Thornbridge Twin Peaks

Not bottle conditioned
Thornbridge Twin Peaks [baron rating 4/5] - 5% gold ale,mild fruity smell,vanilla lemon bitter taste,zesty dry finish
Buy Thornbridge ales from Holborn Ales

Hawkshead Hop Black

Not bottle conditioned
Hawkshead Hop Black [baron rating 4/5] - 5.6% black ale,roasted piney smell,burnt toast piney sweetish malty taste,sweetish dry finish
Buy Hawkshead ales from Holborn Ales

Cismontane California Lager

Not bottle conditioned
Cismontane California Lager [baron rating 3/5] - 6% copper lager,bready grassy smell,fruity sweetish corn taste,bittersweet herbal finish
Thank you to Paul Kruzycki from Ales By Mail for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Cismontane ales from Ales By Mail

Killer Cat Manga

Not bottle conditioned
Killer Cat Manga [baron rating 5/5] - 5% copper ale,syrupy fresh tropical smell,resinous piney bitter taste,strong pithy bitter finish
Thank you to Siobhan from Beer52 for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Killer Cat ales from Beer52

Offbeat Kooky Gold

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Offbeat Kooky Gold [baron rating 4/5] - 4.1% gold ale,caramel cereal smell,balanced prickly mild citrus bitter taste,spicy bitter finish
Buy Offbeat ales from Holborn Ales

Tap It IPA

Not bottle conditioned
Tap It IPA [baron rating 4/5] - 7% gold ale,tropical mild savoury smell,balanced caramel tropical fruit taste,mild bitter finish
Thank you to Paul Kruzycki from Ales By Mail for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Tap It ales from Ales By Mail

King Kings Best

Not bottle conditioned
King Kings Best [baron rating 3/5] - 4% amber ale,caramel toasty smell,fruity mild spicy bitter taste,bitter finish

Looking forward to baron rating Ales By Mail ales

Some more ales from the wonderful people at Ales By Mail arrived last week, a right mixed bag of stuff, here is the selection:


  • By The Horns Gift Of The Gab - 5.9% Irish coffee milk stout. Smooth roast coffee with a touch of rich oat & peat. A milk stout brewed with Lactose, then aged on Oak and conditioned with freshly ground coffee
  • Celt Experience Silures - 4.6% infused session IPA. Powerfully hopped and adjusted with sweet Munich malt, Spruce tips and a depth of tropical fruit aroma dry hops
  • Freedom Pilsner - 5% pilsner lager. Light straw colour, very light hop aroma and a bitter, light taste with a dry aftertaste
  • Ilkley Joshua Jane -3.7% Yorkshire bitter. Rich nut-brown Yorkshire ale. Light caramel sweetness, modest salt and a keen lasting bitterness
  • Lluna De Blat - 4.8% ale. Aroma is fruity with floral notes, body is friendly and slightly acidic flavor and refreshing (taken from their website)
  • Pitfield Sea Shepherd Ocean Warrior - 4.5% straw coloured beer, with a light malt flavour, and a refreshing citrus finish
  • Tryis Vipa - 6.1% beer, the entire label was in Spanish, sorry!
  • Wild Beer Modus Operandi -7% beer. Old ale + Oak-aged for 90 days + wild yeast 2014
Look out for 'baron ratings' of these beers soon, and a big thank you to Paul Kruzycki from Ales By Mail for sending these through to me!

Buy all these ales from Ales By Mail

Offbeat Odd Ball Red

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Offbeat Odd Ball Red [baron rating 3/5] - 4.2% red ale,candied blackberry smell,burnt fruity toffee bittersweet taste,roasty berry finish
Buy Offbeat ales from Holborn Ales

King Kings Festive

Not bottle conditioned
King Kings Festive [baron rating 3/5] - 5.3% amber ale,nutmeg cinnamon plum smell,prickly leafy mild plum taste,astringent bitter finish

Looking forward to baron rating Aldi lagers

We recently reviewed a German-brewed lager called Berliner Kindl Pils [baron rating 4/5] which I picked up in my local Aldi store for a whopping 99p. It's a great lager, got a good flavour and is cracking value at that price.Aldi got in touch with us and have sent through a few more of their lager range for review:


Aldi
  • Lowenstein - 4.5% imported quality pilsner, produced in France by EMB 54115D
  • Sainte Etienne -4.8% continental import beer, produced in France
  • Steinhauser - 4.7% full flavoured German brewed lage with a fine, dry, hoppy taste. 
Look out for 'baron ratings' of these beers soon, and a big thank you to Ben Hemmington from @clarioncomms for sending them through to me!

Buy all these ales from Aldi

From the cellar: Thomas Hardy Ale 1990

Bottle conditioned with no carbonation (what do you expect? It's 25 years old!)
Thomas Hardy Ale 1990* [baron rating 5/5] - 12% dark brown ale,boozy choc liqueur smell,thick smooth sweet molasses taste,syrupy finish
* means that this bottle has been cellared/aged and is not indicative of what it would be like if drunk fresh.
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!

Offbeat Outlandish Pale

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Offbeat Outlandish Pale [baron rating 3/5] - 3.9% gold ale,citrus honey floral smell,sweet lemon spicy bitter taste,clean mild spicy finish
Buy Offbeat ales from Holborn Ales

Roosters Baby-Faced Assassin

Not can conditioned
Roosters Baby-Faced Assassin [baron rating 5/5] - 6.1% gold ale,piney citrus smell,fresh resinous citrus bittersweet taste,sticky dry finish
Buy Roosters ales from Holborn Ales

Thornbridge Bear State

Not bottle conditioned
Thornbridge Bear State [baron rating 4/5] - 7% copper ale,piney peachy smell,piney resinous floral herbal bitter taste,spicy herbal finish
Buy Thornbridge ales from Holborn Ales

Backyard Brew Lawn Mower

Not can conditioned
Backyard Brew Lawn Mower [baron rating 2/5] - 4.8% amber beer,grassy slight earthy smell,toast generic lager taste,strange herbal finish

Weird Beard Faceless Spreadsheet Ninja

Not can conditioned
Weird Beard Faceless Spreadsheet Ninja [baron rating 3/5] - 5.5% copper beer,grassy smell,oily tropical taste,smooth mild bittersweet finish

From the cellar: Hawkshead Imperial Stout 2012

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Hawkshead Imperial Stout 2012* [baron rating 5/5] - 8.3% black ale,vinous boozy smell,silky vinous choc taste,slight sharp berry choc finish
* means that this bottle has been cellared/aged and is not indicative of what it would be like if drunk fresh.We drunk this one in Sept 2014 having originally reviewed it 'fresh' back in March 2013.
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 Hawkshead ales direct

Hawkshead Sundown

Not bottle conditioned
Hawkshead Sundown [baron rating 4/5] - 4.5% amber ale,mild candied fruit smell,burnt toast fruity bitter taste,unsweetened bitter finish
Buy Hawkshead ales from Holborn Ales

Nogne O Asian Pale Ale

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Nogne O Asian Pale Ale [baron rating 4/5] - 4.5% copper ale,fragrant peachy smell,balanced floral lemongrasss gingery taste,very dry finish
Buy Nogne O ales from Holborn Ales

Backyard Brew Bee 17

Not can conditioned
Backyard Brew Bee 17 [baron rating 2/5] - 4.7% copper beer,cereal slight citrus smell,regular supermarket lager taste,mild astringent finish

Thornbridge Cocoa

Not bottle conditioned
Thornbridge Cocoa [baron rating 5/5] - 6.8% black ale,cocoa smell,silky balanced chocolatey mild bitter taste,sweetish choc finish
Buy Thornbridge ales from Holborn Ales

Kings Horsham Best

Not bottle conditioned
Kings Horsham Best [baron rating 2/5] - 3.8% amber ale,leafy nettles smell,thin apple prickly taste,appley bitter finish

Firemans Brew Brunette Beer

Not bottle conditioned
Firemans Brew Brunette Beer [baron rating 4/5] - 5.5% black ale,roasted smell,sweetish coffee burnt balanced taste,long toffee finish
Thank you to Paul Kruzycki from Ales By Mail for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Firemans Brew ales from Ales By Mail

Mordue Panda Frog Ascendancy

Not bottle conditioned
Mordue Panda Frog Ascendancy [baron rating 4/5] - 7.4% amber ale,tropical smell,resinous punchy tropical taste,fruity resin medicinal finish
Thank you to Siobhan from Beer52 for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Mordue ales from Beer52

Brains Boilermaker

Not bottle conditioned
Brains Boilermaker [baron rating 4/5] - 6.5% amber ale,toffee vanilla smell,caramel very malty balanced taste,smooth fading finish

Barcelona Cerdos Voladores 14

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Barcelona Cerdos Voladores 14 [baron rating 5/5] - 6% copper ale,resin tropical fruit smell,juicy piney bitter taste,dry piney bitter finish
Thank you to Siobhan from Beer52 for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Barcelona ales from Beer52

Central Coast Stenner Creek Stout

Not can conditioned
Central Coast Stenner Creek Stout [baron rating 5/5] - 6% black ale,beefy choc smell,creamy velvety milk choc taste,soft mild savoury finish
Thank you to Paul Kruzycki from Ales By Mail for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Central Coast ales from Ales By Mail

Sharp's Wolf Rock

Not bottle conditioned
Sharp's Wolf Rock [baron rating 3/5] - 4.8% dark amber ale,mild fruity caramel smell,caramel red berries taste,soft bitter finish

Tap It Pale Ale

Not bottle conditioned
Tap It Pale Ale [baron rating 3/5] - 6% gold ale,resin slight solvent smell,toffee crisp fruity resinous taste,long resinous finish
Thank you to Paul Kruzycki from Ales By Mail for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Tap It ales from Ales By Mail

Chorlton Woodruff Berliner

Bottle conditioned with frothy carbonation
Chorlton Woodruff Berliner [baron rating 5/5] - 3.8% cloudy pale gold ale,smokey cheesy smell,tart gosseberry lemon taste,lemonade 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 Chorlton ales from Source Deli

Strand Beach House

Not bottle conditioned
Strand Beach House [baron rating 3/5] - 5% amber ale,toffee caramel smell,earthy balanced bittersweet taste,woody toffee finish
Thank you to Paul Kruzycki from Ales By Mail for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Strand ales from Ales By Mail

Berliner Kindl Pils

Not bottle conditioned
Berliner Kindl Pils [baron rating 4/5] - 4.8% pale gold lager,grassy smell,honey slight herbal balanced juicy malt taste,clean dry finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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Buy Berliner Kindl Pils from Aldi

Looking forward to baron rating Sam Adams Rebel IPA

I'm a huge fan of Sam Adams beers, after living in Boston for a while quite a number of years ago. So I was very happy the other week when I opened a box sent through to me from Shepherd Neame (I know it was from them, their name was on the outside of the box...).

This reminds me of Welsh brewery Tiny Rebel!
Samuel Adams
  • Rebel IPA -  6.5% bright copper IPA brewed with all-American hops Cascade, Simcoe, Amarillo, Chinnock & Centennial. It boasts a crisp and refreshing flavour with citrus and piney notes and a slight fruity flavour imparted by the ale yeast. This imported beer is smooth and balanced, in contrast to the powerful hoppy bitterness of traditional West Coast-style IPAs.
Look out for baron ratings for this Samuel Adams beer soon, and a big thank you to  John Humphreys from Shepherd Neame for sending it through for a baron rating!

Buy Sam Adams & Shepherd Neame ales direct

And Union Steph Weiss

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
And Union Steph Weiss [baron rating 4/5] - 5% gold ale,big clove vanilla smell,creamy banana clove taste,creamy dryish finish
Thank you to Siobhan from Beer52 for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy And Union ales from Beer52

Salopian Aphelion

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation
Salopian Aphelion [baron rating 4/5] - 5.5% dark brown ale,choc fruit salad smell,choc tangy orange bitter taste,astringent dry cocoa finish
Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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

Buy Salopian ales from Holborn Ales