Green Room IPA

Green Room IPA [baron rating 2/5] - 4% dark amber ale,citrus aroma,thin citrus hops but no bitterness,fast fading non-descript finishBaron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Green Room ales here

Oxfordshire Pride of Oxford

Oxfordshire Pride of Oxford [baron rating 5/5] - pale gold ale,malt & orchard fruit smell,crisp zingy apple hop taste,floral apple finishBaron Orm

Thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Oxfordshire ales here

Westerham Little Scotney Best Bitter

Westerham Little Scotney Best Bitter [baron rating 4/5] - 4.3% amber ale,fruit smell,balanced bitter & juicy taste,gentle bittersweet finishBaron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Westerham ales here

Hawkshead Organic Stout

Hawkshead Organic Stout [baron rating 4/5] - 4.5% black stout, smoky aroma, juicy fruity hops & bitter roasted taste, lasting roasted 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

Badger Blandford Fly

Badger Blandford Fly [baron rating 1/5] - 5.2% gold ginger beer,sweet ginger smell,sugary ginger beer taste & ginger bitter shandy finishBaron Orm

Note: I'm not a fan of ginger beers and I wasn't aware that Blandford Fly was basically a ginger beer.  As the audio explains we were surprised by how gingery it was, maybe you will like it!

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Thank you to @BadgerAles for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Badger ales here

Other opinions

Tom & Rachel

"delicious.A light malt lemon toffee flavour and I love the fact it doesn't have a stale after taste but a gingerful kick when you breathe out which builds with every mouthful. Would be perfect served extremely chilled on a hot summer's day. I would like to try it served from a jug with ice, fruit, brandy and a little lemonade to see how that would work!"

Dave & Naomi
Colour	Tawny
Smell	Meaty pate with ginger undertones
Taste	Sweet, warming glow
Finish	Similar to heartburn
Rating	1/5 & 4/5

Elmtree Golden Pale Ale

Elmtree Golden Pale Ale [baron rating 3/5] - 5% gold ale,faint citrus aroma,flat(no head) fruity sweet malt taste & slight dry citrus finishBaron Orm

Thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Elmtree ales here

Looking forward to 'baron rating' Strangford Lough ales very soon!

It felt like my birthday last Friday as another beer parcel arrived at Baron Towers!  This it a wonderful looking gift pack of four Strangford Lough Brewing Company beers:

Strangford Lough Brewing Company

• Barelegs Brew

4.5% full flavoured golden ale

• Legbiter

4.8% strong golden ale with inviting citrus fragrance

• St. Patrick's Best

3.8% light & refreshing session best bitter


Look out for 'baron ratings' of these Strangford Lough beers soon, and a big thank you to Grace from Strangford Lough for sending these through to me!

Wychwood ales price reduction in Aldi

Aldi have reduced their Wychwood ales from £1.39 down to £1.19.This appears to be a proper reduction not a sale price. Hobgoblin for £1.19!

Looking forward to 'baron rating' Dark Star ales very soon!

Having grown up in Brighton (well 'Hove actually') anything to do with Sussex brings fond memories of my childhood. It was a few months ago when reading a couple of posts on the excellent Pencil & Spoon blog that I found out about the Dark Star Brewery who herald from West Sussex.

After a brief email conversation with James from Dark Star about his ales a sample of each of their range showed up this morning.

Dark Star Brewery

• Espresso

4.2% - black beer with freshly ground Arabica coffee beans added to provide a unique flavour & aroma

• Sunburst

4.8% - bright gold ale full of grapefruit aroma

• Imperial Stout

10.5% - bottle-conditioned complex beer with a big flavour

Look out for 'baron ratings' of these Dark Star beers soon, and a big thank you to James from Dark Star for sending these through to me!

Buy Dark Star ales here

Looking forward to 'baron rating' Harviestoun ales very soon!

I think the local couriers are starting to get to know The Ormskirk Baron these days, as a wonderful parcel of ale arrived on Wednesday from Harviestoun Brewery.

Harviestoun Brewery

• Bitter & Twisted 

4.2% - delightfully refreshing blond beer with a finish that is like a twist of lemon

• Old Engine Oil

6% - strong and dark but wickedly smooth

• Schiehallion

4.8% - crisp cask conditioned lager with a beautifully fresh taste of grapefruit


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

Buy Harviestoun ales here

Shepherd Neame Master Brew

Shepherd Neame Master Brew [baron rating 4/5] - 4% bronze ale,pungent hop aroma,slight malt & strong hops taste,lasting nutty bitter finishBaron Orm

Prospect Gold Rush

Prospect Gold Rush [baron rating 1/5] - 4.5% golden ale,sulphurous savoury herbal smell,average bitter hops taste & savoury herby finishBaron Orm

Buy Prospect ales here

Westerham Little Scotney Pale Ale

Westerham Little Scotney Pale Ale [baron rating 4/5] - 4% copper ale,malty spicy citrus aroma,butter & juicy malt taste,tangy bitter finishBaron Orm

Thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Westerham ales here

Hopshackle Vertigo VF

Hopshackle Vertigo VF [baron rating 2/5] - 9.8% orange copper ale, spicy & boozy smell,herby sweet too boozy smell,fast fading sweet finishBaron Orm

Note: This ale is really well crafted, it's just far to boozy for me! It's a very special ale, please listen to the audio to get the real feel for this beer - Chris liked it a lot more, I'm a light-weight when it comes to the heavy-weight ales...

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

Oxfordshire Triple B

Oxfordshire Triple B [baron rating 3/5] - 3.7% copper ale,hop aroma,smooth classic bitter taste,slight bitter finish,great session aleBaron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Oxfordshire ales here

Whitstable Raspberry Wheat

Whitstable Raspberry Wheat [baron rating 1/5] - 5.2% orange/red fruit beer,yeast & raspberry smell,sharp fruity taste & fruity finishBaron Orm

Note: Fruit beers and/or wheat beers are just not my thing at the moment, although I did share this with the Baroness & Chris and none of us liked it! Thinks it's an acquired taste...

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

Looking forward to 'baron rating' Ossett & Saltaire ales very soon!

A very welcome parcel arrived today, a selection of ales from Ossett & Saltaire breweries courtesy of myBrewerytap. Both breweries have been recently added to myBrewerytap and the Saltaire ales have been some that I've wanted to try ever since HopZine mentioned them sometime ago.

Ossett Brewery

• Excelsior
5.2% - mellow yet full flavour that develops into a fruity dryness on the palate. A fresh, hoppy aroma with citrus and floral characteristics

• Treacle Stout
5% - rich and robust stout with deep coffee flavours

Saltaire Brewery

• Saltaire Blonde
4% - straw coloured, easy drinking blonde ale

• Saltaire Cascade Pale Ale
4.8% - golden coloured, hoppy, American style pale ale

• Saltaire Triple Chocoholic
4.8% - chocolate on the nose, on the palate and in the finish!

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

Ole Slewfoot Fox On The Run

Ole Slewfoot Fox On The Run [baron rating 1/5] - 4.8% ruby mild,chocolate smell,watery unplesant tangy taste & chocolate 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 Ole Slewfoot ales here

Grainstore Rutland Panther

Grainstore Rutland Panther [baron rating 4/5] - 3.4% dark ruby mild,choc & roasted raisins smell,balanced fruity taste & fruitcake 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 Grainstore ales here

Morrisons May ale & beer offers (7th June - 11th July 2010)

It's June'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]
£1.50 instead of £1.70

• Greene King Abbot Reserve [baron rating 3/5]
1.55 instead of £2.05

• Greene King Suffolk Springer
£1.55 instead of £2.05

• Marston's Burton Bitter [baron rating 2/5]
£1.19 guest ale

• Marston's Strong Pale Ale [baron rating 3/5]
£1.55 instead of £1.75

• Morland Old Speckled Hen [baron rating 4/5]
£1.51 instead of £1.71

• Ringwood Old Thumper [baron rating 2/5]
£1.55 instead of £1.75

The Burton Bitter is the only ale within the 'baron bargain' price range (£1.30 or less) but I find it very thin and watery hence the [baron rating 2/5]. The Suffolk Springer is probably this month's winner have a decent discount on a high ABV ale.

Let's just say the baron didn't stock up on anything today :(

Marston's Strong Pale Ale

Marston's Strong Pale Ale [baron rating 3/5] - 6.2% copper ale,sweet lemon smell,smooth butter & bland tangy hops taste,gentle bitter finishBaron Orm

Waitrose June ale & beer offers (9th June - 6th July 2010)

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

• St. Peter's Golden Ale
£1.38 instead of £1.84

• Skinners Bitter Betty Stogs
£1.48 instead of £1.85

• Skinners Bitter Heligan Honey
£1.48 instead of £1.85

• Skinners Bitter Cornish Knocker
£1.48 instead of £1.85

• Well's Bombardier [baron rating 4/5]
£1.42 instead of £1.78

• Courage Directors [baron rating 3/5]
£1.43 instead of £1.79

• Morland Old Speckled Hen [baron rating 4/5]
9x 355ml bottles: £9.59 instead of £11.99

• Wychwood Hobgoblin [baron rating 4/5]
£1.38 instead of £1.84

• Jennings Cumberland Ale [baron rating 3/5]
Buy 3 bottles save £1.50 normally £1.96

• Jennings Snecklifter [baron rating 3/5]
£1.40 instead of £1.96

• Innis & Gunn Rum Cask [baron rating 2/5]
£1.59 instead of £1.99

• Marston's Head Brewers Choice
4x 500ml bottles: £5.08 instead of £6.40

• Shepherd Neame Spitfire [baron rating 4/5]
£1.47 instead of £1.84

• Fuller's London Pride [baron rating 2/5]
£1.56 instead of £1.95

• Fuller's Organic Honey Dew
£1.56 instead of £1.95

A big thank you to AleTalk.co.uk

I found out over the weekend that I was AleTalk's Britain's Best Beer 2010 May winner of their free prize draw. Today my 'prize' arrived:

Here are the 12 bottles in all their glory:

• Ascot Alligator Ale

• Ascot Anastasia's Imperial Stout

• Ascot Posh Pooch

• Badger Fursty Ferret [baron rating 4/5]

• Badger Golden Glory [baron rating 2/5]

• Badger Poacher's Choice

• Cheddar Goat's Leap

• Cheddar Potholer

• Cheddar Totty Pot

• Summer Wine Ale Caesar

• Summer Wine Holmfirth IPA

• Summer Wine Teleporter

Thanks again to AleTalk for sending these through, it's lovely to receive free beer and even better when 10 out of the 12 bottles I've not 'baron rated' yet!

Ridley's Old Bob

Ridley's Old Bob [baron rating: 3/5] - 5.1% deep amber ale,fruity spicy smell,caramel sweet malt & bitter spicy hop taste,tart fruit finishBaron Orm

Looking forward to 'baron rating' Badger Blandford Fly very soon!

Badger recently tweeted that their Blandford Fly was nominated for 'Best Speciality Beer' at the Quality Drink Awards 2010.  After a little discuss they kindly said they would send some through for a 'baron rating' and true to their word there was a lovely parcel waiting for me on Monday:

It's a fine looking bottle that mentions that it's "subtly spiced with ginger" so I'm quite intrigued about what this ale is going to taste like! 

Look out for a 'baron rating' of Blandford Fly soon, and a big thank you to @BadgerAles for sending these through to me! 

Buy Badger ales here