Green Jack Baltic Trader

Green Jack Baltic Trader [baron rating 5/5] - 10.5% black stout,smoky honey smell,big smooth coffee taste,astringent bitter dark choc 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

Note: I'd like to thank @BGRTRob from HopZine for coming over to Baron Towers to help Chris & I rate a whole loads of stouts, porters and collaboration brews, his expertise added loads to the reviews and we had a thoroughly excellent evening!

Note: Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

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

Buy Green Jack ales here

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy [baron rating 5/5] - 9.5% black oily stout,smoky choc dark cherry smell,huge liquorice complex taste,dark cherry 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

Note: I'd like to thank @BGRTRob from HopZine for coming over to Baron Towers to help Chris & I rate a whole loads of stouts, porters and collaboration brews, his expertise added loads to the reviews and we had a thoroughly excellent evening!

Note: Not can conditioned ;)

Thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for handing this over for a 'baron rating'!

Looking forward to 'baron rating' Pipers Crisps very soon!

Pipers Crisps got in touch with me this week after I responded to a call to action placed in last week's The Publican's Morning Advertiser.

Less than 24 hours later a box arrived at Baron Towers:

I love the traditional-style logo and labeling on the side of the box. In it contained a superb selection of really nicely presented handmade crisps.

Pipers Crisps

• Anglesey Sea Salt - made with Halen Mon salt flakes from The Anglesey Sea Salt Company
• Biggleswade Sweet Chilli - made with Cayenne & Firilla chillies from Filippo Genovese
• Norfolk Bloody Mary - made with Norfolk plum tomatoes from Cornerways Nursery

• Sea Salt And Indian Black Pepper - made with Tellicherry black peppercorns from the Karnataka region of India
• Sea Salt & Somerset Cider Vinegar - made with Burrow Hill Cider in Somerset
• West Country Cheddar And Onion - made with Cheddar cheese from Lye Cross Farm

Look out for the 'baron rating' for these Pipers Crisps soon, and a big thank you to Zoe & Alex from @Pipers Crisps for sending them through to me!

Dark Star Porter 2010

Dark Star Porter 2010 [baron rating 2/5] - 6% flat dark brown ale,sweet coffee slight stale smell,sticky figs coffee bitter taste,dry 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

Note: This has promise to be a truly excellent beer but it seriously lacked in the mouthfeel - see the photo and listen to the audio for what it was like.

Note: I'd like to thank @BGRTRob from HopZine for coming over to Baron Towers to help Chris & I rate a whole loads of stouts, porters and collaboration brews, his expertise added loads to the reviews and we had a thoroughly excellent evening!

Note: Bottle conditioned with no carbonation

Thank you to James from Dark Star for handing this over for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Dark Star ales here or here

Looking forward to 'baron rating' Duvel Moortgat Vedett very soon!

Vedett emailed me direct from my contact details on my website informing me about a new awareness campaign in the UK for Duvel brewery's Vedett Extra Blond:

ETTitudinal Belgian beer brand, Vedett, is unleashing an ETT campaign over the summer months with three quirky limited edition bottle labels in every case of 24.

Making a RAKETT in the on and off trade, Vedett Extra Blond’s tongue-in-the-cheek labels - ETIKETT, KADETT and RAKETT - will be hitting the UK’s bars, pubs and restaurants (and select Waitrose stores) from the beginning of May until September.

I replied requesting a sample and a couple arrived over the Easter weekend:

Duvel Moortgat Brewery

• Vedett Extra Blond - 5.2% premium pilsner with a clean crisp dry taste and a hint of lemon

They are also launching a Twitter competition to be the first to spot an ETT bottle label in the UK, and will ask followers to upload a picture, and location, of ETT bottles onto the micro blogging site.  The first one to do so will win a personalised case of Vedett Extra Blond.

Follow @Vedett_UK if the above interests you.

Look out for the 'baron rating' for this Duvel Moortgat beer soon, and a big thank you to Julie from Vedett for sending it through to me!

Liverpool Organic Imperial Russian Stout

Liverpool Organic Imperial Russian Stout [baron rating 5/5] - 8.1% black stout,boozy tar smell,fresh sweet choc roasted taste,clean 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

Note: The laughter in the audio review when trying to open the bottle was due to my CellarDine ZapCap stainless steel bottle opener breaking and the neck & bottle top being trapped inside the opener and so we couldn't get the bottle open! CellarDine's customer service has been excellent and a replacement is being sent out within a day of reporting the breakage.

Note: I'd like to thank @BGRTRob from HopZine for coming over to Baron Towers to help Chris & I rate a whole loads of stouts, porters and collaboration brews, his expertise added loads to the reviews and we had a thoroughly excellent evening!

Note: Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Thank you to Paul from @SourceDeli for handing this over for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Liverpool Organic ales here

Wadworth 125 Double Stout

Wadworth 125 Double Stout [baron rating 3/5] - 6% black stout,sweet roasted fruit smell,instant coffee hoppy bitterness,short coffee 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

Note: I'd like to thank @BGRTRob from HopZine for coming over to Baron Towers to help Chris & I rate a whole loads of stouts, porters and collaboration brews, his expertise added loads to the reviews and we had a thoroughly excellent evening!

Note: Not bottle conditioned

Thank you to @Wadworth from Wadworth Brewery for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Wadworth ales here

Keltek Gold

Keltek Gold [baron rating 2/5] - 3.8% gold ale,slight citrus aroma,thin mild fruity caramel taste,lasting sweetness on the finish Baron Orm

Note: Not bottle conditioned

Stone IPA

Stone IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 6.9% gold ale,pine resin & fresh green hops smell,balanced bittersweet citrus taste,intense pine resin finish Baron Orm

Lymestone Ein Stein

Lymestone Ein Stein [baron rating 3/5] - 5% pale gold ale,floral slightly spicy smell,floral bittersweet lemon taste,crisp lemon finish Baron Orm

Note: Not bottle conditioned

Thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for handing this over for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Lymestone ales here

Shepherd Neame Whitstable Bay

Shepherd Neame Whitstable Bay [baron rating 3/5] - 4.5% amber ale,faint butterscotch smell,spicy sweet watery tangy taste,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

Note: Not bottle conditioned

Thank you to Rachel from Shepherd Neame for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Shepherd Neame ales here

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

I invited @BGRTRob of HopZine over last night to join Chris & I in baron rating some strong imperial stouts & porters (as well as a couple of collaboration brews).

Rob was very kind enough to show up with some gifts for the baron, two bottles of his recent homebrews as well as a bottle of BrewDog's Avery Brown Dredge. I've heard a lot about this beer via twitter so it was excellent to finally have my hands on a bottle of the 7.5% imperious pilsner, one for an audio baron rating me thinks!

• BrewDog Avery Brown Dredge - 7.5% imperious pilsner
• HopZine Centennial & Chinook American Pale Ale - 5.5% ?
• HopZine Citra King Bandwagon Straddling IPA - 7.4% ?

Look out for 'baron ratings' for these HopZine beers soon, and a big thank you to @BGRTRob of HopZine for handing them over to me!

Source Deli presents Liverpool Organic Brewery

Source Deli has been in touch to say that they have lined up a date for a 'meet the brewer' with the excellent Liverpool Organic Brewery. The date is Saturday 18th June.

Ticket price is £20 and for that you get to try at least five different Liverpool Organic ales (half a bottle of each one), have them introduced by the brewer himself as well as snacking on some bar snacks Source Deli-style and then take a bottle of your favourite home (whilst stocks last!).

Liverpool Organic are an excellent brewery with consistent great and wide range of beers, this is looking like it's going to be a great event.

Tickets are limited to 25 people, so if you are interested get in touch with @SourceDeli and buy your ticket!

Hopshackle Extra Special Bitter

Hopshackle Extra Special Bitter [baron rating 3/5] - 4.8% dark amber ale,floral toffee smell,toffee bittersweet taste,fruity 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

Note: Bottle conditioned with lively carbonation

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

Buy Hopshackle ales here

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

Dark Star Brewing Co. are on of those breweries who are just so friendly it makes you want to add them to your Christmas card list!

I contacted James from Dark Star months ago to request some samples. Then they pulled out all the stops at Christmas and let me do my Baron on Tour: Dark Star.

This week they excelled themselves again by sending through two very special bottles of ale:

Dark Star's collaboration with Kernel

• Imperial Marzen - 9.1% ? RateBeer knows best

Dark Star's collaboration & Thornbridge

• Coalition Old Ale - 7% hazy orange ale,sandlewood & honey aroma,soft honey & resin with monthcoating bitterness

They also sent through a very smart-looking navy polo shirt with the Dark Star funky logo on the breast. Shame they sent a Large as I'm more of a Medium kind of guy but I'm sure Chris will be very pleased with the new addition to his wardrobe! :)


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 and here

Inveralmond Lia Fail

Inveralmond Lia Fail [baron rating 3/5] - 4.7% dark amber ale,caramel roasted fruits smell,rich fruity bittersweet taste,slight burnt 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

Note: Not bottle conditioned

This was part of 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 Inveralmond ales here

Looking forward to 'baron rating' Hesket Newmarket ales very soon!

A box of ales showed up this week from Hesket Newmarket Brewery. Based in Cumbria in the more northern part and they sent 5 different beers down for baron ratings:

You might wonder why there are only four in the photo? The fifth arrived as a pile of glass and stale beer smell as it had broken in transit. It was a bottle of "Doris's 90th Birthday Ale" but judging by the label & name I'm not that bothered that it was broken, an old lady is not the type of thing that gets me thirsty...

Hesket Newmarket Brewery

• Catbells - 5% premium pale ale, light & deliciously smooth
• Haystacks - 3.7% refreshing ale for Fellwanderers, light zesty beer
• High Pike - 4.2% deep amber, full of malty (as well as nutty & hoppy) flavours
• Scafell Blonde - 4.3% full of hop flavours, slight lager character

Look out for 'baron ratings' for these Hesket Newmarket beers soon, and a big thank you to Greg from Hesket Newmarket Brewery for sending these through to me!

Buy Hesket Newmarket ales here

Lymestone Stone The Crows

Lymestone Stone The Crows [baron rating 4/5] - 5.4% ruby ale,choc burnt smell,rounded fruity bitter choc taste,long chocolaty 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

Note: Not bottle conditioned

Thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for handing this over for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Lymestone ales here

BrewDog Dogma

BrewDog Dogma [baron rating 5/5] - 7.8% amber ale,boozy herbal smell,chewy sweet medicinal peppermint taste,lingering herbal hoppy 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

Note: Not bottle conditioned

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

Buy BrewDog ales here or here

Broughton Tibbie Shiels Ale

Broughton Tibbie Shiels Ale [baron rating 2/5] - 6% ruby ale,sweet berries smell,sticky sweet fruity taste,sweet sticky finish - too sweet! Baron Orm

Looking forward to 'baron rating' these myBrewerytap ales very soon!

Richard from myBrewerytap offered to send 'some samples' through the other week, little did I know that a full myBrewerytap box would arrive, thank you so much Richard you have been more than great to the baron!:

Watch Chris & I unbox the latest myBrewerytap beers:



The box contained the following amazing ales:

Anchor Brewing Co.

• Liberty Ale - 5.9% distinct bouquet & uncommonly delicate, entirely natural carbonation
• Anchor Bock Beer - 5.5% rich & flavourful

D.Carnegie & Co.

• Porter - 5.5% ? BeerAdvocate knows best

Flying Dog Brewery

• Horn Dog - 10.2% barley wine style ale

Goose Island Beer Co.

• Matilda - 7% Belgian style ale
  
• Pere Jacques - 8% Belgian style ale

Mallinsons Brewing Company

• Chocolate Stout - 4.2% deep dark colour with a dark cream head,dark chocolate, fruit & roast malt aroma and taste,slightly dry finish
• Dart (On the Buses No. 6) - 4.2% straw coloured with slightly spicy citrus nose.bitter citrus taste with a long finish
• Hidden Malt - 5.3% very pale straw ale with a fresh dry hop nose of Pacific Jade.Fresh fruity citrus taste followed by bitter slightly dry finish

Mikkeller

• Green Gold - 7% ? - Hopzine knows best as well as Beersay
• Hoppy Easter - 6.6% ? Beersay knows best

Oakham Ales

• Bishops Farewell - 5% elaborate fruity hop notes,grainy background & dry finish
• Inferno - 4.4% light igniting ale with complex fruits and a dry fruity finish

Thornbridge Brewery

• Italia - 4.7% pilsner, herb & lemon zest on the nose,soft & creamy malty notes with moderately intense hops taste,herbal minty firm bitter finish
• Wild Swan - 3.5% white gold pale ale, aroma & taste of light bitter lemon,hints of herb spicyness & long hoppy 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!

Buy all these ales here

Williams Bros Midnight Sun

Williams Bros Midnight Sun [baron rating 4/5] - 5.6% black ale,choc sweet berries smell,coffee dark choc bittersweet taste,dry coffee 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

Note: not bottle conditioned

Thank you to Williams Bros. for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Williams Bros ales here and here

Looking forward to 'baron rating' St Austell Proper Black very soon!

St Austell were extremely kind last week and sent through a few bottles of their brand new black IPA - "Proper Black" for a 'baron rating':

St Austell Brewery

• Proper Black - 6% black India Pale Ale, restrained coffee & chocolate notes & tastes of a classic IPA

Look out for 'baron ratings' for these St Austell beers soon, and a big thank you to @StAustellBrew from St Austell Brewery for sending these through to me!

Buy St Austell ales here

The Worthington's White Shield experiment

I was reading The Pump Clip Parade the other day and the topic of Worthington's White Shield came up. Don't get me wrong, I like White Shield but I just don't find it a beer to rave over unlike some others on twitter and the in the beer blogosphere.

After commenting about it and reading in other blog posts long gone about how White Shield ages over time (as it's bottle conditioned) I've decided to do a "White Shield experiment".

I've bought two bottles from Morrisons both with the same best before date and what looks like a batch number:

Printed on the label: "21/09/12 264"

I'm going to drink one very soon (tonight actually) and then the other in six months time and post my results.

If this interests you, or you fancy doing the same type of experiment then please comment below, White Shield is easily available nationwide (thanks to Molson-Coors) and so any branch of Morrisons should be able to help along with probably most small specialise off-licenses.

Post you comments on what the 'young' bottle tastes like and let's look forward to six months time for the opening of the 'aged' bottle!

Oakham Citra

Oakham Citra [baron rating 5/5] - 4.6% gold ale,fruity herbal hops smell,zingy chewy large fruity sweet taste,bitter drying herbal 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

Note: Not bottle conditioned

This was part of 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 Oakham ales here

Salopian Darwin's Origin

Salopian Darwin's Origin [baron rating 4/5] - 4.3% copper ale,caramel slightly herbal smell,spicy caramel bitter taste,smooth 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

Note: Not bottle conditioned

Thank you to Jake from Salopian Brewery for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buckbean Original Orange Blossom Ale

Buckbean Original Orange Blossom Ale [baron rating 4/5] - 5.8% copper ale,sweet floral smell,caramel orange taste,tangy bittersweet finish Baron Orm

Buy Buckbean ales from here

My latest ale haul from Source Deli

I popped into Source Deli in Ormskirk earlier in the week to pick up a few bottles as a good friend was coming round for some beers and I didn't want to disappoint. Here's my selection:

• Goose Island India Pale Ale [baron rating 5/5]
• Hardknott Infra Red [baron rating 5/5]
• Hawkshead Gold [baron rating 5/5]
• Liverpool Organic ShipWreck IPA [baron rating coming soon] - 6.5% true IPA, intense citrus & powerful hop flavours

If you live in Ormskirk, Southport or the surrounding areas then make sure you get down to Source Deli as their beer range has increased a lot in the past few months and they've got a very good selection now. Apart from beers from the above breweries they also have Stringers, Marble, George Wright, Prospect as well as a small range of world beers.

Hepworth Pullman

Hepworth Pullman [baron rating 3/5] - 4.2% gold ale,sweet caramel apple fruity smell,balanced slight citrus taste,fruity dry finish Baron Orm

Sharp's Atlantic IPA

Sharp's Atlantic IPA [baron rating 2/5] - 4.8% gold ale,floral sweet mild sulphur smell,floral sweet fruity taste,sweet slightly dry finish Baron Orm

Thank you to @SharpsBrewery from Sharp's for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Sharp's ales here

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

I got a tweet this weekend from Tara of Mallinsons Brewery saying that she was going to be in Ormskirk and would I like a few samples of her beers. That is such a silly question, everyone should know by know that the Baron never says no to the chance of trying some beers that aren't on the baron rating master list!

So not only did I get to meet the lovely Tara but also collect six different Mallinsons ales:

Mallinsons Brewing Company

• Chocolate Stout - 4.2% deep dark colour with a dark cream head,dark chocolate, fruit & roast malt aroma and taste,slightly dry finish
• Citra (Now that's what I call hops! 16) - 4.2% very pale ale,grapefruit & light mango nose,bitter hoppy citrus taste,bitter grapefruit & light passion fruit finish
• Emily Moor - 3.5% black with a ruby hint,full bodied mild with a chocolate taste & slightly bitter finish
• Hidden Malt - 5.3% very pale straw ale with a fresh dry hop nose of Pacific Jade.Fresh fruity citrus taste followed by bitter slightly dry finish
• Lynx (On the Buses No. 7) - 4.4% very pale gold ale,lightly fruity light hop nose.Bitter tart taste & long dry-ish bitter finish
• Motueka (Now that's what I call hops! 6) - 3.7% blonde beer,juicy fruity hop aroma,bitter taste & hoppy fruity bitter finish

All of Mallinsons beers are bottle conditioned.

I don't think there's any need to write my baron ratings other than the score as Tara has done a great job of describing these beers already! I really like it when brewers describe the flavours you should get from the ale rather than just putting "a tasty refreshing balanced ale"...

Look out for 'baron ratings' for these Mallinsons beers soon, and a big thank you to Tara @Mallinsons from Mallinsons Brewery for handing these over to me!

Buy Mallinsons ales here

Ossett Treacle Stout

Ossett Treacle Stout [baron rating 4/5] - 5% black stout,toffee & treacle aroma,balanced treacle sweet roasted taste,long sweet smoky 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

Note: Not bottle conditioned

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

Buy Ossett ales here

Previous 'baron rating' from 02/07/10

Ossett Treacle Stout [baron rating 4/5] - 5% black stout,sweet roasted smell,smooth dark roasted & sweet fruit taste,lasting roasted finishBaron Orm

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

Buy Ossett ales here

Hopshackle Hop and Spicey

Hopshackle Hop and Spicey [baron rating 4/5] - 5% dark amber ale,spicy smell,balanced sweetish fruit cake taste,spicy candied peel 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

Note: Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

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

Buy Hopshackle ales here

Kelham Island Easy Rider

Kelham Island Easy Rider [baron rating 4/5] - 4.3% gold ale,caramel mild citrus smell,mild sweet tangy citrus taste,long bittersweet finish Baron Orm

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

Buy Kelham Island ales here

Brewster's Porter

Brewster's Porter [baron rating 5/5] - 5.5% dark ruby ale,roasted fruits smell,rounded nutty choc roasted fruits taste,roasted 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

Note: Not bottle conditioned

Thank you to @BrewsterRich and @BrewsterSara from Brewster's for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!