Hook Norton A Shining Light [baron rating /5] - 4.5% copper ale,floral citrus smell,slight spicy biscuit taste,stoned fruit bitter finish
Thank you to Hook Norton for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!
Buy Hook Norton ales here
Hook Norton A Shining Light
Thank you to Hook Norton for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!
Buy Hook Norton ales here
Wychwood Bah Humbug
Wychwood Bah Humbug [baron rating /5] - 5% dark amber ale,sweet spicy aroma,cinnamon sweet toffee spicy taste,dry grainy bitter finish
To see how it stood up to xmas food matching, watch the Christmas Special video.Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.
Download flash to hear the audio review
Subscribe in iTunes
myBrewerytap's winter selection of the '52 week beer club'
myBrewerytap's winter 52 week beer club box arrived this week delayed somewhat by all the snow but still arrived in perfect condition (as always). There's a good selection of darker winter ales this time, here are the details:
Join it now and make sure you say the baron made me do it!
- Acorn Gorlovka - 6% imperial stout
- BrewDog Zeitgeist - 4.9% black lager
- Butcombe Bitter - 4.5% original bitter
- Dark Star Espresso - 4.2% rich coffee beer
- Freedom Organic Dark Lager - 4.7% smooth toffee taste
- Fyne Highlander - 4.8% fine strong traditional ale
- Hawkshead Brodie's Prime - 4.9% dark rich complex beer
- Oakham JHB - 4.2% Jeffrey Hudson Bitter
- Three Castles Holly Berry - 4.4% deep ruby ale
- Wensleydale Black Dub - 4.4% oat stout
- Williams Bros 80/- - 4.2% Scottish ale
- Wooden Hand Black Pearl - 4.5% tasty dark stout
- York Stocking Filler - 4.8% dark rich full-bodied ale
Join it now and make sure you say the baron made me do it!
Thank you to the Manchester Crowne Plaza
I took the Baroness away for a night in Manchester last weekend as an early Christmas present. She's been mentioning about staying in nice hotels for quite a while now (a number of years...) and I thought it was about time I actually pulled my finger out and booked somewhere.
After asking around on Twitter about where is nice (but not too pricey) to stay I got a response from @CrownePlazaManc asking for their hotel to be considered. After a number of tweets and some review checking on TripAdvisor (#5 out of 129!) I booked a room at a very favourable rate especially as it was for the Saturday before Christmas.
We arrived mid-afternoon on a very snowy Saturday to a nice new looking hotel just a few minutes walk from Manchester Victoria station. Upon check-in I was even more pleased with the deal as we received a complementary room upgrade to one on the 'club floor' - the top floor of the hotel with stunning city views and access to the 'club lounge' (read as free drinks and snacks).
Our room was excellent, very spacious with a very large comfortable bed, two easy chairs positioned by a massive window overlooking the city (you can clearly see The Angel pub in the photo). The bathroom was very classy with robes and slippers too with both a shower cubical and a bath which is not that common.
By now the Baroness had the biggest smile on her face ever which meant the whole thing was well worth it! We took a wander around the Manchester Christmas markets and when we got too cold we went back to the hotel to get ready for our evening out in town. It was past 6pm so the 'booze fridge' in the club lounge was available so we were able to enjoy a couple of cold beers as we got ready.
The hotel's location couldn't have been better as we had a couple of hours to kill before our meal and the super Marble Arch pub was no more than five minutes walk away. I sampled the Manchester Bitter, Lagonda IPA & Dobber and all were in tip-top form - absolutely divine!
This was then followed by another five minute walk to the Bem Brazil restaurant (the northern quarter one) where we had an excellent Brazillian 'meat-fest' - the waiters just kept bringing more and more tasty spit-roasted meat until you couldn't move! After that we wandered slowly back to the hotel where we collapsed into the massive bed full & happy and had an excellent night's sleep.
I would like to say a very very big 'thank you' to the Crowne Plaza hotel in Manchester for a wonderful weekend, without them the weekend just wouldn't have had the same Christmas sparkle that it did. My hat goes off to you Crowne Plaza - you really did pull out all the stops for the Baron! :)
P.S. If you ever need a room in Manchester get in touch with @CrownePlazaManc and see what they can do for you, oh and don't forget to say the baron made me do it!
After asking around on Twitter about where is nice (but not too pricey) to stay I got a response from @CrownePlazaManc asking for their hotel to be considered. After a number of tweets and some review checking on TripAdvisor (#5 out of 129!) I booked a room at a very favourable rate especially as it was for the Saturday before Christmas.We arrived mid-afternoon on a very snowy Saturday to a nice new looking hotel just a few minutes walk from Manchester Victoria station. Upon check-in I was even more pleased with the deal as we received a complementary room upgrade to one on the 'club floor' - the top floor of the hotel with stunning city views and access to the 'club lounge' (read as free drinks and snacks).
Our room was excellent, very spacious with a very large comfortable bed, two easy chairs positioned by a massive window overlooking the city (you can clearly see The Angel pub in the photo). The bathroom was very classy with robes and slippers too with both a shower cubical and a bath which is not that common.
By now the Baroness had the biggest smile on her face ever which meant the whole thing was well worth it! We took a wander around the Manchester Christmas markets and when we got too cold we went back to the hotel to get ready for our evening out in town. It was past 6pm so the 'booze fridge' in the club lounge was available so we were able to enjoy a couple of cold beers as we got ready.
The hotel's location couldn't have been better as we had a couple of hours to kill before our meal and the super Marble Arch pub was no more than five minutes walk away. I sampled the Manchester Bitter, Lagonda IPA & Dobber and all were in tip-top form - absolutely divine!
This was then followed by another five minute walk to the Bem Brazil restaurant (the northern quarter one) where we had an excellent Brazillian 'meat-fest' - the waiters just kept bringing more and more tasty spit-roasted meat until you couldn't move! After that we wandered slowly back to the hotel where we collapsed into the massive bed full & happy and had an excellent night's sleep.
I would like to say a very very big 'thank you' to the Crowne Plaza hotel in Manchester for a wonderful weekend, without them the weekend just wouldn't have had the same Christmas sparkle that it did. My hat goes off to you Crowne Plaza - you really did pull out all the stops for the Baron! :)
P.S. If you ever need a room in Manchester get in touch with @CrownePlazaManc and see what they can do for you, oh and don't forget to say the baron made me do it!
Batemans Rosey Nosey
Batemans Rosey Nosey [baron rating /5] - 4.9% dark amber ale,sweet plums smell,sweet toffee plum taste,dry clean fruity bitter finish
To see how it stood up to xmas food matching, watch the Christmas Special video.
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.
Download flash to hear the audio review
Subscribe in iTunes
Hobsons Manor Ale
Hobsons Manor Ale [baron rating /5] - 4.2% copper ale,citrus caramel smell,fruity herbal taste,fruity bittersweet finish
Buy Hobsons ales here
Wold Top Merry Christmas
Wold Top Merry Christmas [baron rating /5] - 6% dark ruby ale,choc fruity smell,roasted raisins bitter taste,bitter slightly roasted finish
To see how it stood up to xmas food matching, watch the Christmas Special video.Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.
Download flash to hear the audio review
Subscribe in iTunes
Thank you to Wold Top for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!
Buy Wold Top ales here
Looking forward to 'baron rating' Bristol Beer Factory ales very soon!
I commented recently on Rob from Hopzine's tweet about getting some ales from Bristol Beer Factory saying that I had heard their Milk Stout was excellent and was looking forward to his review. Shortly afterwards @BrisBeerFactory got in touch asking if I wanted to try some too!
This lovely selection of ales arrived this week:
Bristol Beer Factory
Look out for 'baron ratings' for these Bristol Beer Factory beers soon, and a big thank you to @BrisBeerFactory for sending these through to me!
Buy Bristol Beer Factory ales here
This lovely selection of ales arrived this week:
Bristol Beer Factory
- Bristletoe - 4.3% full-flavoured Christmas ale
- Bristol Hefe - 4.8% German-style wheat beer
- Gold - 5% premium golden ale
- Milk Stout - 4.5% creamy, full bodied stout
- No 7 - 4.5% traditional English best bitter
- Southville Hop - 6.5% American inspired IPA
- Ultimate Stout - 7.7% ultimate stout
Look out for 'baron ratings' for these Bristol Beer Factory beers soon, and a big thank you to @BrisBeerFactory for sending these through to me!
Buy Bristol Beer Factory ales here
Hook Norton Twelve Days
Hook Norton Twelve Days [baron rating /5] - 5.5% dark ruby ale,choc mild boozy smell,rich smooth burnt fruit taste,bitter burnt choc finish
To see how it stood up to xmas food matching, watch the Christmas Special video.
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.
Download flash to hear the audio review
Subscribe in iTunes
Thank you to Hook Norton for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!
Buy Hook Norton ales here
Ringwood Best Bitter
Ringwood Best Bitter [baron rating /5] - 4% dark amber ale,malty fruity buttery smell,toffee malt bitter taste,fruity bitter finish
Buy Ringwood ales here
Brains SA Gold
Brains SA Gold [baron rating /5] - 4.7% gold ale,slight citrus & biscuit malt smell,clean slightly spicy citrus taste,mild hoppy finish
Buy Brains ale here
Young's Light Ale
Young's Light Ale [baron rating /5] - 3.2% copper ale,caramel smell,fizzy slight caramel light bitter taste,gentle bitter finish
Fyne Holly Daze
Fyne Holly Daze [baron rating /5] - 5% dark amber ale,piney citrus smell,slightly sweet bitter lemons taste,tart bitter finish
To see how it stood up to xmas food matching, watch the Christmas Special video.
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.
Download flash to hear the audio review
Subscribe in iTunes
Thank you to Elaine from Fyne Ales for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!
Buy Fyne Ales here
Humpty Dumpty Christmas Crack
Humpty Dumpty Christmas Crack [baron rating /5] - 7% dark ruby ale,smoky roasted smell,sweet roasted & piney bitter taste,burnt choc finish
To see how it stood up to xmas food matching, watch the Christmas Special video.
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.
Download flash to hear the audio review
Subscribe in iTunes
Thank you to Lesley from Humpty Dumpty for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!
Buy Humpty Dumpty ales here
Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale
Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale [baron rating /5] - 7% amber ale,spicy smell,light treacle spicy balanced taste,lasting slightly sweet finish
To see how it stood up to xmas food matching, watch the Christmas Special video.
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.
Download flash to hear the audio review
Subscribe in iTunes
Thank you to Rachel from Shepherd Neame for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!
Buy Shepherd Neame ales here
Wold Top 5 Wold Rings
Wold Top 5 Wold Rings [baron rating /5] - 5% gold ale,crisp citrus aroma,balanced bitter citrus taste,clean dry bitter mild metallic finish
To see how it stood up to xmas food matching, watch the Christmas Special video.Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.
Download flash to hear the audio review
Subscribe in iTunes
Thank you to Wold Top for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!
Buy Wold Top ales here
Christmas Beers with The Ormskirk Baron
We did our Christmas Special last night, a taste-off of eight different Christmas-themed ales with a range of Christmas food - turkey, vintage cheddar cheese & mince pies.
We tried:
Part 1
Part 2
...Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale - perfect on it's own of with food
We hope you enjoyed watching it, we had a blast filming it!
Thank you to all the breweries who sent beers through for inclusion in this Christmas Special:
We tried:
- Batemans Rosey Nosey [baron rating 3/5]
- Fyne Holly Daze [baron rating 4/5]
- Hook Norton Twelve Days [baron rating 5/5]
- Humpty Dumpty Christmas Crack [baron rating 5/5]
- Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale [baron rating 5/5]
- Wold Top 5 Wold Rings [baron rating 5/5]
- Wold Top Merry Christmas [baron rating 4/5]
- Wychwood Bah Humbug [baron rating 2/5]
Part 1
Part 2
...Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale - perfect on it's own of with food
We hope you enjoyed watching it, we had a blast filming it!
Thank you to all the breweries who sent beers through for inclusion in this Christmas Special:
Jennings Golden Host
Jennings Golden Host [baron rating /5] - 4.2% gold ale,floral buttery smell,sweet juicy toffee taste,sweet slightly drying finish
Buy Jennings ales here
Moorhouse's Pendle Witches Brew
Moorhouse's Pendle Witches Brew [baron rating /5] - 5.1% gold ale,caramel apple smell,honey spicy bitter taste,cloying bittersweet finish
Leek Dark Peak Ale
Leek Dark Peak Ale [baron rating /5] - 9% black ale,dark roasted chocolate smell,roasted bitter dark choc sour taste,dry sour bitter finish
Thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!
Buy Leek ales here
Odell IPA
Odell IPA [baron rating /5] - 7% copper ale,sweet tropical fruit smell,fruity sweet piney taste,lasting fruity bittersweet finish
Thank you to Richard from myBrewerytap for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!
Buy Odell ales here
My Open It! beer - Adnams Tally-Ho 2009
I've been sat on a stash of Adnams Tally-Ho 2009 for a while now, with the idea that I'll drink two a year, one on Christmas Day and one on New Year's Eve.
As I had 12 of them that meant six years worth - far too many in my mind, so I decided to lift this restriction this weekend when Mark & Andy created Open It! - a great idea to get us beer lovers to open those bottles that we were saving for a 'special occasion' which never quite arrives...
With some chunks of fine vintage cheddar & a roaring fire lit I sat back and enjoyed my room-temperature bottle of Adnams Tally-Ho [baron rating 5/5] - a fine way to relax on this bitterly cold evening.
Wold Top Veteran Ale
Wold Top Veteran Ale [baron rating /5] - 4.2% dark amber ale,yeasty toffee smell,sweet malt toffee bitter taste,lasting bittersweet finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.
Download flash to hear the audio review
Subscribe in iTunes
Thank you to Wold Top for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!
Buy Wold Top ales here
Looking forward to 'baron rating' Stringers ales very soon!
There is nothing the baron likes more than someone pinging him via Twitter asking if he would like to try their beer. That's exactly what Stringers did a week ago and this morning (I know - I didn't think Royal Mail delivered on the Sunday!) two bottles of their finely crafted beer showed up:
Stringers Beer
I really like the label design on these, simple, bold and striking, you won't miss these on the shelf! I also like the little description of what a microbrewery is on the back of the bottle:
Look out for 'baron ratings' for these Stringers beers soon, and a big thank you to @StringersBeer for sending these through to me!
Buy Stringers ales here
Stringers Beer
- Dry Stout - 4.5% bottled version of their Champion Stout of Cumbria
- IPA - 5.5% bottled version of their Victoria IPA
I really like the label design on these, simple, bold and striking, you won't miss these on the shelf! I also like the little description of what a microbrewery is on the back of the bottle:
Look out for 'baron ratings' for these Stringers beers soon, and a big thank you to @StringersBeer for sending these through to me!
Buy Stringers ales here
Great Orme Orme
Great Orme Orme [baron rating /5] - 4.2% dark amber ale,fruity malty caramel smell,fruity caramel bitter taste,dry slightly bitter finish
Bavik Petrus Blond
Bavik Petrus Blond [baron rating /5] - 6.6% gold ale,herbal yeasty smell,sweet creamy vanilla taste,lasting sweet bitter finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.
Download flash to hear the audio review
Subscribe in iTunes
Thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!
Buy Bavik ales here
Flying Dog Raging Bitch
Flying Dog Raging Bitch [baron rating /5] - 8.3% amber ale,tropical fruit smell,sweet fruity spicy yeasty taste,lasting bittersweet finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.Download flash to hear the audio review
Subscribe in iTunes
Thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for handing this over for a 'baron rating'!
Buy Flying dog ales here
Looking forward to 'baron rating' Courage Directors & Wells Bombardier very soon!
@YoungsBeers got in touch with me recently saying that as I enjoyed 'baron rating' their Young's ales would I like to try bottles of Courage Directors & Wells Bombardier as well. As you know, the baron doesn't like to say "no", so very promptly some beers turned up:
Wells & Young's Brewing Company
For more information follow @Bombardier_beer on Twitter and check out couragebeer on Facebook.
Wells & Young's Brewing Company
- Courage Directors - 4.8% traditionally brewed superior ale
- Wells Bombardier - 5.2% traditional burnished copper ale
For more information follow @Bombardier_beer on Twitter and check out couragebeer on Facebook.
Felinfoel Double Dragon
Felinfoel Double Dragon [baron rating /5] - 4.2% dark amber ale,candied apple smell,balanced standard bitter taste,metallic zingy finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.
Download flash to hear the audio review
Subscribe in iTunes
This was from the autumn pack of the superb '52 week beer club' by myBrewerytap.
Join it now and make sure you say the baron made me do it!
Buy Felinfoel ales here
Looking forward to 'baron rating' Humpty Dumpty Christmas Crack very soon!
The final Christmas-themed ale showed up yesterday from those kind people at the Humpty Dumpty Brewery, a bottle of Christmas Crack:
Humpty Dumpty Brewery
Buy Humpty Dumpty ales here
Humpty Dumpty Brewery
- Christmas Crack - 7% strong brown ale with an American hop profile
Buy Humpty Dumpty ales here
St Austell Tribute
St Austell Tribute [baron rating /5] - 4.2% amber ale,orange zest smell,caramel sweet orange strong bitter taste,short bitter citrus finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it.
Download flash to hear the audio review
Subscribe in iTunes
Thank you to @StAustellBrew from St Austell for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!
Buy St Austell ales here