Batemans Vintage Ale 2012

Not bottle conditioned but with dull carbonation

Batemans Vintage Ale 2012 [baron rating 2/5] - 7.5% dark amber ale,boozy sweet slightly meaty sweaty smell,sweet syrupy taste,short finish Baron Orm

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Buy Batemans ales direct and from Aldi

Lamb Kebabs - Baron-style!

I've been wanting to nail the 'lamb kebab' ever since trying out the doner kebab recipe from Boak & Bailey. It's not quite done it for me though,sometimes being too 'meaty' other times too soggy. I decided that it was time to perfect the sheekh kebab. I've taken two recipes and blended them together to create exactly the type of lamb kebab I'm looking for.

This recipe comfortably feeds two people, scale up if you need more, or scale down if you need less!

Note: Wear disposable gloves if you don't want your fingers to stink of raw lamb or have chilli juice embedded into them - It's a bugger if you get it in the eye - I know from experience! :(

Ingredients

• 500g lamb mince - get it from a butcher and ask for it to be "thrice minced" - gets you the right texture
• 1 onion (finely chopped)
• 3 fresh green finger chillies - de-seed them, I run them under the tap and rip out the seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
• 2 teaspoons tomato puree
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground paprika
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

• Measure out all spices and mix together, de-seed chillies and finely chop with the onion , add to spice mix
• Mix all together to ensure a good blend
• Add lamb and mix with you hands,squashing it all together to ensure not only a good mix but a fine consistency of meat - you don't want strands of mince in the mixture, make it nice and mushed
• Form into a big ball, cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for around 2 hours to firm up (it's tough to make the kebabs stick to the sticks from 'fresh').
• Place 4 kebab skewers in water to soak (stops them burning whilst cooking)
• Cut the mixture into 4 and roll into a fat sausage shape with you hands, insert the skewer and then roll/toss/squeeze in your hands to form kebab shapes - place on greased baking tray
• Place back in fridge until ready to cook
• Pre-heat oven to 200degC, drizzle kebabs with olive oil and put the tray on the top shelf for 15 minutes
• Remove and rotate kebabs and return for a further 15 minutes
• Remove and rotate and return for around 5-10 minutes depending on how brown they are looking
• Remove when they look done, cut lengthways to ensure they are cooked

Serving

• Take one heated Aldi naan, cover with a good layer of their hot mango chutney
• Add slices of tomato and cucumber
• Add a decent handful of lettuce and sliced cabbage (red or white is fine)
• Add a squirt of Aldi's garlic mayo
• Slice each kebab in two and place four slices to cover the salad
• Add additional garlic may to suit
• Serve with a hoppy spicy pale ale and enjoy!

This recipe was a combination of the Indian Style Sheekh Kebab from AllRecipes and Keema Nan from Mamta's Kitchen - blended together in my mind make a perfect lamb kebab!

Arcobrau Winterbier

Not bottle conditioned

Arcobrau Winterbier [baron rating 4/5] - 5.5% gold ale,cereal grassy smell,peppery honey pineapple mandarin taste,tingly spicy fruity finish Baron Orm

Buy Arcobrau ales from Aldi

Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout

Not bottle conditioned

Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout [baron rating 5/5] - 8.1% black ale,sweet burnt coffee smell,burnt rich choc taste,smoky molasses finish Baron Orm

Buy Bear Republic ales from Ales By Mail

St Wendeler Brauburger Pils

Not can conditioned

St Wendeler Brauburger Pils [baron rating 4/5] - 4.6% gold beer,grassy slightly sweet smell,crisp honey malty bitter taste,creamy dry taste Baron Orm

Bought from Carrefour near Bénodet whilst camping at the excellent Camping du Letty in Bénodet, Brittany, France.

These were €0.26 (26 euro cents) a can, a fantastic price for a decent malt-lead lager that is refreshing without being watery - a cheap lager that actually tastes of something!

Bretagne Dremmwel Rousse Bio

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Bretagne Dremmwel Rousse Bio [baron rating 3/5] - 6% dark amber ale,bready red berry smell,toffee berries toast taste,mild sweet finish Baron Orm

Bought from Carrefour near Bénodet whilst camping at the excellent Camping du Letty in Bénodet, Brittany, France.

Wye Valley HPA

Not bottle conditioned

Wye Valley HPA [baron rating 2/5] - 4% pale gold ale,straw slight citrus smell,thin lemony bitter taste,bitter slight metallic finish Baron Orm

St Bernardus Pater 6

Not bottle conditioned

St Bernardus Pater 6 [baron rating 4/5] - 6.7% dark amber ale,mild treacle clove smell,smooth treacle burnt taste,dry sweet bready finish Baron Orm

Buy St Bernardus ales from Ales By Mail

BrewDog Dead Pony Club

Not bottle conditioned

BrewDog Dead Pony Club [baron rating 3/5] - 3.8% amber ale,sweet tropical fruits smell,unbalanced no body fruity taste,bitter finish Baron Orm

I was really disappointed with this bottled version, I got to try the keg version when the BrewDog Manchester bar opened and it was excellent (on keg) but in bottles it just doesn't do it for me.

Buy BrewDog ales direct

Erdinger Alkoholfrei

Not bottle conditioned

Erdinger Alkoholfrei [baron rating 1/5] - 0% gold ale,corn savoury herbs (sage?) smell,sweet herby sausage taste,soft watery finish Baron Orm

Tesco Simply IPA

Not bottle conditioned

Tesco Simply IPA [baron rating 3/5] - 5% copper ale,biscuity mild spicy smell,caramel spicy slight cloying taste,spicy sultana bitter finish Baron Orm

Buy Tesco ales direct

Bretagne Dremmwel Blonde Bio

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Bretagne Dremmwel Blonde Bio [baron rating 2/5] - 5% gold ale,little if no smell,sweet lemon citrus slight biscuity taste,bland finish Baron Orm

Bought from Carrefour near Bénodet whilst camping at the excellent Camping du Letty in Bénodet, Brittany, France.

Blueball White Betty

Not bottle conditioned but with minimal carbonation

Blueball White Betty [baron rating 2/5] - 8% flat amber ale,apricot smell,lifeless sweet apricot orange spicy taste,sweet juicy finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to Alex (@blueballbrewery) from Blueball Brewery for handing them over for a baron rating!

Buy Blueball ales direct and from Kash Bar

Grain India Pale Ale

Not bottle conditioned but with minimal carbonation

Grain India Pale Ale [baron rating 4/5] - 6.5% copper ale,syrupy tropical smell,citrus caramel big peppery taste,syrupy citrus bitter finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to Phil (@grainbrewery) from Grain Brewery for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Grain ales direct

Flying Dog Wildeman Farmhouse IPA

Bottle conditioned with lively carbonation

Flying Dog Wildeman Farmhouse IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 7.5% gold ale,pineapple clove smell,pineapple peach honey taste,zingy fruity finish Baron Orm

Buy Flying Dog ales from Ales By Mail

St Bernardus Tripel

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

St Bernardus Tripel [baron rating 5/5] - 8% copper ale,warming spicy clove smell,crisp fruity bready slight tart taste,spicy orange finish Baron Orm

Buy St Bernardus ales from Ales By Mail

Adnams Ginger Beer

Not bottle conditioned

Adnams Ginger Beer [baron rating 3/5] - 2.5% pale gold ale,sweet fresh ginger smell,lime ginger tingly taste,creamy biscuity bitter finishBaron Orm

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

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Thank you to Sarah (@Adnams) from Adnams Brewery for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Adnams ales direct

Burscough Duke of Lancaster's Ale

Not bottle conditioned

Burscough Duke of Lancaster's Ale [baron rating 4/5] - 4% amber ale,toffee smell,full bodied toffee dried fruit taste,dry mild smoky finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to Mike McCombe (@mikehopvine) from the Burscough Brewing Company for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Burscough ales from Source Deli

Great Newsome Sleck Dust

Not bottle conditioned

Great Newsome Sleck Dust [baron rating 5/5] - 3.8% gold ale,fresh peach orange smell,fruity slightly pithy bitter taste,bitter citrus finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to Matthew (@greatnewsome) from Great Newsome Brewery for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Great Newsome ales direct

Summer Wine Bravura

Not bottle conditioned

Summer Wine Bravura [baron rating 5/5] - 5.5% gold ale,sweet grapefruit smell,crisp very pithy bitter grapefruit taste,pithy bitter finish Baron Orm

Buy Summer Wine ales direct and from AleselA

Nethergate Essex Border

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Nethergate Essex Border [baron rating 4/5] - 4.8% gold ale,fruity mild vegetal smell,sweet citrus spicy bitter taste,dry spicy bitter finish Baron Orm

Loddon Hullabaloo

Not bottle conditioned

Loddon Hullabaloo [baron rating 2/5] - 4.6% amber ale,faint fruity smell,sultana slight zesty citrus bitter taste,watery bitter finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to @LoddonBrewery from Loddon Brewery for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Loddon ales direct

Hopshackle Baltic Porter

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Hopshackle Baltic Porter [baron rating 5/5] - 7% black ale,fruity coffee smell,dark berries dark choc coffee taste,bitter dark choc finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to Andrew (@TheAleRoom) from The Ale Room for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Hopshackle ales from The Ale Room

Looking forward to baron rating Best of British Beer's Christmas ales

Christmas comes round far too quickly doesn't it?

It feels like only yesterday that we were baron rating some Christmas ales sent from Best of British Beer, well here are this year's contenders:

• Backyard Bad Santa - 6.8%, dark & strong. Full of sweet malt character, toffee & liquorice. Chased along by a big hitting bitterness with blackberry,citrus & aniseed. The sort of beer to poke you in the eye and pinch your Christmas presents!
• Cheddar Festive Totty - 4.7% bottle conditioned porter with ruby port. Festive Totty is our award-winning Totty Pot porter enriched with ruby port to give a smoother, sweeter taste with hints of chocolate and fruit
• George Wright Reindeer's Revenge - 5.1% premium ale brewed using only the Citra hop, giving this ale a citrus character along side a tropical hint of mango. This beer boasts exciting aromas and flavours (sounds interesting but the label is awful)

• Monty's Ding Dong - 4.4% Christmas special. A Champagne style real ale which is light, crisp & refreshing with a dry finish (we reviewed this last year but the bottle conditioning was completely wrong)
• Quartz Cracker - 5% *no description on the bottle whatsoever*
• York Stocking Filler [baron rating 4/5] - 4.8% dark, rich full bodied ale,having a distinctive finish of roast malt and chocolate. The addition of seasonal spices helps to add a hint of spice on the palete giving us a robust and satisfying beer (this is a good beer but the label should be banned!)

Look out for 'baron ratings' for these Best of British Beer beers soon, and a big thank you to @bob_beer for sending them through to me!

Buy these ales from Best of British Beer

Dark Star Green Hop

Not bottle conditioned

Dark Star Green Hop [baron rating 5/5] - 6.5% gold ale,sweet tangerine mango smell,chewy sweet mango resinous taste,long pithy bitter finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to James (@DarkStarBrewCo) from Dark Star Brewery for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Dark Star ales direct or from Ales By Mail

Looking forward to baron rating St Austell Big Job ale

I've a lot of respect for St Austell Brewery, I think their Proper Job is lovely, their Proper Black is excellent and Tribute is a lovely cask beer when served from a beach bar overlooking the sea in Cornwall.

They sent quite a shocking present to me this week: a 750ml bottle of 9% double IPA!

This just isn't the type of beer that I thought St Austell would want to produce, it's far too bold for them to do, something that should be done by a micro 'craft' brewery instead, or is it? ;)

What an amazing looking big bottle

St Austell Brewery

• Big Job - 9% double IPA, massively hopped Cornish ale. Big Job is a BIG beer, 9% alcohol, dry as a bone and jammed full of Cornish barley and as many Citra and Centennial hops as we could get our hands on. It's not subtle, but if you love the taste of big, powerful hops Big Job will be just the Job for you!

Look out for a 'baron rating' for this St Austell beer soon, and a big thank you to @StAustellBrew from St Austell Brewery for sending it through to me!

Buy St Austell ales here

St Bernardus Wit

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

St Bernardus Wit [baron rating 5/5] - 5.5% cloudy gold ale,lemon cloves smell,tart lemon banana clove spicy taste,dry sweet lemon finish Baron Orm

Buy St Bernardus ales from Ales By Mail

Elland 1872 Porter

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Elland 1872 Porter [baron rating 5/5] - 6.5% dark ruby ale,smoky sweet coffee smell,sweet dark bitter coffee taste,very bitter choc finishBaron Orm

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

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Thank you to Andrew (@TheAleRoom) from The Ale Room for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Elland ales from The Ale Room

Achouffe Mc Chouffe

Not bottle conditioned but very fizzy

Achouffe Mc Chouffe [baron rating 4/5] - 8% ruby ale,brown sugar black & red berry smell ,fizzy sweet molasses taste,mild funky sour finishBaron Orm

Konig Ludwig Hell

Not bottle conditioned

Konig Ludwig Hell [baron rating 2/5] - 5.1% gold ale,grassy savoury smell,savoury slightly sweet lemon taste,cloying bittersweet finish Baron Orm

Liverpool Organic Shipwreck Extra IPA

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Liverpool Organic Shipwreck Extra IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 7.5% copper ale,resinous tropical smell,resinous fruity taste,long syrupy finish Baron Orm

Buy Liverpool Organic ales direct and from Source Deli

Looking forward to baron rating Shepherd Neame ales

Shepherd Neame beers are everywhere - available in every supermarket, nearly every off-license, and online.

Mostly they are beers delivered in clear bottles, are 4-5% ABV, and taste quite similar to each other for the most part, but a couple of bottles arrived at the weekend that have completely smashed what I've just said to bits!

Two beers in dark brown bottles with amazing vintage-styled labels and some pretty beefy ABVs and descriptions:

Amazing looking bottles, these scream BUY ME!

Shepherd Neame Brewery

• Double Stout - 5.2% classic double stout from a recipe discovered in the vaults of Britain's oldest brewery. velvety-smooth palate of dry, burnt flavours complemented by roast, cocoa & coffee notes. Black, creamy & delicious; it is a Shepherd Neame masterpiece
• India Pale Ale - 6.1% historic brew, a quintessentially strong & hoppy beer with a bold, stirring character. Pale in colour and generously bittered with locally grown Fuggles hops

Look out for baron ratings for these Shepherd Neame Brewery beers soon, and a big thank you to Moray (@ShepherdNeame) for sending them through for a baron rating!

Buy Shepherd Neame ales direct