The Ormskirk Baron: May 2012

Arcobrau Weissbier Hell

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Arcobrau Weissbier Hell [baron rating 4/5] - 5.3% hazy gold ale,yeasty banana smell,mild sharp lemon bubblegum taste,mild dry spicy finish

Buy Arcobrau ales from Aldi

Batemans Gold Medal

Not bottle conditioned

Batemans Gold Medal [baron rating 2/5] - 4.1% gold ale,orange buttery cereal smell,slight tart fruity taste,dry slightly stale bitter finish

Batemans Miss America

Not bottle conditioned

Batemans Miss America [baron rating 3/5] - 4.1% amber ale,sweet dried fruits smell,caramel nutty bitter taste,dry nutty bitter finish

Hardknott Vitesse Noir

Bottle conditioned with mild carbonation

Hardknott Vitesse Noir [baron rating 5/5] - 11% black ale,vanilla coffee boozy smell,rich bittersweet coffee taste,bitter coffee finish

We had recorded some audio to go along with this rating but found it completely corrupt when I came to edit it :(

Clown Shoes Brown Angel

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Clown Shoes Brown Angel [baron rating 4/5] - 7% dark amber ale,nutty sugary smell,smooth sweet brown sugar toffee taste,long sweet finish

Looking forward to baron rating #EBBC12 ales

Last weekend I attended the European Beer Bloggers Conference 2012 (which I've blogged about quite a bit already) and quite a few of us had mentioned to each other to bring a bottle of something interesting to open there or swap, here are the absolute delights that I came home with:

Artisan American IPA - 5.6% American-style IPA, thanks to Simon aka @RealAleToday
Bridgeport Hop Czar - 7.5% imperial IPA, thanks to @Tandleman
Broadford Damn Nation - 8.3% Belgian golden strong ale, thanks to @BroadfordBrewer
Brouwerij 't IJ IPA - 7% IPA, thanks to the Night of International Beers

Hardknott Rhetoric - 12.5% (approx) controversial ale, thanks to by @HardknottAlex
Marston's Marynka - 4% single hopped ale, thanks to Danny on the Marston's stand
Marston's Sovereign - 4% single hopped ale, thanks to Danny on the Marston's stand
Mohawk Extra IPA - 7.5% IPA,thanks to the Night of International Beers
Mohawk Summer IPA - 6.8% IPA,thanks to the Night of International Beers

Off Beat Far Out Stout - 7.4% whisky stout, thanks to @Filrd
Vibrant Forest Black Oktober - 7.2% Imperial Russian Stout, thanks to @mrdavidj
Williams Bros Double Joker IPA - 8% double IPA, thanks to Chris from @WilliamsBrewery

Sharp's new Connoisseurs Choice range

Sharp's Connoisseurs Choice Range

No. 1 Quadrupel Ale - 10% dark ruby ale, aroma of perfumed alcoholic fruit. A full bittersweet fruitiness leads to a warming alcoholic finish
No. 2 Single Brew - 4.5% mid-golden ale,fresh herbal lemon aroma,light barley sugars give way to perfumed bitterness. The finish is dry, clean and exquisitely appetising.
No. 3 Honey Spice Tripel - 10% ale with an aroma of juicy citrus fruit and candyfloss,the flavour is a journey from rich fruity bitterness through to an appetisingly dry finish

I'm really looking forward to baron rating all of these, I have no idea how I managed to get them all home on the train, my arms were killing me by the time I got back! Thank you to everyone who handed something over and I hope you enjoyed the ones that I handed out too!

Grimbergen Dubbel

Grimbergen Dubbel [baron rating 4/5] - 6.5% dark amber ale,sweet raisin smell,sweet caramel mild fruity taste,fruity sweet finish

Not bottle conditioned

Looking forward to baron rating Windsor & Eton Kohinoor

Some breweries are getting behind the Queen's Jubilee brewing special ales to commemorate her 60 years of reign. Windsor & Eton Brewery are one such brewery but are not doing one special beer, they are brewing and bottling three different ones!

Earlier in the month I received the first of their beers, Treetops and last week (just before EBBC12) I received a bottle of Kohinoor:

Windsor & Eton Brewery

Kohinoor - 5% IPA, refreshing innovation on a classic IPA, made with exotic ingredients from both India (Jaggery raw cane sugar) and the East Indies (Jasmine petals, cardamom pods & coriander seeds)

Look out for a baron rating for this Windsor & Eton Brewery beer soon, and a big thank you to @WindsorEtonBrew for sending this through to me!

Buy Windsor & Eton ales direct

#EBBC12 in pictures

European Beer Bloggers Conference 2012 by @baron_orm

Registration badges

Molson Coors

Registration room

Brains

Marston's

Tandleman

Williams Brothers

Zak Avery & Mark Dredge

Spiegelau tasting glasses

Tasting session beers

Spiegelau glasses & pint pot

Hardknott Alex


Ilkley ales

@KaveyEats & @PeteDrinks

Molson Coors beers

Beer Beauty & water!

Sharp's Single Brew

RealAleGuide Simon

SIBA Charlie & Beer Beauty

Peddling4Pints

Live Beer Blogging at the European Beer Bloggers Conference 2012

Note: This was written live as the presentation was happening and posted as soon as it finished so I apologise for any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors.

Taste 10 beers in 50 minutes.

Leeds Brewery Hellfire 5.2% pale gold ale, fruity slight floral smell, crisp clean citrus taste,very dry long finish

Cheese or fish & chips were suggested as good match