Schneider Weisse Meine Hopfenweisse

Bottle conditioned with lively carbonation as expected from a proper German wheat beer

Schneider Weisse Meine Hopfenweisse [baron rating 5/5] - 8.2% copper ale,fresh citrus hop smell,creamy tropical zest taste,long fruit finish Baron Orm

Note: This was an amazing beer, so fresh with resinous citrus hops and yet had the backbone of a solid wheat beer - I couldn't get enough of this beer an the 8.2% was so hidden that it's a testament to the brewer to be able to pull this beer off - first class!

Buy Schneider Weisse Meine Hopfenweisse from Holborn Ales

Howling Hops Saison

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Howling Hops Saison [baron rating 5/5] - 6.2% hazy copper ale,yeast spicy pithy lemon smell,creamy honey lemon zest taste,spicy zesty finish Baron Orm

Thank you to @villabone for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Howling Hops ales from Cotteridge Wines

An interesting advertising campaign for Shepherd Neame Spitfire

Shepherd Neame Brewery's Spitfire is one of those bottled ales which is available nearly everywhere - from Bargain Booze and other 'general' offies to all the supermarkets big and small. It's a good beer which has a distinctive 'Shepherd Neame' smell & taste which isn't for all tastes but is a safe bet where ever you find it.

I think it was one of the first ales I baron rated  having first rated it back in July 2009 (the month I started being 'the baron') and then again in March 2011 this time giving it an audio review.

The reason for writing about Spitfire now is that a bottle arrived this week from Shepherd Neame which has the familar Spitfire logo and branding but with a 'couple of chaps' added to the logo:

They have decided to launch a new TV campaign using Armstrong & Miller in the guise of their RAF pilot characters. These guys are really funny and it's nice to see that Spitfire isn't completely taking over from their comedy aspect - the two seem to be blended nicely together:

Nice t-shirt too!

More videos can be found on the Spitfire YouTube page

Thank you to John Humphreys (@ShepherdNeame) for sending me a bottle along with the press release information, hope the campaign is a huge success.

Buy Shepherd Neame ales direct

Adnams Clump Sagin

Not bottle conditioned

Adnams Clump Sagin [baron rating 4/5] - 5% dark amber ale,rye bread mild sugary smell,rye mild glace cherry fruity taste,grainy dry finish Baron 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

Adnams Fat Sprat

Perfect condition mini-cask

Adnams Fat Sprat [baron rating 4/5] - 3.8% amber ale,brown bread apple peel smell,toffee banana apple spicy taste,long coriander leaf finish Baron 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

Looking forward to baron rating Adnams ales

A completely unexpected package arrived last week from Adnams Brewery, here's what was inside:

Love the cartoon fishing boat & fish on the logo

• Fat Sprat (mini-cask) - 3.8% Amber Beer, full-flavoured & refreshing, much more detail is available on the Fat Sprat page on their website

full-flavoured and refreshing

full-flavoured and refreshing

More good looking bottles from Adnams

• Clump Sagin - 5% Rye IPA, a fine ale that's robust ,smooth and full bodied (part of their Jack Brand Beers series) - more details on their website
• Innovation - arrived for review a few weeks back...
• Native Britten - 4.5% Benjamin Britten's Centenary ale, brewed solely from Suffolk ingredients - malted barley and wheat, First Gold hops and a touch of honey and thyme - more details on their website

As you may have noticed there are three versions of the Native Britten ale, all three are the same ale just with different coloured (and styled) labels.

Look out for baron ratings for these Adnams ales soon, and a big thank you to Sarah (@Adnams) for sending them through to me!

Buy Adnams & Jack Brand ales direct

Founders All Day IPA

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Founders All Day IPA [baron rating 4/5] - 4.7% copper ale,pine grapefruit caramel smell,fresh hops citrus bitter taste,piney bitter finish Baron Orm

Note: I found the body of this a bit thin, I know it's meant to be a big hitting IPA without the malty (and therefore boozy) body but there are plenty of British ales which are lower ABV than this and have a much fully body. Hence why I've scored it a point down. Don't get me wrong, it's incredibly fresh smelling and tasting and most other UK beer bloggers are raving about it.

Buy Founders ales from Holborn Ales

Coniston Bluebird Bitter

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Coniston Bluebird Bitter [baron rating 4/5] - 4.2% copper ale,mild flinty sulphurous smell,balanced caramel sultana taste,dry peppery finish Baron Orm

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

Subscribe in iTunes

Thank you to Ian Bradley (@ConistonBrewCo) from Coniston Brewery for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Coniston ales from Holborn Ales

Beavertown 8-Ball

Bottle conditioned with lively carbonation

Beavertown 8-Ball [baron rating 5/5] - 6.2% amber ale,candied grapefruit smell,rye bread candied resinous taste,dusty bittersweet finish Baron Orm

Thank you to Paul Kruzycki from Ales By Mail for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Beavertown ales from Ales By Mail

Bridestones Tohunga

Bridestones Tohunga [baron rating 5/5] - 6.3% amber ale,sugary resinous smell,fresh bright piney resin tropical  taste,fruity bitter finish Baron Orm

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

Subscribe in iTunes

Thank you to Dan (@BridestonesBeer) from Bridestones Brewing for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Bridestones ales direct

Elland Ushuaia

Not bottle conditioned

Elland Ushuaia [baron rating 4/5] - 4.6% pale gold ale,very mild fruity smell,vanilla grainy syrupy citrus taste, sweetish vanilla finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to Martin from Elland Brewery for sending this through for a baron rating!

Fordham Wisteria Wheat

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Fordham Wisteria Wheat [baron rating 3/5] - 5.1% gold ale,sugary banana clove wheat smell,balanced but muted taste,juicy Opal Fruits finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to Gemma (@SlurpBeer) from Slurp for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Fordham ales from Slurp

Magic Rock Un-Human Cannonball

Not bottle conditioned

Magic Rock Un-Human Cannonball [baron rating 5/5] - 12% copper ale,fresh tropical resinous smell,syrupy tropical taste,fruity bitter finish Baron Orm

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

Subscribe in iTunes

Buy Magic Rock ales from Ales By Mail

Mayfields Priory Pale Ale

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Mayfields Priory Pale Ale [baron rating 5/5] - 4% copper ale,tangy spicy marmalade smell,peppery citrus bitter taste,very dry fruity finish Baron Orm

Note: I first tried this beer in it's non-bottle-conditioned form back in March and was very unimpressed - it was dull, weak and thin and wasn't much for a bottled ale. I'm so please to say that the bottle conditioned version is so much better that my rating for this ale has gone from a 2/5 to a 5/5! Adam should be extremely proud of the job he has done on bringing this bottled beer to us in the way that it should be experienced, really goes to show the difference that different bottling techniques can have!
 

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

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Thank you to Adam (@MayfieldsBrewer) from Mayfields Brewery for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Mayfields ales from Holborn Ales

Salopian Automaton

I forgot to take a photo of the beer poured out! Will remedy soon!

Salopian Automaton [baron rating 5/5] - 7% hazy copper ale,citrus fresh hop smell,tropical citrus peppery bitter taste,tropical resin finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to Jake (@SalopianBrewery) from Salopian Brewery for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Salopian ales from Holborn Ales

Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout

Not bottle conditioned

Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout [baron rating 5/5] - 7% black ale,coffee dark choc boozy smell,velvety bitter choc taste,long hazy 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 Samuel Smith's ales from The Ale Room

Partizan Pale Ale:Amarillo Pacific Jade

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Partizan Pale Ale [baron rating 5/5] - 5.5% copper ale,caramel tropical smell,balanced citrus spicy taste,sweetish flinty bitter finish Baron Orm

Note: This is the Amarillo Pacific Jade version

Buy Partizan ales from Ales By Mail

Ship In A Bottle Best Bitter

Not bottle conditioned

Ship In A Bottle Best Bitter [baron rating 4/5] - 4.1% dark amber ale,sultana smell,fruitcake bittersweet taste,spicy fruit bitter finish Baron Orm

Note: This beer is brewed for Ship In A Bottle by Liverpool Organic Brewery

Thank you to @ShipinabottleWK from Ship In A Bottle for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Ship In A Bottle ales direct

Thwaites 13 Guns

Not bottle conditioned

Thwaites 13 Guns [baron rating 4/5] - 5.5% amber ale,sweet candied tropical smell,sweet then big resinous bitter taste,candied fruit finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to Ian Bearpark from Thwaites Brewery for sending this through for a baron rating!