The Ormskirk Baron: 2017

Clay Brow Nano Mrs P's

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Clay Brow Nano Mrs P's [baron rating 3/5] - 6% black ale,vanilla roasted smell,oily vanilla roasted choc taste,clean short bitter finish

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Thank you to Neil from Clay Brow Nano Brewery for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Clay Brow Nano ales from CatHop Beers

Tiny Rebel Cali

Not can conditioned

Tiny Rebel Cali [baron rating 5/5] - 5.8% gold ale,pithy fresh smell,smooth grapefruit pithy bitter taste,big dry pithy bitter finish

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

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

Buy Tiny Rebel ales from Ales By Mail

Tiny Rebel Bo'Ho

Not bottle conditioned

Tiny Rebel Bo'Ho [baron rating 5/5] - 5% gold beer,strong grassy sweetish smell,fruity sweet lemon bittersweet taste,long dry complex finish

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

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

Buy Tiny Rebel ales from Ales By Mail

Wychwood Hobgoblin IPA

Not bottle conditioned

Wychwood Hobgoblin IPA [baron rating 4/5] - 5.3% copper ale,orange peppery resinous smell,orange pithy lime bitter taste,dry peppery finish

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

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Thank you to Emanuele from R&R Teamwork for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Wychwood ales everywhere!

Fuller's Peat Souper

Not bottle conditioned

Fuller's Peat Souper [baron rating 5/5] - 7% black ale,peat TCP dark choc smell,velvety choc earthy burnt taste,short smoky burnt finish

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Buy Fuller's ales from Waitrose

Looking forward to baron rating Tiny Rebel ales

We've not had any Tiny Rebel at Baron Towers for quite some time, you don't really see it around in the North West that much and I'd not been ordering that much beer online either recently. Ales By Mail sent through a few beers last week as an early Christmas present and inside was quite a nice selection of Tiny Rebel Brewery ales:

Tiny Rebel Brewery

Beat Box - 4.5% American Pale Ale
Bo'Ho - 5% Bohemian Lager
Hadouken -7.4% Amplified IPA

Cali - 5.6% American Pale Ale
Captain Insano - 10% Triple IPA
Clwb Tropicana - 5.5% Tropical IPA
Cwtch - 4.6% Welsh Red Ale

Look out for 'baron ratings' of these beers soon, and a big thank you to Paul from Ales By Mail for sending these through to me!

Buy Tiny Rebel beers from Ales By Mail

Oakham American Pale

Not bottle conditioned

Oakham American Pale [baron rating 4/5] - 4.2% gold ale,floral tropical smell,resinous citrus bittersweet taste,long dusty pithy finish

Oakham Kiwi Gold

Not bottle conditioned

Oakham Kiwi Gold [baron rating 4/5] - 4.2% pale gold ale,zesty tropical herbal savoury smell,citrus very bitter taste,fruity bitter finish

Badger Union Joker

Not bottle conditioned

Badger Union Joker [baron rating 3/5] - 4.4% copper ale,herby berries gentle lemon smell,savoury citrus taste,dry earthy spicy bitter finish

Looking forward to baron rating Wychwood Hobgoblin IPA

I've been extremely fortunate to have been sent a lot of beer over the past eight years of blogging and every now and then a brewery includes a few extras like glassware, bar runners, stickers, etc.

On Friday I received what I consider to be the best and craziest thing ever to have been sent to Baron Towers.

A wooden chest, with clasp and handle looking like something straight out of a Harry Potter movie. On opening the chest I was presented with two bottles of Wychwood's brand new Hobgoblin IPA as well as a very nice looking Spiegelau IPA tasting glass.

A brand new IPA with the perfect glass to taste it with!

Wychwood Brewery

Hobgoblin IPA - 5.3% India Pale Ale,heftily hopped & aroma packed. Brewed with Fuggles, Goldings & Styrian hops & then amped up by the addition of some mighty American hops (Mosaic, Chinook, Centennial & Citra).

Thank you to Emanuele from R&R Teamwork for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Wychwood ales everywhere!

Boss Brave

Not can conditioned

Boss Brave [baron rating 2/5] - 5.5% amber ale,candied toffee fruity smell,candied sweet stewed fruits taste,sweet fruity finish

Looking forward to baron rating Clay Brow Nano ales

I've been tweeting with "big niz"over the past few months knowing only that he's local and does what appeared to be some home brewing.

After further conversations and investigation I found out that he's been home brewing for over a decade and was approved to be able to supply his Clay Brow Nano Brewery beers for wholesale back in May this year, he's currently brewing with a half barrel setup.

So far his outlet is the wonderful CatHop Beers in Rainford but he's looking for more chances to get his bottles into the hands of beers lovers. He offered to drop some samples off at my house, which was extremely kind of him, here is what was left for Chris & I to baron rate:

Consistent branding and all bottle conditioned

Clay Brow Nano Brewery

Eclipse - 5.4% oatmeal stout, a smooth velvety texture with hints of toasted oats & chocolate
Mr P's - 5.7% coffee & milk stout, blended with seven different malts and infused with cold-brewed Guatemalan coffee beans
Mrs P's - 6% black IPA, a dark, hoppy IPA hopped with Centennial, Mosaic & Vic Secret
Parkin's - 4.5% pale ale, a copper-coloured pale ale hopped with Challenger & East Kent Goldings British hops

Thank you to Neil from Clay Brow Nano Brewery for handing these over for a baron rating!

Buy Clay Brow ales from CatHop Beers

Wychwood Ripsaw

Not bottle conditioned

Wychwood Ripsaw [baron rating 3/5] - 4.2% dark amber ale,maple syrup smell,earthy roast burnt bittersweet taste,long malty sweetish finish

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

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Wychwood Dunkel Fester

Not bottle conditioned

Wychwood Dunkel Fester [baron rating 1/5] - 4.4% black ale,coffee smell,smooth dark chocolate coffee taste,metallic nasty acidic finish

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Williams Bros Stravaigin

Not bottle conditioned

Williams Bros Stravaigin [baron rating 4/5] - 6.4% cloudy gold ale,honey tart smell,oily honey orange mild tart taste,long citrus finish

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

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

Buy Williams Bros ales direct

Baron on Tour: CatHop Beers

It was a lovely crisp sunny day today so what better to do than visit a fairly new local beer shop over in nearby Rainford. CatHop Beers are based in the Inglenook Farm complex, off the Rainford Bypass.

Run by newly-weds Neil & Sam, they opened the shop in August 2017 and have been enjoying a growing customer base. Mainly concentrating on local and north west beers they venture up to Cumbria, down to Macclesfield and across to North Wales, Manchester & Derbyshire to collect their stock.

Their selection is excellent, including breweries such as Marble, Cloudwater, Tiny Rebel, Red Willow, and many others. There were loads of beers there that I've not 'baron rated' yet so I expect I'll be visiting from time to time. They are the only stockists of Clay Brow ales, and are always looking out for new and exciting beers to stock.

So why the name CatHop? Well, they are definitely cat lovers, with photos of their cats stuck to the side of the till and various other cat references dotted around the shop. Originally planned to be called HopCat until they found that name was already claimed by a US company so a quick swap of the words and they were sorted.

They are currently open Thursday to Sunday (11am-6pm Thursday/Friday, 11am-5pm Saturday/Sunday), with the rest of the week reserved for driving around collecting beers, and hopefully some well earned time off too. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this beer shop develops, their current range is excellent and they are two of the nicest people you could meet!

Find them on Facebook (cathopbeers), or follow them on Twitter (@cathopbeers) & Instagram (cathopbeers)

Lost Industry Black Licorice Gose

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Lost Industry Black Licorice Gose [baron rating 4/5] - 3.9% black ale,tart licorice smell,bright tart taste,fast fading finish

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

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Thank you to Lost Industry (@Lost_Industry) for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Lost Industry beers from a number of places

Tarn Hows Blueberry & Vanilla Stout

Not bottle conditioned

Tarn Hows Blueberry & Vanilla Stout [baron rating 5/5] - 5% black ale,fruity vanilla smell,slick fruity choc taste,velvety vanilla finish

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

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Thank you to Chris for bringing this round for a baron rating!

Buy Tarn Hows ales from Beer Ambleside

Shepherd Neame Barley Wine 2014 (aged)

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Shepherd Neame Barley Wine 2014 (aged) [baron rating 4/5] - 10% dark amber ale,strawberry smell,burnt sour fruit taste,long caramel finish

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

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Thank you to John Humphreys (@ShepherdNeame) from Shepherd Neame for sending this through (back in 2014) for a baron rating!

Buy Shepherd Neame ales direct

Fuller's Vintage Ale 2013 (aged)

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Fuller's Vintage Ale 2013 (aged) [baron rating 5/5] - 8.5% amber ale,earthy stewed fruit smell,rich sherry trifle taste,long fruity finish

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

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Buy Fuller's ales direct

Harviestoun Ola Dubh 30 (aged)

Bottle conditioned with dull carbonation

Harviestoun Ola Dubh 30 (aged) [baron rating 5/5] - 11.3% black ale,vineous dark choc smell,oily bitter choc taste,fruity warm boozy finish

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

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Thank you to @HarviestounBrew from Harviestoun for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Harviestoun ales direct

Williams Bros Caesar Augustus can

Not can conditioned

Williams Bros Caesar Augustus can [baron rating 3/5] - 4% pale gold ale,grassy smell,light citrus bittersweet taste,herbal dry grassy finish

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

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

Buy Williams Bros ales direct

Shepherd Neame Cinque

Not bottle conditioned

Shepherd Neame Cinque [baron rating 3/5] - 5% gold beer,very mild smell,mild sweet grassy lemon taste,soft bitter finish

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

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

Buy Shepherd Neame ales direct

Williams Bros Double Joker IPA can

Not can conditioned

Williams Bros Double Joker IPA can [baron rating 5/5] - 8.3% copper ale,orange solventy smell,peppery resinous taste,long chili spicy finish

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

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

Buy Williams Bros ales direct

Williams Bros Joker IPA can

Not can conditioned

Williams Bros Joker IPA can [baron rating 3/5] - 5% gold ale,menthol green hop smell,subdued zingy lacking taste,menthol bitter finish

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

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

Buy Williams Bros ales direct

Williams Bros Perfect Storm

Not bottle conditioned

Williams Bros Perfect Storm [baron rating 3/5] - 4.5% gold ale,apricot mandarin smell,peppery fruit bread bitter taste,fruity apricot finish

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

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

Buy Williams Bros ales direct

Looking forward to Baron Rating Shepherd Neame Cinque

Another new arrival from the Shepherd Neame family, this is 'Cinque' - their five grain premium lager. The "brewers have blended barley, rye, wheat, maize and rice" (really?!? do we need maize and rice?) "with Strisselspalt hops to produce a clean, superior tasting, high-quality lager".

Shepherd Neame Brewery

Cinque - 5% premium lager, barley,rye,wheat,maize,rice - brewed with a complex and balanced blend of five grains for a clean superior taste

Look out for baron ratings for this beer soon, and a big thank you to Benedict from Shepherd Neame for sending it through for a baron rating!

Buy Shepherd Neame ales direct