Thornbridge Halcyon (2009) & Saint Petersburg - Thank you myBrewerytap!

A courier arrived with an unexpected parcel today, two amazing looking bottles of Thornbridge ales courtesy of myBrewerytap!

Thornbridge brew some amazing beers, their bottled Jaipur [baron rating 5/5] and Kipling [baron rating 4/5] have already been 'baron rated' and received high scores - they are both excellent beers.

These new ones have the new label design and really look great, espicially as they are 7.7% ales in 500ml bottles, no messing around in little 275ml or 330ml this time! :)

• Thornbridge Saint Petersburg

7.7% Saint Petersburg is a fabulous warming, full bodied stout with subtle peat smokiness and chocolate malt flavours.

• Thornbridge Halcyon (Green Hopped IPA 2009 Harvest)

7.7% The plump resinous hop cones had intense aromas of orange peel, pine sap and a hint of smokiness turning this "green hopped" Halcyon into something truly special.

Both of these bottles are new from Thornbridge and both can be bought from myBrewerytap either as whole cases of St Petersburg or Halcyon (2009) or as a mixed case.  A big thank you to Richard from myBrewerytap for sending these through to me!

Buy Thornbridge ales here

Arundel Sussex Gold

Arundel Sussex Gold [baron rating 3/5] - this 4.2% golden ale has a hoppy aroma, a tangy rich bitter taste & a gentle bitter finish

Looking forward to 'baron rating' some Hopshackle ales soon!

Nigel from the Hopshackle Brewery very kindly sent me some samples to receive a 'baron rating' this week, in fact he was enormously generous and sent me eight of his range of ales!

After reading about Hopshackle beers on the Reluctant Scoop's blog I'm very excited to be able to reviews these soon! Here are the beers that he sent (along with beer information provided by Nigel):

 These are all in 500ml bottles:

• Hopshackle Special No. 001

5.2% ABV – a brown beer with an aroma of caramel and fruit. The taste is malty vinous fruit with background hops and a mildly bitter finish.

• Hopshackle Historic Porter

4.8% ABV – This is a dark beer with deep red highlights and an aroma of malt , grain and fruit . The taste is malt , hops , bitter-chocolate and liquorice with a bitter-tannic finish that fades slowly in the mouth. This won "Beer Of The Festival" at the Cambridge Winter Ale Festival in January 2010

Des de Moor thought it was a 'seriously rich and complex delight'.

• Hopshackle Double Momentum

7% ABV - This beer was inspired by a recipe from the 18th. Century and contains twice as many hops at all stages compared to the very popular "Hopshackle Momentum" on which is is based (hence the name). It is a golden beer with a white head and an aroma of pineapple and melon. The taste is powerful malt, fruit and spicey warmth with a drying hoppy , malty- fruit finish.

• Hopshackle Special Bitter

4.3% ABV - is a mid brown coloured beer with an aroma of fruit and malt . The taste is strong fruit with a malt and caramel background and a bitter finish.

  These are all in 275ml bottles:

• Hopshackle Restoration

9% ABV - This is a dark brown beer with a tight slightly off white head . It has an aroma of fruit and malt with a hint of apple and leather . It tastes of dried fruit and malt with a warming alcohol finish .
This is a unique beer inspired by some of the strong beers of Belgium . The 2008 years “ vintage “ won a silver award at the Peterborough Beer Festival . It is only made once a year in February or March . After the primary fermentation it is transferred into a conditioning tank were it is aged for 6 months allowing the complex flavours to develop . It is then bottled with a small amount of alcohol tolerant yeast and sugar . It is then kept at 27oC for 4-6 weeks which produces the secondary fermentation in the bottle giving natural carbonation to the beer . This beer tastes great straight away but can also be kept for many years allowing the complex flavours to develop and change like a wine. This year there is a total of only 1600 numbered bottles ( 2009 production ), each bottle is unique having its own number and year of production ( Best Before date is 5 years after bottling). The beer is also blessed in the fermenter by the local vicar from St Guthlacs Church and for every bottle sold a donation of 25pence goes to the church restoration funds(hence the name !).

• Hopshackle Imperial Stout

9.8% ABV – this is a dark , rich and complex beer which tastes of dark malts , fruit , hops and warming alcohol . It is dedicated to the memory of the breweries that once produced this style of beer in vast quantities for export to the Baltic States . It is made in a similar fashion to Restoration and there is a limited number of around only 1500 numbered bottles made each year.

• Hopshackle Vertigo 'VC'

9.8% ABV – Each version of this beer uses the same base recipe , but only one type of hop is used in each ! This allows the drinker to experience the unique characteristics of a single hop variety on its own . It is made in a similar way to Restoration but there are only 1300 numbered bottles of each type .
“ VC “ uses only cascade hops .

• Hopshackle Vertigo 'VF'

9.8% ABV – Each version of this beer uses the same base recipe , but only one type of hop is used in each ! This allows the drinker to experience the unique characteristics of a single hop variety on its own . It is made in a similar way to Restoration but there are only 1300 numbered bottles of each type .
“ VF “ uses only Fuggles hops .

These are some of the highest ABV ales that I've rated so I'm very excited to be able to try them out, look out for Hopshackle 'baron ratings' soon!

Note: I'm not sure how 'big' Hopshackle are, but I get the sense that it's just Nigel himself brewing these. The design of the labels is quite amazing for a tiny brewery, they are classic, clear & eye-catching, hope you all see some Hopshackle ales on your beer purchasing travels!

Buy Hopshackle ales here (and soon to be available on myBrewerytap!)

Greene King Ruddles County is £1.18 a bottle in Tesco (until 11th May 2010)

Tesco has 500ml bottles of Greene King Ruddles County [baron rating 4/5] for £1.18 (instead of £1.59) until 11th May 2010

Wentworth WPA

Wentworth WPA [baron rating 2/5] - 4% pale golden ale,citrus hops smell,sharp lemon hops taste & hop bitterness - too sharp for the baron!

Looking forward to 'baron rating' some Hawkshead ales soon!

I was greeted with another gift from the beer gods yesterday, on my return from Waitrose I was presented with a well-packaged parcel from Hawkshead brewery: a gift pack containing three of their fine ales:

• Hawkshead Lakeland Gold

• Hawkshead Organic Stout

• Hawkshead Red

I recently tried most of their range on tap at their Hawkshead Beer Hall in Staveley with Lakeland Gold being my favourite which also featured in Roger Protz's "The Ten Best Beers" article in The Independent (March 2010).  I'm really looking forward to seeing how the bottled versions match up against their cask brothers.

Look out for 'baron ratings' for Hawkshead ales soon, and a big thank you to Katie at the Hawkshead Beer Hall for sending these through to me!

Buy Hawkshead ales here

Looking forward to 'baron rating' these ales from Waitrose soon!

I had a great bottled beer day yesterday, visiting my local Waitrose store (Formby) to collect some sample bottles that their PR team had arranged to be put to one side for me:

The two unboxed bottles are the ales from the Duchy Originals series of products, I've only ever seen these beers in Waitrose stores and so I'm quite excited about 'baron rating' them.

The boxed one is a Fuller's Vintage Ale (2008) which again seems to only be available in Waitrose (at least from the stores that I visit in the north west). Waitrose carry a great range of Fuller's ales, much more than other local supermarkets.

I'm really looking forward to rating these three bottles and would like to say a big thank you to Bethan and Kelly from Waitrose head office in arranging these samples!

Buy these ales here

Wychwood King Goblin

Wychwood King Goblin [baron rating 2/5] - 6.6% dark amber ale,boozy fruit smell,sweet rich fruit taste & sticky sweet finish - not special!

First half of the latest myBrewerytap "52 week beer club" pack

Having thoroughly enjoyed the first pack from myBrewerytap, Chris & I were eagerly awaiting the next quarter's arrival, knowing that it contained quite a few 'beauties'.  Here are our reviews for the beers that we sample this Wednesday:

• Box Steam Cog [baron rating 4/5]

• Crown Unpronounceable IPA [baron rating 5/5]

• Fyne Avalanche [baron rating 5/5]

• Green Roon Icon [baron rating 1/5]

• Thornbridge Jaipur [baron rating 5/5]

• White Heart of Rother [baron rating 3/5]

• Williams Bros Ginger [baron rating coming soon from my ginger ale advisor]

It was a wonderful selection, and as you can see, most of the ales were of great quality! If you are not already a member of the "52 week beer club" I would suggest you sign up!

Crown Unpronounceable IPA

Crown Unpronounceable IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 7% copper ale,grapefruit & candied sweets smell,sweet tangy bitter taste, huge dry hop finishBaron Orm

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.

Download flash to hear the audio review

This was from the spring pack of the superb '52 week beer club' by myBrewerytap.

Join it now and make sure you say the baron made me do it!
Buy Crown ales here

White Heart of Rother

White Heart of Rother [baron rating 3/5] - 4.5% copper session ale,spicy herbal aroma,smooth slight tangy fruit taste & fruity bitter finish

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.



Note: This audio also contains a section about what Chris and I are looking for in bottled ales, I don't want to pay £2+ for a "normal session ale" - I can get that in the pub (or can) - I'm looking for something interesting that will hold my attention as I savour it...

Part of the superb '52 week beer club' by myBrewerytap
join it now and make sure you say "the baron made me do it"!

Buy White ales here

Fyne Avalanche

Fyne Avalanche [baron rating 5/5] - 4.5% pale gold ale,grapefruit smell,slight sweet hoppy grapefruit taste & dry lasting hop bitter finishBaron Orm

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.

Download flash to hear the audio review

Part of the superb '52 week beer club' by myBrewerytap
join it now and make sure you say "the baron made me do it"!

Buy Fyne ales here

Box Steam Cog

Box Steam Cog [baron rating 4/5] - 4% russet ale,cloves & herbal mint smell,smooth malty nutty bitter taste & classic bitter finish - nice! Baron Orm

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.

Download flash to hear the audio review

Subscribe in iTunes

Part of the superb '52 week beer club' by myBrewerytap
join it now and make sure you say "the baron made me do it"!

Buy Box Steam ales here

Green Room Icon

Green Room Icon [baron rating 1/5] - 4% golden ale, faint citrus aroma, bland watery slightly limy taste, no finish to speak of - terrible!

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.

(Sorry about the lack of ale in the photo, we completely forgot to take pictures as we drank it!)

Part of the superb '52 week beer club' by myBrewerytap
join it now and make sure you say "the baron made me do it"!

Buy Green Room ales here

Other opinions

Dave & Naomi
Colour	Honey
Smell	Janitors cupboard in need of ventilation
Taste	Weak ale
Finish	Missing
Rating	2/5

Wells Bombardier for £1 a bottle in Morrisons until 25th April (Ormskirk)

Morrisons (Ormskirk) has 500ml bottles of Wells Bombardier [baron rating 4/5] for £1 rather than the normal £1.70 until 25th April 2010

Holts 1849

Holts 1849 [baron rating 2/5] - 4.5% dark brown ale,fruity malt smell,thin bland watery sweet malt taste & thin bland sweet malt finish

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.

Details of Adnams ? - their 10% special ale

A few weeks ago Fergus from Adnams sent through a lovely gift of a bottle of cask Adnams Extra [baron rating 4/5], but what I couldn't mention at the time was that an extra bottle was also parcelled along with the Extra:

A bottle of Adnams ? - their brand new 10% ale

This unnamed 10% ale had been conditioning in open tanks for around 4 months and was bottled straight from the tank and so lacked any carbonation at all. Fergus said that it will be carbonated similar to champagne and will come nicely presented in large 750ml bottles.

Chris & I opened this bottle the same night as trying the Adnams Extra, here's what we thought:

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.

Download flash to hear the audio review

Subscribe in iTunes

Please make sure you listen to the 'live tasting session' above, the description below is nothing compared to the audio!

Colour: golden
Smell: orchard fruit, elderflower, honey sweetness
Taste: malty sweetness and a layered champagne sweetness, raisins & banana cake
Finish: persistent & sticky sweet, lovely!

All in all this is a very special tasty ale, I can't wait to see & try the finished product it's going to be a lovely lovely beer!

Thanks again to Fergus and the team at Adnams for letting us trying this rather special beer.

Buy Adnams ales here

Badger Poacher's Choice ale for 98p a bottle in Tesco

Tesco has 500ml bottles of Badger Poacher's Choice for just 98p, they don't appear to be 'on offer' just reduced - maybe out of season?

Looking forward to 'baron rating' Worthington's Red Shield soon!

I would like to say a big "thank you" to Kristy of Molson Coors this evening - a sample bottle of the unreleased Worthington's Red Shield arrived on my doormat today!

Worthington's Red Shield is brewed by The White Shield Brewery - the same place who already brew the mighty White Shield IPA.  Red Shield is a 4.2% Burton Blonde ale (according to the bottle).

I'm looking forward to rating this on very soon!

Coopers Original Pale Ale

Coopers Original Pale Ale [baron rating 2/5] - 4.5% pale golden ale,lager & lemon aroma,fizzy crisp light citrus taste & slight lemon finish

Wychwood Hobgoblin on offer in Sainsbury's (until 27th April 2010)

Sainsbury's has Wychwood Hobgoblin [baron rating 4/5] on offer at the moment: 4x500ml bottles for £5 (£1.25 each) until 27th April 2010

Shepherd Neame Spitfire for £1 in Sainsbury's (until 27th April 2010)

Sainsbury's has Shepard Neame Spitfire [baron rating 4/5] on offer at the moment: £1 for a 500ml bottle, offer ends 27th April 2010

Morrisons April ale & beer offers (12th April - 9th May 2010)

It's April's new beer & ale offers time in Morrisons so I popped into the local Ormskirk branch today to check them out.

Here are the details:

• Black Sheep Riggwelter [baron rating 4/5]
£1.53 instead of £1.73

• Black Sheep Yorkshire Square Ale [baron rating 3/5]
£1.39 instead of £1.59 

• Jennings Sneck Lifter [baron rating 3/5]
£1.27 instead of £1.47 

• Marston's Old Empire [baron rating 5/5]
£1.28 instead of £1.48 

• Marston's Pale Ale [baron rating coming soon]
£1.50 instead of £1.70 

• Morland Old Speckled Hen [baron rating 4/5]
4 for £4.25 instead of £5.25 

• Ringwood Old Thumper [baron rating 2/5]
£1.53 instead of £1.73 

• Wells Banana Bread Beer
£1.23 instead of £1.43 

• Young's Kew Gold [baron rating 3/5]
£1.65 instead of £1.85

A good set of offers this month, four within the 'baron bargain' range (less than £1.30 per bottle). The winner this month by far is the Old Empire offer, this is one of my favourite beers and at £1.28 for a tasty strong ale it's a great offer!

As always I'll check back next month...

Young's Kew Gold

Young's Kew Gold [baron rating 3/5] - 4.8% golden ale,savoury spicy herbal smell, juicy malt & tangy hop taste & dry gentle hop finish

Greene King Hop

Greene King Hop [baron rating 2/5] - 5% golden ale,pale malt aroma,crisp sweet malty taste & astringent finish - why not be called 'malt'?!?

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.

York Centurion's Ghost Ale for 99p a bottle in B&M Bargains (Ormskirk)

B&M Bargains in Ormskirk has 500ml bottles of York Brewery's Centurion's Ghost Ale for 99p (best before end of sept 2010)

myBrewerytap's next quarter of ales from their 52 Week Beer Club

I took delivery of a very exciting box today - the next quarter's box of ales from myBrewerytap's excellent 52 week beer club. Chris and I joined the club back in December last year and so this is the second box out of four for the year.

This quarter's box contains quite a few treats, see if you can pick out the ones you like the look of the most!

• Backyard East India

• Bitter End Lakeland Amber [baron rating 3/5]

• Box Steam Cog

• Country Life Old Appledore

• Crown Unpronounceable IPA

• Fyne Avalanche

• Grainstore Rutland Panther

• Green Room Icon

• Ole Slewfoot Fox on the Run

• Thornbridge Jaipur [baron rating 5/5]

• White Heart of Rother

• Williams Bros Ginger

• Wincle Undertaker

There was also a myBrewerytap-branded keyring/bottle opener and a rather tasty pot of The Curry Sauce Co's Medium Doppiazza curry sauce!

I personally can't wait to get stuck into this quarter's pack - now I just need to arrange a couple of dates with Chris and get the microphones set up...

Fuller's Bengal Lancer

Fuller's Bengal Lancer [baron rating 4/5] - 5.3% rich gold ale,medicinal hops & caramel smell, spicy bitter taste & herbal hop bitter finish

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale [baron rating 5/5] - 5.6% bronze ale,floral hop & citrus smell, biscuit malt & citrus hop taste & dry clean finish