Shepherd Neame Double Stout

Not bottle conditioned
Shepherd Neame Double Stout [baron rating 5/5] - 5.2% black ale,choc smoky smell,silky dark choc coffee bitter taste,bitter coffee finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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

Buy Shepherd Neame ales direct

Blueball Kitty von Maibock

Not bottle conditioned
Blueball Kitty von Maibock [baron rating 4/5] - 4.5% gold beer,minimal smell,soft rounded mild fruity balanced taste,mild sweet apple finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to Alex (@blueballbrewery) from Blueball Brewery for handing them over for a baron rating!

Buy Blueball ales direct and from Kash Bar

Black Isle Export Scotch Ale

Not bottle conditioned
Black Isle Export Scotch Ale [baron rating 5/5] - 7.9% ruby ale,prune/plum smell,rich boiled fruit dark sugar taste,astringent fruity finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to Colin (@BlackIsleBeer) from Black Isle Brewery for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Black Isle ales direct

Buxton Moor Top

Bottle conditioned with dull carbonation
Buxton Moor Top [baron rating 4/5] - 3.6% pale gold ale,citrus cereal smell,crisp bitter grapefruit taste,pithy bitter slight biscuit finish
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 Buxton ales from The Ale Room

Sinebrychoff Karhu III

Not can conditioned ;)
Sinebrychoff Karhu III [baron rating 3/5] - 4.6% gold beer,sweet straw slight sulpurous smell,crisp biscuity bitter taste,bittersweet finish
Bought while on holiday in Finnish Lapland

Dark Star Belgian IPA

Not bottle conditioned
Dark Star Belgian IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 7.2% gold ale,resinous tropical ground spices smell,peppery sweet mango taste,dry funky finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to James (@DarkStarBrewCo) from Dark Star Brewery for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Dark Star ales direct or from Ales By Mail

Bretagne Gwiniz Du

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Bretagne Gwiniz Du [baron rating 3/5] - 5.4% dark amber ale,bready dark caramel smell,berries sweet bready taste,fruity bittersweet finish
Bought from Carrefour near Bénodet whilst camping at the excellent Camping du Letty in Bénodet, Brittany, France.

Monty's Ding Dong (re-rated)

Bottle conditioned with dull carbonation
Monty's Ding Dong [baron rating 3/5] - 4.4% copper ale,pear plum syrup white wine smell,crisp sweet pear apple taste,dry dusty finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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We tried this last Christmas but the bottle conditioned hadn't worked correctly, you can read and hear our previous review here.
Thank you to @bob_beer from Best of British Beer for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Monty's ales from Best Of British Beer

Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA

Not bottle conditioned
Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 6.6% amber ale,fresh hop candied smell,rye boiled sweets bittersweet taste,fruity finish
Such an awesome label!

Burscough Mug Billy

Not bottle conditioned
Burscough Mug Billy [baron rating 5/5] - 4.5% copper ale,fruity caramel smell,zingy spicy raisin sultana & peel taste,fruity bitter finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to Mike McCombe (@mikehopvine) from the Burscough Brewing Company for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Burscough ales from Source Deli

Weltenburger Kloster Anno 1050

Not bottle conditioned
Weltenburger Kloster Anno 1050 [baron rating 3/5] - 5.5% copper beer,grassy sweetish smell,mild caramel bittersweet taste,mild spicy finish

Einstok Icelandic Toasted Porter

Not bottle conditioned
Einstok Icelandic Toasted Porter [baron rating 5/5] - 6% black ale,meaty choc smell,velvety toasted grains taste,creamy choc bitter finish
Listen to what Chris, Paul and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to Chris (@Christopher_R) for bringing this for a baron rating!

Buy Einstok ales from Booths

Wilson Potter In The Black

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Wilson Potter In The Black [baron rating 4/5] - 4.2% black ale,smoky roasted smell,liquorice roasted bittersweet taste,burnt bitter finish
Listen to what Chris, Paul and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to Amanda Seddon (@wilsonpotter) from Wilson Potter Brewery for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Wilson Potter ales from direct

AleSmith Wee Heavy

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
AleSmith Wee Heavy [baron rating 5/5] - 10% ruby ale,dark toffee boozy smell,rich toffee boiled fruit compote taste,astringent syrupy finish
Listen to what Chris, Paul and the Baron have to say about it

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Wilson Potter Ruby Red

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Wilson Potter Ruby Red [baron rating 2/5] - 4.4% dark amber ale,candied sweets smell,unbalanced berries sugary Horlicks taste,sweet finish
Listen to what Chris, Paul and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to Amanda Seddon (@wilsonpotter) from Wilson Potter Brewery for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Wilson Potter ales from direct

Thornbridge Raven

Not bottle conditioned
Thornbridge Raven [baron rating 5/5] - 6.6% dark ruby ale,fresh hop roasted smell,roasted bitter choc orange piney taste,coffee choc finish
Thank you to Andrew (@TheAleRoom) from The Ale Room for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Thornbridge ales from The Ale Room

Wilson Potter Bon Don Doon

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Wilson Potter Bon Don Doon [baron rating 3/5] - 4.2% pale gold ale,citrus sulphur smell,sharp citrus taste,long bitter grapefruit finish
Listen to what Chris, Paul and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to Amanda Seddon (@wilsonpotter) from Wilson Potter Brewery for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Wilson Potter ales from direct

Wilson Potter Making Progress

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Wilson Potter Making Progress [baron rating 3/5] - 4.1% amber ale,peppery toffee smell,fresh plum bittersweet taste,fruity dusty choc finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to Amanda Seddon (@wilsonpotter) from Wilson Potter Brewery for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Wilson Potter ales from direct

Wilson Potter Triple Gem

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Wilson Potter Triple Gem [baron rating 2/5] - 3.9% copper ale,blackberry sulphur smell,unbalanced citrus bitter berry taste,metallic finish
Listen to what Chris, Paul and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to Amanda Seddon (@wilsonpotter) from Wilson Potter Brewery for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Wilson Potter ales from direct

Wilson Potter Tandle Hill

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Wilson Potter Tandle Hill [baron rating 4/5] - 3.9% gold ale,spicy citrus caramel smell,light grapefruit bitter taste,pithy bitter finish
Listen to what Chris, Paul and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to Amanda Seddon (@wilsonpotter) from Wilson Potter Brewery for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Wilson Potter ales from direct

AleSmith YuleSmith Summer

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
AleSmith YuleSmith Summer [baron rating 5/5] - 8.5% gold ale,sticky tropical fruit toffee smell,fruity fiery resin taste,sticky resin finish

George Wright Reindeer's Revenge

Not bottle conditioned
George Wright Reindeer's Revenge [baron rating 3/5] - This is extremely similar to George Wright Citra 51 [baron rating 3/5]

There is an audio review for this beer, just follow the link above.
Thank you to @bob_beer from Best of British Beer for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy George Wright ales from Best Of British Beer

Looking forward to baron rating Black Isle ales



Black Isle are a very interesting brewery,organic brewing in the Scottish highlands and run by head brewer Colin Stronge. Colin used to be a major part of the superb Marble brewery in Manchester and so I was very excited earlier in the year when I bought a couple of bottles of Black Isle ale online.

When I sat down to baron rate them I thought they were nice but noticed that they were lacking a certain wow factor that I'd always experienced with Colin's beers in the past. Reading the tasting notes on the back of the bottle settled the issue - I couldn't taste what was described on the back and so got in touch with Black Isle.

Colin suggested that the bottles I had bought may had not been that fresh and so he would correct this by replacing them with some 'fresh from the brewery' bottles instead. A box arrived for me today that didn't just contain the two beers that I'd tried but a whole nine bottle selection of their line-up - that is what I call customer service!

A wonderful box of lovely beery goodness :)

Black Isle Brewery

  • Blonde - 4.5% premium quality blonde beer with a light biscuit palete and a fresh, grassy aroma
  • Export Scotch Ale - 7.9% big brother to the regular scotch ale (see below). The finest organic malt brings a big hit of cinder toffee, figs and liquorice whilst the increased hop charges match the strength providing berry fruit and wood.  This beer tastes fantastic young and even better aged a year or two
  • Goldeneye Pale Ale - 5.6% delicious golden beer packed with floral hops. It is fresh and unpasteurised for exceptional flavour
  • Hibernator Oatmeal Stout - 7% and loaded with roasted chocolate malts giving rise to hedgerow fruit, espresso & liquorice
  • Jocktoberfest - 6.2% ruby coloured and full bodied, medium strength, traditional Oktoberfest style beer
  • Porter - 4.6% dark roasted malts produce this medium dry, full bodied ruby-black beer
  • Red Kite Ale - 4.2% with crystal malt and the finest whole flower hops produce this distinctive amber ale
  • Scotch Ale - 6.2% strong, full bodied ruby ale with a bitter sweet character of candied peel and fruit cake
  • Yellowhammer - 4% refreshing straw coloured ale brewed with cascade hops adding a flinty, grapefruit aroma
Look out for 'baron ratings' for these Black Isle Brewery beers soon, and a big thank you to Colin Stronge, head brewer at @BlackIsleBeer for sending them through to me!

Buy Black Isle ales direct

Looking forward to baron rating London Fields ales



I got to try a bottle of London Fields Hackney Hopster back in March this year and it was excellent. In the same month I was able to sample the cask version at the Waterloo beer festival and again it was a cracking beer.

Jimmy Hatherley got in touch after that to say that he would send me some more of their beers once their new branding was in place and after a failed courier attempt to deliver the bottles (they were smashed in transit and never arrived) he struggled on and some bottles arrived this week:

Lovely looking bottles with classy consistent styling

London Fields Brewery
  • Hackney Hopster - 4.2% pacific pale ale using Motueka & Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand, the Hopster shows off flavours of grapefruit, lemon zest & gooseberry. With a dry & fresh finish
  • Love Not War - 4.2% brooding red ale (first brewed barricaded in the brewery during the London riots). A true union of malt & hops, with silky texture & soft caramel flavours cuddling up to a rich pear & summer fruit character
  • Sterling IPA - 6% single hop ale, Sterling is an American hop often used for lighter pale ales & lagers. We think the richness of an IPA truely gives the ideal canvas for it's unique minty, spicy character
Look out for 'baron ratings' for these London Fields beers soon, and a big thank you to Jimmy Hatherley for sending them through to me!

Buy London Fields ales direct

Cheddar Festive Totty

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Cheddar Festive Totty [baron rating 3/5] - 4.7% black ale,roasted smokey nutmeg smell,sweetish fruitcake taste,short slightly rubbery finish
Listen to what Chris, Paul and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to @bob_beer from Best of British Beer for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Cheddar ales from Best Of British Beer

Batemans Vintage Ale 2012

Not bottle conditioned but with dull carbonation
Batemans Vintage Ale 2012 [baron rating 2/5] - 7.5% dark amber ale,boozy sweet slightly meaty sweaty smell,sweet syrupy taste,short finish
Listen to what Chris, Paul and the Baron have to say about it

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Buy Batemans ales direct and from Aldi

Lamb Kebabs - Baron-style!

I've been wanting to nail the 'lamb kebab' ever since trying out the doner kebab recipe from Boak & Bailey. It's not quite done it for me though,sometimes being too 'meaty' other times too soggy. I decided that it was time to perfect the sheekh kebab. I've taken two recipes and blended them together to create exactly the type of lamb kebab I'm looking for.

This recipe comfortably feeds two people, scale up if you need more, or scale down if you need less!

Note: Wear disposable gloves if you don't want your fingers to stink of raw lamb or have chilli juice embedded into them - It's a bugger if you get it in the eye - I know from experience! :(

Ingredients
  • 500g lamb mince - get it from a butcher and ask for it to be "thrice minced" - gets you the right texture
  • 1 onion (finely chopped)
  • 3 fresh green finger chillies - de-seed them, I run them under the tap and rip out the seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
  • 2 teaspoons tomato puree
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions
  • Measure out all spices and mix together, de-seed chillies and finely chop with the onion , add to spice mix
  • Mix all together to ensure a good blend
  • Add lamb and mix with you hands,squashing it all together to ensure not only a good mix but a fine consistency of meat - you don't want strands of mince in the mixture, make it nice and mushed
  • Form into a big ball, cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for around 2 hours to firm up (it's tough to make the kebabs stick to the sticks from 'fresh').
  • Place 4 kebab skewers in water to soak (stops them burning whilst cooking)
  • Cut the mixture into 4 and roll into a fat sausage shape with you hands, insert the skewer and then roll/toss/squeeze in your hands to form kebab shapes - place on greased baking tray
  • Place back in fridge until ready to cook
  • Pre-heat oven to 200degC, drizzle kebabs with olive oil and put the tray on the top shelf for 15 minutes
  • Remove and rotate kebabs and return for a further 15 minutes
  • Remove and rotate and return for around 5-10 minutes depending on how brown they are looking
  • Remove when they look done, cut lengthways to ensure they are cooked
Serving

  • Take one heated Aldi naan, cover with a good layer of their hot mango chutney
  • Add slices of tomato and cucumber
  • Add a decent handful of lettuce and sliced cabbage (red or white is fine)
  • Add a squirt of Aldi's garlic mayo
  • Slice each kebab in two and place four slices to cover the salad
  • Add additional garlic may to suit
  • Serve with a hoppy spicy pale ale and enjoy!
This recipe was a combination of the Indian Style Sheekh Kebab from AllRecipes and Keema Nan from Mamta's Kitchen - blended together in my mind make a perfect lamb kebab!

Arcobrau Winterbier

Not bottle conditioned

Arcobrau Winterbier [baron rating 4/5] - 5.5% gold ale,cereal grassy smell,peppery honey pineapple mandarin taste,tingly spicy fruity finish
Buy Arcobrau ales from Aldi

Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout

Not bottle conditioned
Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout [baron rating 5/5] - 8.1% black ale,sweet burnt coffee smell,burnt rich choc taste,smoky molasses finish
Buy Bear Republic ales from Ales By Mail

St Wendeler Brauburger Pils

Not can conditioned
St Wendeler Brauburger Pils [baron rating 4/5] - 4.6% gold beer,grassy slightly sweet smell,crisp honey malty bitter taste,creamy dry taste
Bought from Carrefour near Bénodet whilst camping at the excellent Camping du Letty in Bénodet, Brittany, France.

These were €0.26 (26 euro cents) a can, a fantastic price for a decent malt-lead lager that is refreshing without being watery - a cheap lager that actually tastes of something!

Bretagne Dremmwel Rousse Bio

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Bretagne Dremmwel Rousse Bio [baron rating 3/5] - 6% dark amber ale,bready red berry smell,toffee berries toast taste,mild sweet finish
Bought from Carrefour near Bénodet whilst camping at the excellent Camping du Letty in Bénodet, Brittany, France.