Oppigards Golden Ale

Not bottle conditioned

Oppigards Golden Ale [baron rating 5/5] - 5.2% pale gold ale,caramel biscuity smell,clementine apricot syrupy grainy taste,dry herbal finish Baron Orm

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Thank you to Siobhan from Beer52 for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Oppigards ales from Beer52

Stringers Outlook Golden Ale

No bottle conditioned

Stringers Outlook Golden Ale [baron rating 3/5] - 3.7% pale gold ale,grassy slight lemon smell,crisp honey mild peppery taste,bitter taste Baron Orm

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Thank you to Jon & Becky (@StringersBeer) from Stringers for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Stringers ales from Source Deli, Booths & Holborn Ales

La Lutine India Pale Ale

No bottle conditioned

La Lutine India Pale Ale [baron rating 2/5] - 6% amber ale,slight grape smell,unbalanced pithy orange pith taste,dry pithy bitter finish Baron Orm

Bought from Domme market whilst on holiday in the Dordogne region, France.

Cheshire Brewhouse A Little Lupy Galaxy

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Cheshire Brewhouse A Little Lupy Galaxy [baron rating 4/5] - 4% gold ale,mild pine lime smell,flinty citrus balanced taste,dry bitter finish Baron Orm

Bollington Bollington Best

Not bottle conditioned

Bollington Bollington Best [baron rating 5/5] - 4.2% gold ale,spicy satsuma smell,caramel spicy zingy bitter taste,peppery bitter finish Baron Orm

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Looking forward to enjoying Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale this Christmas!

It's Christmas time and that can only mean one thing, time for a bottle of Shepherd Neame's lovely Christmas Ale to arrive in the post (to be enjoyed with my Christmas dinner). This year the label has had a stunning make-over:

Is this Christmas in a bottle?

Shepherd Neame Brewery

• Christmas Ale [baron rating 5/5 ♫] - 7% glowing amber winter ale with a heady fruity nose. Crystallised winter fruits combine with festive spicy hops on a platform of smooth warming alcoholic notes, leaving a refreshing cleansing hop finish

A big thank you to John Humphreys (@ShepherdNeame) for sending it through, Merry Christmas!

Buy Shepherd Neame ales direct

Salopian Holly Bush

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Salopian Holly Bush [baron rating 5/5] - 5.5% dark amber ale,candied sweet smell,rye candied sweet balanced taste,pithy herbal bitter finish Baron Orm

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

Buy Salopian ales from Source Deli

Shepherd Neame Mash Tun No.1

Not bottle conditioned

Shepherd Neame Mash Tun No.1 [baron rating 5/5] - 7.4% dark amber ale,ground spice smell,cola roasted fruitcake burnt taste,long choc finish Baron Orm

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

Buy Shepherd Neame ales direct

Cheshire Brewhouse The Smokehouse Porter

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Cheshire Brewhouse The Smokehouse Porter [baron rating 5/5] - 6.2% black ale,smoke espresso smell,cola toffee dark choc taste,vanilla finish Baron Orm

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Thank you to Shane Swindells (@shaneswindells) from The Cheshire Brewhouse for sending these through for a baron rating!

Buy Cheshire Brewhouse ales from Holborn Ales

Cheshire Brewhouse Govinda IPA barrel-aged Head Brewers Reserves

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Cheshire Brewhouse Govinda IPA barrel-aged Head Brewers Reserves [baron rating 2/5 & 3/5] - Not enough room here,please listen to the audio!Baron Orm

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Thank you to Shane Swindells (@shaneswindells) from The Cheshire Brewhouse for sending these through for a baron rating!

Buy Cheshire Brewhouse ales from Holborn Ales

Estaminet Triple

Not bottle conditioned

Estaminet Triple [baron rating 4/5] - 7% gold ale,apricot smell,light creamy apricot tobacco taste,creamy herbal finish Baron Orm

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Such cute frogs!

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

Looking forward to baron rating Shepherd Neame Mash Tun No1 ale

Something rather special arrived this week, a large wooden box, labelled "Mash Tun No1" by Shepherd Neame. It's a historic brew celebrating their 100th anniversary of Britain's last remaining wooden mash tuns:

Shepherd Neame Brewery

• Mash Tun No1 - 7.4% beer combines a traditional British grist mix of six malts, with some of the most popular hops from Kent and North America: First Gold, Centennial and Amarillo. The resultant beer is a rich, malty brew with hints of toffee and dried fruits, which is lightened by top notes of spice and citrus.

Look out for a baron rating for this Shepherd Neame Brewery beer soon, and a big thank you to John Humphreys (@ShepherdNeame) for sending it through for a baron rating!

Buy Shepherd Neame ales direct

TicketyBrew Dubbel

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

TicketyBrew Dubbel [baron rating 2/5] - 6.5% ruby ale,mild dried fruit fruitcake smell,spicy fruity thin bittersweet taste,dry fading finish Baron Orm

Looking forward to baron rating Salopian Holly Bush ale

Christmas is coming and the Xmas-themed beers have arrived in the supermarkets, most of them 4% brown bitters with little special going on other than the normally rather cheesy Christmas-themed label...
         ...and then there is Salopian's entry:

Salopian Brewery

• Holly Bush - 5.5% rich, bittersweet red ale, given a fruity twist with lots of new world hops

Look out for a 'baron rating' for this Salopian Brewery beer soon, and a big thank you to Jake (@SalopianBrewery) for sending it through to me!

Buy Salopian ales from Holborn Ales

Looking forward to baron rating Adnams 1659 & Wild Hop ales

Some more new releases from Adnams arrived last week (and one old favourite too), here are the details:

Adnams Brewery

• 1659 - 4.7% smoked ruby beer, made with barley malt smoked over cherry and mesquite wood, with sweet smoky aromas & flavours of raisins, smoke, dates and coffee. Smoky & full on
• Ghost Ship [baron rating 4/5 ♫] - 4.5% ghostly pale ale
• Wild Hop - 4.8% amber beer, brewed with a wide variety of wonderfully wild fresh hops, plus a few tamed garden ones too, this beer is choc-full of grassy, pine & citrus flavours, capturing all the excitement of the year's hop harvest

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

Cismontane Marea Roja

Not bottle conditioned

Cismontane Marea Roja [baron rating 5/5] - 4.4% dark ruby ale,red berries smell,sour unripe blackberry raspberry taste,sour cranberry finish Baron Orm

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

Buy Cismontane ales from Ales By Mail