Dark Star Espresso

Dark Star Espresso [baron rating 4/5] - 4.2% black stout,roasted sweet coffee smell,smooth sweet roasted taste,lasting bitter coffee finishBaron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Thank you to James from Dark Star for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Dark Star ales here

Elmtree Nightlight Mild

Elmtree Nightlight Mild [baron rating 2/5] - 5.7% black mild,chocolate & sweet roasted smell,flat watery sweet roasted taste,tangy 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 Elmtree ales here

Duchy Originals Select Ale

Duchy Originals Select Ale [baron rating 3/5] - 6.2% rich amber ale,spicy aroma,toffee & sweet orchard fruit taste,hoppy 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 the PR team from Waitrose for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Duchy Original ales here

Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted

Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted [baron rating 4/5] - 4.2% pale gold ale,spicy smell,smooth bitter lemon taste,balanced bittersweet zesty finishBaron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Thank you to Chris from Harviestoun for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Harviestoun ales here

Green Room Rogue

Green Room Rogue [baron rating 2/5] - 7.6% deep amber ale,sweet malt & spiced fruit aroma,sickly sweet spiced apple taste,boozy sweet 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

A year of beer

It's now been exactly one year since I started beer blogging and tweeting and what a year it has been!  I've made loads of friends who all love beer, meet most of them in person too! I've widened my ale purchases from a handful of major brands to nearly anything I see that looks remotely like beer as well as starting to really be able to pick out the different smells, tastes & flavours that make real ales so diverse.

In the past twelve months I've 'baron rated' over 250 different bottled ales.  This was only possible due to the enormous generosity of a large number of breweries who were willing to submit bottles of their hardwork for a 140 character review and the odd bit of audio!

The past year of this site is mostly down to:

• Adnams
• AlesByMail
• Badger
• Batemans
• Bitter End
• Black Sheep
• Coors
• Dark Star
• Greene King
• Harviestoun
• Hawkshead
• Hopshackle
• myBrewerytap
• Source Deli
• Strangford Lough
• Waitrose
• Williams Bros.

Thank you to all of the above, and if anyone else wants their beer 'baron rating' please get in touch!

Theakston XB

Theakston XB [baron rating 3/5] - this 4.5% amber ale had a gentle spiced malt smell,a hoppy taste & gentle bitterness, nice session beerBaron Orm

Harviestoun Schiehallion

Harviestoun Schiehallion [baron rating 5/5] - 4.8% gold ale,floral citrus smell,crisp frothy zesty bitter grapefruit taste,zesty dry finishBaron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Thank you to Chris from Harviestoun for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Harviestoun ales here

Dark Star Imperial Stout 2009

Dark Star Imperial Stout 2009 [baron rating 5/5] - 10.5% black stout,burnt chocolate smell,rich burnt sweet roasted taste,smoky 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 James from Dark Star for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Dark Star ales here

Marston's Owd Rodger

Marston's Owd Rodger [baron rating 1/5] - 7.6% deep ruby ale,alcohol & stewed fruits smell,warming rich sweet fruit taste,very sweet finishBaron Orm

Wincle Undertaker

Wincle Undertaker [baron rating 3/5] - 4.5% ruby ale, roasted malt smell, juicy bitter with nutty malt taste, nutty bitter 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 Wincle ales here

Saltaire Cascade Pale Ale

Saltaire Cascade Pale Ale [baron rating 5/5] - 4.8% golden ale,tropical fruit smell,frothy citrus hop taste,lasting bitter grapefruit finishBaron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

Thank you to Richard from myBrewerytap for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Saltaire ales here

Hopshackle Vertigo VC

Hopshackle Vertigo VC [baron rating 5/5] - 9.8% bronze ale,citrus hops & boozy smell,rich sweet but balanced taste,sweet then hoppy 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

Williams Bros Birds & Bees

Williams Bros Birds & Bees [baron rating 3/5] - 5% pale gold ale,sweet lemon slight floral smell,floral citrus taste & slight lemon finishBaron Orm

The labels on most of the Williams Bros. ales are excellent,check out this close-up.

Buy Williams Bros. ales here

Strangford Lough Bareleg's Brew

Strangford Lough Bareleg's Brew [baron rating 2/5] - 4.5% dark amber ale,roasted caramel smell,thin fruity taste,slightly sweet fruit finishBaron Orm

Thank you to Grace from Strangford Lough for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Saltaire Triple Chocoholic

Saltaire Triple Chocoholic [baron rating 4/5] - 4.8% black stout,dark chocolate smell,smooth chocolate & roasted bitter taste,bitter finishBaron Orm

Thank you to Richard from myBrewerytap for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Saltaire ales here

Holden's Golden

Holden's Golden [baron rating 3/5] - 3.9% golden ale,sweet fruity aroma, fruity & caramel bitter taste & bitter sweet finishBaron Orm

Young's Special London Ale for 94p a bottle in Tesco

Tesco has Young's Special London Ale [baron rating 5/5] reduced to clear at 94p a bottle - shame all my local stores have no stock! :(

Elmtree Dark Horse Stout

Elmtree Dark Horse Stout [baron rating 2/5] - 5% black ale,roasted malt smell,flat sweet malt & juicy hops taste, sweet finish - not a stoutBaron Orm

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

Buy Elmtree ales here

Brooklyn Lager

Brooklyn Lager [baron rating 5/5] - 5.2% copper ale, citrus hops smell, balanced spicy juicy citrus hops taste, clean bitter finishBaron Orm

Thank you to Richard from myBrewerytap for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Brooklyn ales here

Fuller's ESB

Fuller's ESB [baron rating 5/5] - 5.9% amber ale,sweet malt & orchard fruit aroma,balanced spicy marmalade taste & spicy bitter finishBaron Orm

myBrewerytap's summer selection of the '52 week beer club'

Chris & I have been a member of myBrewerytap's 52 week beer club since December and so our third quarter's pack arrived a few weeks ago. Due to a 'beer backlog' I've only just found the time to blog about it's contents now, so sorry for the delay!

The box arrived in excellent condition (as always) and the first thing that I noticed was that the box was bigger than previous quarters - it could withstand a missile strike & not disturb the yeast sediment!

Inside there were 13 bottles of ale, some tasting notes and a large bag of Q pork scratchings (award winning ones at that!).

• Acorn Conquest

• Atlantic Gold

• Belvoir Melton Red

• Best Mates Vicar's Daughter

• Cotleigh Barn Owl

• Derventio Emperor's Whim

• Felinfoel Stout

• Hidden Old Sarum

• Oakleaf Hole Hearted

• Ossett Excelsior [baron rating 5/5]

• RCH Pitchfork

• Potton Shambles

• Wold Top Wold Gold

An excellent looking pack full of crisp, hoppy summer ales - a perfect match for the summer pack! I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into these beers over the coming weeks.

If you are not already a member of the "52 week beer club" I would suggest you sign up - just don't forget to say that "the baron made me do it!" ;)

Flying Dog ales offer extended in Tesco until 10th August 2010

Tesco has 355ml bottles of Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale [baron rating 3/5] (£1.40) & Gonzo Porter (£2.06) still on offer until 10th Aug 2010

White Horse Bitter

White Horse Bitter [baron rating 4/5] - 4.1% cloudy copper ale,hoppy & pale malt smell,tasty bitter hops taste & zesty bitter finishBaron Orm

Banks's Lion's Roar

Banks's Lion's Roar [baron rating 2/5] - 3.8% copper ale, slight sulphurous smell, unbalanced bitter taste, unpleasant sulphurous finishBaron Orm

Morrisons July ale & beer offers (12th July - 8th August 2010)

It's July'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:

• Courage Directors [baron rating 3/5]
£1.49 instead of £1.69

• Jennings Sneck Lifter [baron rating 3/5]
£1.24 instead of £1.44

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

• Shepherd Neame Spitfire [baron rating 4/5]
£1

• Wells Bombardier [baron rating 4/5]
£1.49 instead of £1.69

• Wells Waggledance
£1.29

There are two winners this month, both below the 'baron bargain' price limit of £1.30 - Marston's Old Empire and Shepherd Neame Spitfire - both crisp hoppy strong ales for a cracking price, stock up!

Worthington's White Shield

Worthington's White Shield [baron rating 4/5] - 5.6% copper ale,sweet spicy hop smell,balanced tangy malt & spicy taste & spicy tangy finishBaron Orm

Summer Wine Holmfirth IPA

Summer Wine Holmfirth IPA [baron rating 2/5] - 4.5% golden ale,sharp yeasty smell, sharp unbalanced bitter hops taste,dry bitter hops finishBaron Orm

Westerham William Wilberforce Freedom Ale

Westerham William Wilberforce Freedom Ale [baron rating 3/5] - 4.8% amber ale,sweet citrus aroma,thin tangy sugar taste,fading citrus 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

Backyard Brewhouse East India

Backyard Brewhouse East India [baron rating 4/5] - 6.5% pale gold ale,peppery tropical smell,huge spicy pithy taste,sweet spicy fruit 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 Backyard Brewhouse ales here

Country Life Old Appledore

Country Life Old Appledore [baron rating 2/5] - 3.7% amber ale,spicy sulphurous roasted smell, sharp bitter taste, spicy tart bitter 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 Country Life ales here

My mini #beerswap has arrived!

Back Back in April  a national beerswap was organised by @BeerReviewsAndy (of Beer Reviews fame) & @MarkDredge (of Pencil & Spoon fame). I sent my four bottles to Mitchel Adams of The Thatchers Arms pub.

Mitch liked my selection and mentioned that he would love to get bottles of Southport Old Shrimper & George Wright Cheeky Pheasant again. After a few tweets with Mitch an Ormskirk-Bures #beerswap was on!

These are the five beers that I sent:

• Cains Fine Raisin Beer [baron rating coming soon]

• George Wright Cheeky Pheasant [baron rating 4/5]

• Marble Lagonda IPA [baron rating 5/5]

• Marble Stouter Port Stout [baron rating 4/5]

• Southport Old Shrimper [baron rating 4/5]

And these are the five that I received:

• Crouch Vale Amarillo - 5% golden premium ale

• Crouch Vale Apollo - 4.3% intensely hoppy ale

• Crouch Vale  FPA - 5.9% extra strong fine pale ale

• Mauldons Suffolk Pride - 4.8% premium bitter

• Red Fox Wily Ol' Fox - 5.2% strong aromatic ale

Both lots were sent using myHermes as the courier and both parcels arrived safe & sound with no damage to the box or contents. I know this for a fact as Mitch used my box to return his selection in! The five bottles were sent using their 'between 2-5 kg' weight band so it cost just £5.86 to send them.

I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into these beers, especially the Crouch Vale stuff as I've heard a lot of good things about them!

Oxfordshire Marshmallow

Oxfordshire Marshmallow [baron rating 1/5] - 4.7% amber ale,cider apple smell,watery sweet fruit taste & sweet fruit finish - not pleasant!Baron Orm

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

Buy Oxfordshire ales here

Other opinions

Dave & Naomi
Colour	Maple syrup
Smell	Stale ale
Taste	Medium flat bitter
Finish	A little rough around the edges
Rating	2/5

Looking forward to 'baron rating' some Williams Bros. ales very soon!

I was talking to Williams Bros. via twitter the other day about their Summer Sun ale, brewed exclusively for export to Sweden and whether they would like a 'baron rating' for it. The agreed to send a bottle through for review but completely excelled themselves and sent seven different ales through as well as a rather cool Williams Bros. t-shirt!

Williams Bros. Brewery

• Alba
7.5% scots pine ale

• Ebulum
6.5% elderberry black ale

• Grozet
5% gooseberry & wheat ale

• Kelpie
4.4% seaweed ale

• Red
4.5% premium red ale

• Seven Giraffes
5.1% extra ordinary ale

• Summer Sun
4% hoppy golden ale (not available in the UK, brewed for export to Sweden)

Look out for 'baron ratings' for these Williams Bros. beers soon, and a big thank you to Williams Bros. for sending these through to me!

Flying Dog Gonzo Porter for £2.06 in Tesco until 13th July 2010

Tesco has bottles of Flying Dog Gonzo Porter on offer at £2.06 instead of £2.58 until the 13th July 2010, great spot @RecentlyDrunk!

World Cup Beer Sweepstake - Chile

I'm The Ormskirk Baron.

I like free beer.

The BeerTwitterSphere mentioned 'world cup'-themed free beer.

I like free beer.

I don't like football.

They said you don't need to know anything about football.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

The teams were picked expertly by random.

I got Chile.

Chile!

Chile :(

I visited wikipedia.

I visited ratebeer.

I googled every Chilean beer I found.

I found that none are sold in the UK.

I spoke to Source Deli.

They got some Cristal just for me

It was Cristal.

From Cuba.

I was ready to give up.

I though I would check ebay for a laugh

I found this!

I emailed the seller.

It was empty :(

I gave up.

I felt bad.

And then Chile were out.

I didn't feel so bad.

I went to the fridge.

I got a beer.

It was cold.

No wait...

It was CHILE!

Samuel Smith's Organic Best Ale

Samuel Smith's Organic Best Ale [baron rating 3/5] - 5% rich golden ale,bready malt smell,light sweet floral taste & gentle dry sweet finishBaron Orm

Some price cuts & a new addition in Morrisons

Popped into Morrisons today and spotted a couple of new price cuts and a new addition to their line-up:

• Badger Fursty Ferret [baron rating 4/5]
£1.43 instead of £1.60

• Badger Golden Glory [baron rating 2/5]
£1.41 instead of £1.70

• Sierra Nevada Pale Ale [baron rating 5/5]
£1.64

It's great to see new beers appearing in Morrisons, their ale line-up has been quite stagnant recently but with the addition of Worthington's White Shield and now Sierra Nevada Pale Ale it's starting to get interesting!

Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale for £1.40 in Tesco until 13th July 2010

Tesco has bottles of Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale [baron rating 3/5] on offer at £1.40 instead of £1.76 until the 13th July 2010

Looking forward to 'baron rating' Brooklyn & Goose Island ales very soon!

This quarter's myBrewerytap '52 Week Beer Club' arrived last week (a blog post about that is to follow soon) with a cracking selection of ales in it - most of them lovely sounding summer ales.  I was looking forward to trying the Atlantic Gold after enjoying their Red back in the first club pack but was surprised to see the Gold replaced with the Red.

After a quick twitter conversation with Richard from myBrewerytap he confirmed that it had gone in by mistake and that he would immediately send out a bottle of the Atlantic Gold.  Not only did the replacement bottle arrived very quickly, but Richard also excelled himself and popped a few 'extras' in the box:

• Atlantic Gold

• Brooklyn Lager

• Brooklyn East India Pale Ale

• Goose Island Honker's Ale

• Goose Island India Pale Ale [baron rating 5/5]

• Marble Manchester Bitter

The Brooklyn & Goose Island ales are part of myBrewerytap's new 'world beers' range - these USA beers are highly regarded and make excellent additions to myBrewerytap's already extensive selection.  The Marble Manchester Bitter is an absolute beauty, I've been wanting to 're-rate' it ever since I found out from Dom & Colin of Marble that they have changed it slightly.

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!

Waitrose July ale & beer offers (7th June - 27th July 2010)

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

• Wells Bombardier [baron rating 4/5]
4x275ml bottles: £3.99 instead of £4.99

• Wychwood Hobgoblin [baron rating 4/5]
£1.24 instead of £1.66

• Innis & Gunn Oak Aged [baron rating 1/5]
2x750ml bottles: £5 instead of £6.90

• Marston's Classic Ales
12x500ml bottles: £15.19 instead of £18.99

• Marston's Pedigree [baron rating 3/5]
8x500ml cans: £8.70 instead of £7

• Badger Sett
4x500ml bottles: £5.51 instead of £6.89

• Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted
£1.56 instead of £1.95

• Greene King Abbot Ale [baron rating 5/5]
£1.43 instead of £1.79

• Greene King Ruddles County [baron rating 4/5]
£1.35 instead of £1.69

• Morland Old Speckled Hen [baron rating 4/5]
£1.45 instead of £1.82

• Greene King IPA [baron rating 3/5]
660ml bottle: £1.38 instead of £1.73

• Greene King IPA Export [baron rating 4/5]
£1.54 instead of £1.93

• Greene King Very Special IPA
355ml bottle: £1.59 instead of £1.99

Hopshackle Historic Porter

Hopshackle Historic Porter [baron rating 5/5] - 4.8% black stout,smoky roasted smell,smooth sweet roasted charcoal taste,sweet smoky 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

Westerham British Bulldog

Westerham British Bulldog [baron rating 4/5] - 4.3% amber ale,nutty juicy hop smell,bitter juicy hops & sweet 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 Imperial Stout

Hopshackle Imperial Stout [baron rating 5/5] - 9.8% black stout,boozy roasted fruits smell, crisp sweet roasted taste, smooth 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 Nigel from Hopshackle for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Hopshackle ales here

Elmtree Bitter

Elmtree Bitter [baron rating 2/5] - 4.2% amber ale,apple smell, flat apple texture-less taste with a gentle 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 Paul from AlesByMail for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Elmtree ales here

Saltaire Blonde

Saltaire Blonde [baron rating 4/5] - 4% pale golden ale, lemony aroma, crisp spicy bitter hops & a long lasting finishBaron Orm

Thank you to Richard from myBrewerytap for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Saltaire ales here