Southport Natterjack

Southport Natterjack [baron rating 2/5] - 4.3% copper ale,coffee & spicy fruit smell, bitter & tangy tart malt taste & slightly sweet finishBaron Orm

Buy Southport ales here

Hopshackle Double Momentum

Hopshackle Double Momentum [baron rating 5/5] - 7% gold ale,caramel & oranges smell,rich sweet fruity boozy taste & sweet citrus hops finishBaron Orm

Thank you to Nigel from Hopshackle for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Hopshackle ales here

Hopshackle Special No. 001

Hopshackle Special No. 001 [baron rating 5/5] - 5.2% dark amber ale,roasted smell, juicy malt & smooth bitter taste, buttery bitter finishBaron Orm

Thank you to Nigel from Hopshackle for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Hopshackle ales here

Samuel Smith's Old Brewery Pale Ale

Samuel Smith's Old Brewery Pale Ale [baron rating 4/5] - 5% amber ale,peppery sweet cereal smell,sweet biscuit malt taste & dry finishBaron Orm

Worthington's Red Shield

Worthington's Red Shield [baron rating 3/5] - 4.2% golden ale,sweet malt & lemon aroma,frothy balanced lemon hop taste,gentle bitter finishBaron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Subscribe in iTunes

Thank you to Kristy from Molson Coors for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

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

A couple of weeks ago I tweeted saying how much I was loving the National Trust (Westerham) Viceroy IPA [baron rating 5/5] which was part of my #beerswap pack from Mark Dredge. Later that evening Paul from AlesByMail got in touch wondering if I would like to try the rest of the Westerham ales range - well have you ever heard the Baron say "no"? ;)

The beers arrived today but Paul was extremely generous and not only included the Westerham Brewery range but also the Elmtree Beers, Green Room Ales & Oxfordshire Ales ranges as well!

AlesByMail sell a large range of British real ales as well as selling top-quality, outdoor-reared pork sausages, delivered fresh to your door. Beer & meat - do you need anything else? (don't answer that one please!)

Here is the extensive list of the beers that will soon be receiving a 'baron rating':

Westerham Brewery

• Westerham British Bulldog
  4.3% best bitter

• Westerham William Wilberforce Freedom Ale
  4.3% Fairtrade beer

• Westerham Little Scotney Pale Ale
  4% pale ale

• Westerham Little Scotney Best Bitter
  4.3% best bitter

• National Trust (Westerham) Viceroy IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 5.0% bottle conditioned IPA

Oxfordshire Ales

• Oxfordshire Triple B
  3.7% session beer

• Oxfordshire Marshmellow
  4.7% signature beer

• Oxfordshire Pride of Oxford
  4.2% traditional english ale

Green Room Ales

• Green Room Icon [baron rating 1/5]
  4% exciting fresh beer

• Green Room IPA
  4% real fresh ale, with a distinct citrus twist

• Green Room Rogue
  7.5% strong dark beer

Elmtree Beers

• Elmtree Bitter
  4.2% best bitter

• Elmtree Dark Horse Stout
  5% stout

• Elmtree Golden Pale Ale
  5% light pale ale

• Elmtree Nightlight Mild
  5.7% mild

Look out for 'baron ratings' for these AlesByMail beers soon, and a big thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for sending these through to me!

Thwaites Wainwright

Thwaites Wainwright [baron rating 3/5] - this 4.1% golden ale has an orchard fruit smell,a slight sweet fruit taste & gentle bitter finishBaron Orm

Brakspear Bitter offer: 8 cans for £5 in B&M Bargains (Ormskirk)

B&M Bargains in Ormskirk has 500ml cans of Brakspear Bitter [baron rating 5/5] on offer: 8 cans for £5 = 63p/can (best before 30/09/2010)

Brains SA ales on offer in Ocado (until 8th June 2010)

Ocado has 500ml bottles of Brains SA Gold for £1.25 & Brains SA Dark for £1.33 - on offer until the 8th June

'Laying down' bottles of Adnams Tally-Ho

I recently ordered a number of cases of Adnams Innovation [baron rating 5/5] & Adnams Tally-Ho [baron rating 5/5].

I was interested to know how long I could keep the Tally-Ho for and how would the flavour of the beer change with time.


I asked Adnams head-brewer Fergus about his thoughts on 'laying down' Adnams Tally-Ho:

We've put two years life on them but I suspect they will be good for at least a few more good years after that. The beer will of course change over time but we've had cask Tally Ho after 3 years which was great.

It will become more Sherry like over time so if you like that flavour in beer then lay it down for as long as you want.  Over a long storage period beer can develop strong Marmite flavours, again some people like this but I'll admit it's not something I look for in a beer.

Generally I don't keep beer for longer than 5 years unless it's something I'm probably not going to open, although there are always exceptions.

Wentworth Imperial Ale

Wentworth Imperial Ale [baron rating 4/5] - this 3.8% amber ale has an apple citrus smell,a crisp zesty hops taste & a fruity bitter finishBaron Orm

Hopshackle Restoration

Hopshackle Restoration [baron rating 5/5] - 9% ruby belgium beer,rich boozy fruit smell,frothy rich sweet taste & sweet finishBaron Orm

Note: This is no ordinary ale (being more of a belgium beer instead) and due to it's richness you wouldn't want a lot of it in a sitting. Good job Nigel at Hopshackle has thought of this and placed it in a little 275ml bottle ;)

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Thank you to Nigel from Hopshackle for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Hopshackle ales here

Hopshackle Special Bitter

Hopshackle Special Bitter [baron rating 5/5] - 4.3% amber ale,nutty fruit aroma,balanced smooth fruity bitter taste,juicy nutty malt finishBaron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Thank you to Nigel from Hopshackle for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Hopshackle ales here

National Trust (Westerham) Viceroy IPA

National Trust (Westerham) Viceroy IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 5% gold ale,orange hops smell,balanced malt & citrus hops taste, hoppy finishBaron Orm

Thanks to Mark Dredge for sending this along with 3 others as part of #beerswap!

Buy Westerham ales here

Duchy Originals Ale

Duchy Originals Ale [baron rating 2/5] - 5% amber ale,candied sweets & malt smell,sweet malt (not heavy) taste & a sweet finishBaron Orm

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

(On closer inspection of the bottle we found out that it was brewed by Wychwood - so my Hobgoblin reference wasn't too far from the truth!)

Download flash to hear the audio review

Thank you to the PR team from Waitrose for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Duchy Original ales here

Hawkshead Lakeland Gold

Hawkshead Lakeland Gold [baron rating 5/5] - 4.4% amber ale,floral citrus smell,caramel & huge citrus hoppy taste,lasting hop bitter finishBaron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Thank you to Katie from Hawkshead for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Hawkshead ales here

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 3 for £4 in Tesco until 6th June 2010

Tesco has 350ml bottles of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale [baron rating 5/5] on offer: 3 bottles for £4 (saving 92p) until the 6th June 2010

BrewDog Punk IPA 4-pack for £4.29 in Tesco

Tesco has 4 bottle packs of BrewDog Punk IPA for just £4.29 (£1.07 per bottle) - think this is their normal price too! Limited stock though

a bunch of punks

Some inspired beers from The Inn Beer Shop (Southport)

Popped into The Inn Beer Shop in Southport today to see what they had, came away with these 'inspired' bottles:

• Thwaites Very Nutty Black - £1.49
Inspired by one of Leigh's recent blog post about it

• Goose Island Honker's Ale - £1.65
Inspired by Tandleman's recent trip to the Chicago brewpub

• Coach House Cheshire Gold - £2.05
Inspired by Neil Chantrell (now that I'm following him on twitter)

• Little Creatures Pale Ale - £1.85
Inspired by Kristy McCready (following a twitter chat about it some time ago)

I'm looking forward to 'baron rating' these in the near future!

Badger England's Gold

Badger England's Gold [baron rating 2/5] - 4.6% pale gold ale,floral herby peach smell,crisp fruit sweet taste & gentle sweetness to finishBaron Orm

Thornbridge Saint Petersburg

Thornbridge Saint Petersburg [baron rating 4/5] - 7.7% black stout,hoppy fruit smoky smell,sweet roasted bitter taste & sweet bitter finish Baron Orm,

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Buy Thornbridge ales here

Gadds Black Pearl

Gadds Black Pearl [baron rating 4/5] - 6.2% black stout,berry fruit & burnt wood smell,smooth smoky sweet fruit taste & gentle sweet finishBaron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Buy Gadds ale here

Adnams Spindrift

Adnams Spindrift [baron rating 4/5] - 5% gold ale,leafy sweet malt aroma,refreshing smooth slight honey & bitter taste,gentle bitter finishBaron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Thanks to the Adnams team for sending this bottle through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Adnams ale here

Young's Bitter

Young's Bitter [baron rating 4/5] - 4.5% golden ale,crisp zesty orange & toffee smell,balanced tasty light bitter taste,decent bitter finish

Looking forward to 'baron rating' Adnams Spindrift very soon!

A bottle of Adnams Spindrift arrived in the post today, this beer is the latest in the Adnams bottled line-up.

This is what the Adnams website has to say about it:

Named Spindrift to reflect our coastal location , the lightness of the beer is said to evoke refreshing images of spray blown up from the surface of the sea. Presented in a striking blue 330ml bottle, the beer is made from a blend of East Anglian malted barley, Boadicea and First Gold hops and high grade malted wheat which is then chilled and filtered to allow the aromas and flavours within the beer to remain.

Spindrift is a top-fermented beer to deliver a creamy white head when poured. It should be served chilled with a thick, continental style head.

The design of the bottle is pretty cool, nice dark blue glass instead of brown (or green or clear) let's hope it tastes as good as it looks!

Thank you to Sean & Fergus from Adnams for sending this bottle through for a 'baron rating'.

Buy Adnams ale here

Thwaites Lancaster Bomber

Thwaites Lancaster Bomber [baron rating 3/5] - 4.4% chestnut ale,light spicy hop & malt aroma,sweet nutty bitter taste & nutty bitter finish

Morrisons May ale & beer offers (10th May - 6th June 2010)

It's May'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:

• Badger Golden Champion [baron rating 3/5]
£1.50 instead of £1.70

• Badger Fursty Ferret [baron rating 4/5]
£1.38 instead of £1.58

• Holts 1849 [baron rating 2/5]
£1 instead of 1.69

• Ridley's Old Bob [baron rating 3/5]
£1.35 (guest ale)

• Badger Tanglefoot [baron rating 4/5]
£1.50 instead of £1.70

• Badger Golden Glory [baron rating 2/5]
£1.50 instead of £1.70

• Morland Old Speckled Hen [baron rating 4/5]
4 bottles for £4.98 instead of £5.48

I'm not overly impressed with the offers this month, although they have a bottle at £1 it's the rather dire Holts 1849 which was bland and watery. The Old Speckled Hen is the best offer, working out a 'baron bargain' of around £1.25 per bottle.

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

Waitrose May ale & beer offers (12th May - 9th June 2010)

It's May's new beer & ale offers time in Waitrose, their PR staff have informed me ahead of time what this month's ale offers are:

• Brains SA Gold
£1.41 instead of £1.89

• Brains Dark
£1.41 instead of  £1.89

• Wells Bombardier [baron rating 4/5]
12x275ml for £10 instead of £12.79

• Morland Old Speckled Hen [baron rating 4/5]
4-pack for £5.00 instead of £5.89

• Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer [baron rating 1/5]
2x 750ml for £5 instead of £6.70 (normally £3.35 per bottle)

• Ringwood Old Thumper [baron rating 2/5]
£1.39 instead of £1.86

• Ringwood Fortyniner
£1.39 instead of £1.86

• Brakspear Oxford Gold [baron rating 3/5]
£1.40 instead of £1.75

• Joseph Holt HumDinger
£1.34 instead of £1.79

A good selection of offers this month but not a lot in the 'baron bargain' range (£1.30 or less) - Morland Old Speckled Hen [baron rating 4/5] comes out the best at an offer price of £1.25 a bottle - this spicy ale is really nice with a roast chicken or turkey dinner.

Hopdaemon Skrimshander IPA

Hopdaemon Skrimshander IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 4.5% amber IPA, orange & spicy hops smell,spicy citrus bitter hops taste & hop bitter finishBaron Orm

A big thank you must go to Mark Dredge for sending this through as part of my #beerswap parcel, and also thanks to Pete Brissenden for brewing this wonderful IPA, I look forward to a chance one day to sample the rest of his ales! (I also love the artwork on the labels, check out the close-up)

Buy Hopdaemon ales here

My #beerswap beers have arrived!

Came back from town this morning (having picked up a Worthington's White Shield in Morrisons & some Goose Island IPA [baron rating 5/5] in Source Deli) to find a box waiting for me in the porch.

Perfectly delivered by myHermes, the well-packaged ales (using a myBrewerytap box) turned out to be from Mark Dredge (of Pencil & Spoon fame):

• Gadds Black Pearl - 6.2% Oyster Stout

• Hopdaemon Skimshander IPA - 4.5% IPA

• National Trust (Westerham) Viceroy IPA - 5% IPA

• Whitstable Raspberry Wheat - 5.2% Fruit Beer

This is a great selection, I've wanted to try the Viceroy IPA since Mark blogged about it and Pete Brissenden's ales have long been on my 'want to rate' list!

Expect some 'baron ratings' very soon for these excellent #beerswap ales...

Evan Evans Warrior

Evan Evans Warrior [baron rating 2/5] - 4.6% copper ale, sulphur & berries smell, acidic dark roasted malt taste & metallic bitter finish

Holden's Golden Sunset

Holden's Golden Sunset [baron rating 4/5] - this 3.9% pale golden ale has a lemon floral smell,a slight lemon taste & creamy bitter finish Baron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Subscribe in iTunes

Wadworth Old Timer

Wadworth Old Timer [baron rating 2/5] - 5.8% rich copper winter ale,boozy spicy fruit smell,rich sweet spicy malt taste,slight sweet finish

Hardys & Hansons Olde Trip

Hardys & Hansons Olde Trip [baron rating 3/5] - 4.3% dark amber ale,Greene King malt smell,sweet malt taste & tart bitter finish

Wells Waggledance

Wells Waggledance [baron rating 2/5] - this 5% golden ale has a pale malt aroma,a carbonated sweet bitter taste & lasting dry bitter finish

Thornbridge Halcyon (2009)

Thornbridge Halcyon (2009) [baron rating 5/5] - 7.7% rich gold IPA, orange/lycees smell,boozy sweet malt & fresh hop taste,hop bitter finish

It's also one of the most beautiful beer labels I've seen:

Buy Thornbridge ales here