merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
Christmas Chameleon
Style - American Pale Ale
Brewer - Brew York
Hops - Columbus, Idaho 7, Mosaic, Simcoe
ABV - 3.7%
The Beer
Oh god, seriously? 3.7% ABV?? It's the freaking weekend, I wanted something with a bit of heft about it to make me forget the woes of the week to come (well actually, Christmas is coming so it's not really a woeful week ahead, but in general terms a3.7% ABV pale is not my standard weekend fare).
Christmas Chameleon pours so disappointingly thin that I'm down in the dumps before I've even emptied the can into the glass. It has a very pale straw colour with little to no head retention. Sorry, but I seriously doubt anything with such a weedy body is going to cut it in the flavour department.
But hang on, what a fool I am, get your nose in there boyo, go on, stick it in nice and deep, it will be worth it. Christmas Chameleon has it. That super enticing hop soup scent I've been waiting for. This is an absolute cacophony of dank, overripe fruits and pine needles, this saucy little number has hidden depths. It smells like a big juice bomb DIPA with a touch of the Verdant about it, but without the belt busting ABV.
And damn if that doesn't go down smooth. There's body to Christmas Chameleon, not in viscosity terms, but it coats the mouth with sticky malts making the flavours adhere to the palette long after you've gulped it down. And what good flavours they are! It is dank and dirty up front, easing into soothingly citric on the finish. There's lingering all-tongue bitterness going on, which finishes in pine resin and is all kinds of wonderful.
This demure little pale drinks like every good time IPA you've ever met, but has the ABV of a designated driver (well, near enough). Everything about drinking Christmas Chameleon is good, like really good. There's only one sticking point for me, I'm not sure I'd market this as a Christmas beer - could this be a cynical repackaging to shift excess stock? But I don't care really, market it how you will Brew York, if they have this next summer, I'm buying a lot of it, like a shit tonne. Christmas Chameleon is the absolute perfect beer for a summer's BBQ where you don't want to lose control, or maybe your work Christmas night out? I'd reckon I could drink maybe eight or nine of these and feel pretty good about not having a go at my boss about those damn TPS reports.
Any way, Christmas Chameleon is proof that big flavour does not demand big ABV, nor that weedy guys can't pack a punch.
Score 5/5
Comments