Westerham Jubilation Ale

Westerham Jubilation Ale [baron rating 4/5] - 4% copper ale,citrus mild vanilla smell,zingy clementine bitter taste,spicy musty dry finish Baron Orm

Listen to what Chris, Paul (Source Deli) and the Baron have to say about it.

Note: The audio review has a load of glitches which we only knew about after the evening had finished :(

Download flash to hear the audio review

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Note: Cask-conditioned with perfect carbonation

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

Buy Westerham ales direct

Westerham British Bulldog

Westerham British Bulldog [baron rating 4/5] - 4.3% amber ale,fruity toffee smell,bittersweet 'apple pie' taste,caramel 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: Cask-conditioned with perfect carbonation

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

Buy Westerham ales direct

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout [baron rating 5/5] - 10% black stout,vinous choc smell,mild vinous dark choc taste,smoky bitter choc finish Baron Orm

Listen to what Chris, Paul (Source Deli) and the Baron have to say about it.

Note: The audio review has a load of glitches which we only knew about after the evening had finished :(

Download flash to hear the audio review

Subscribe in iTunes

Note: Not bottle conditioned

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

Buy Brooklyn ales from Slurp Beer

Looking forward to baron rating Slurp Beer ales

Here's our James Bond-style trailer for the mixed pack of beer:



Slurp are an established online wine retailer who decide to start stocking beer back in June 2010 but really started to push it in May 2011 with the creation of a whole new section for beer, a dedicated Twitter account @SlurpBeer as well as offering some pretty hefty promotions at the start to get some people aware and interested in their stock. They have been from all over the world and the range and prices are very good indeed.

Slurp offered to send a mixed case of beer through for review and as you know I'm always up for trying beers I've not baron rated before. Richard from Slurp packed a surprise mixed case for me and this is what he sent:

Canterbury Brewers

• Foundry Man’s Gold - 4% golden ale with strong citrus & elderflower aromas with a subtle lingering bitterness. Hops are Magnum & Citra
• Foundry Torpedo -4.5% straw coloured ale with an explosive crisp finish. Hops are Cascade & Bramling Cross
• Foundry Red Rye - 5.6% reddish gold ale,spice from the rye malt. Hops are Citra & Chinook
• Street Light Porter - 5.8% dark malty porter with strong toffee character and a liquorice finish. Hops are Goldings & Floral Willemette

Brooklyn Brewery

• Black Chocolate Stout -10% imperial stout,chocolate aroma & flavour due to six varieties of black, chocolate & roasted malts
• East India Pale Ale -6.9% IPA brewed with English malts and hops
• Brooklyn Pennant Ale -5% toasty, biscuity flavour with a fruity and dry finish

• Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager -5.5% amber lager? No description on the bottle...
• Goose Island 312 - 4.4% wheat ale? No description on the bottle...
• Stone Levitation - 4.4% ale? No description on the bottle...
• Stone Pale Ale - 5.4% pale ale? No description on the bottle...

• Silly Saison - 5% Belgian Saison
• Jever Pilsener - 4.9% pilsner
• Wentwell Barrel Organ Blues - 4.5% golden brown with a malty aroma,smooth in taste

Look out for 'baron ratings' for these Slurp Beer ales soon, and a big thank you to Richard (@SlurpBeer) for sending them through to me!

Buy all these beers from Slurp Beer

Banks's UCB

Banks's UCB [baron rating 5/5] - 5.3% amber ale,mild spicy & sulphur smell,spicy oily bittersweet caramel taste,mildly sweet spicy finish Baron Orm

Note: Not bottle conditioned

The Beer Stick - the perfect bottle opener?

I'm always on the lookout for new gadgets and items involved in the beer world and bottle openers are no exception. I read about a great bottle opener on The Brew Bros website called The Beer Stick which looked great and also worked a treat for getting caps off in a pristine state.

I got in touch with Ben Focht @TheBeerStick about them and he kindly sent a few over the pond, these are the first to set foot in the UK:

They are beautiful hand-made bottle openers made from sustainable, renewable USA resources made in Denver, Colorado. They look really nice and feel really nice, and the ones that arrived still had a smell of burnt wood from the branding that they have received!

The great thing with this bottle opener is that it removes the cap so cleanly that you can't tell that it's even been on a bottle, there's no crease, no bend, no deformation of the cap sides to indicate that it's been prised off. Check out the un-bottling video below for proof:



Competition time folks!

If you would like to win the third ever Beer Stick to enter the UK (Chris and I have the other two) then please leave a comment below with the reason why you need The Beer Stick - give me your sob story about cheap plastic bottle openers or about failed openings of prized bottle tops, whatever you think would make me pick you over the others!

Thank you to Ben (@TheBeerStick) from The Beer Stick for sending this through to me!

Holts Maplemoon

Holts Maplemoon [baron rating 3/5] - 4.8% amber ale,mild maple syrup citrus smell,mild syrup bittersweet taste,lasting slightly sweet finish Baron Orm

Note: Not bottle conditioned

Glastonbury Golden Chalice

Glastonbury Golden Chalice [baron rating 2/5] - 4.8% gold ale,honey floral vegetal smell,zingy floral honey taste,long citrus fruity finish Baron Orm

Note: Bottle conditioned with lively carbonation

Avery Ellie's Brown Ale

Avery Ellie's Brown Ale [baron rating 3/5] - 5.5% dark amber ale,treacle smell,treacle sweet plummy taste,dry sticky finish Baron Orm

Note: Not can-conditioned ;)

I don't know what it is about American canned craft ales but I just love them!

Thank you to @PintsAndPanels from PintsAndPanels for sending this over for a 'baron rating'!

If you fancy some cartoon-style reviews of beers then make sure you check out the PintsAndPanels website.

Summer Wine Hermes

Summer Wine Hermes [baron rating 5/5] - 5% pale gold ale,mandarin grapefruit smell,piney bitter grapefruit taste,long peppery bitter finish Baron Orm

Note: Not bottle conditioned

Buy Summer Wine ales from Source Deli

Banks's Fine Fettle

Banks's Fine Fettle [baron rating 4/5] - 4.8% amber ale,fruity mild spicy smell,caramel spicy citrus bitter taste,peppery dry finish Baron Orm

Note: Not bottle conditioned

Wadworth Bishop's Tipple

Wadworth Bishop's Tipple [baron rating 4/5] - 5.5% copper ale,sultana caramel smell,controlled sweet caramel taste,fruity mild bitter finish Baron Orm

Note: Not bottle conditioned

Looking forward to baron rating Loddon ales

Loddon Brewery have rebranded recently and by doing so have featured on the Baron's radar due to a mention of it via the SIBA website. I got in touch with Loddon about the rebrand and a few days later a lovely set of ales arrived at Baron Towers:

Each bottle shares a consistent look, nice simple branding with a dominant dragonfly, clear labelling on the front of the brewery and beer name and ABV and a QR code on the back for more info about the ale.

I really like the QR code idea and I think it's great that Loddon have put them on the labels but I really would have prefered being sent to a mobile-specific website rather than to their main website where I need to scroll left-right to read about the ale (it's a small thing but affects performance and usability)

Loddon Brewery

• Ferryman's Gold - 4.8% golden,smooth, aromatic and zesty
• Forbury Lion Strong IPA - 5.5% true IPA! Malty and packed with hops
• Hocus Pocus Old Ale - 5% rich, smooth and ruby red in colour
• Hoppit - 3.9% classic bitter, highly hopped session ale
• Russet - 4.7% multigrain bitter, ruby red brewed with barley,oats,wheat & crystal rye

Look out for 'baron ratings' for these Loddon Brewery beers soon, and a big thank you to @LoddonBrewery for sending them through to me!

Buy Loddon ales direct

Marble Saison Special 2011

Marble Saison Special 2011 [baron rating 5/5] - 9% copper ale,apple pear funky smell,tangy apricot nectarine taste,dry herbal 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 perfect carbonation

Buy Marble ales from Source Deli

St Peters Cream Stout

St Peters Cream Stout [baron rating 2/5] - 6.5% black stout,berries red wine smell,creamy black currants & berries taste,smoky berry finish Baron Orm

Listen to what Chris, Paul (Source Deli) and the Baron have to say about it.

Download flash to hear the audio review

Subscribe in iTunes

Note: Not bottle conditioned