Wychwood Hobgoblin IPA

Not bottle conditioned

Wychwood Hobgoblin IPA [baron rating 4/5] - 5.3% copper ale,orange peppery resinous smell,orange pithy lime bitter taste,dry peppery finish Baron Orm

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to  Emanuele from R&R Teamwork for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Wychwood ales everywhere!

Looking forward to baron rating Wychwood Hobgoblin IPA

I've been extremely fortunate to have been sent a lot of beer over the past eight years of blogging and every now and then a brewery includes a few extras like glassware, bar runners, stickers, etc.

On Friday I received what I consider to be the best and craziest thing ever to have been sent to Baron Towers.

A wooden chest, with clasp and handle looking like something straight out of a Harry Potter movie. On opening the chest I was presented with two bottles of Wychwood's brand new Hobgoblin IPA as well as a very nice looking Spiegelau IPA tasting glass.

A brand new IPA with the perfect glass to taste it with!

Wychwood Brewery

• Hobgoblin IPA -  5.3% India Pale Ale,heftily hopped & aroma packed. Brewed with Fuggles, Goldings & Styrian hops & then amped up by the addition of some mighty American hops (Mosaic, Chinook, Centennial & Citra).

Thank you to Emanuele from R&R Teamwork for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Wychwood ales everywhere!

Wychwood Ripsaw

Not bottle conditioned

Wychwood Ripsaw [baron rating 3/5] - 4.2% dark amber ale,maple syrup smell,earthy roast burnt bittersweet taste,long malty sweetish finish Baron Orm

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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Wychwood Dunkel Fester

Not bottle conditioned

Wychwood Dunkel Fester [baron rating 1/5] - 4.4% black ale,coffee smell,smooth dark chocolate coffee taste,metallic nasty acidic finish Baron Orm

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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Wychwood Gratis

Not bottle conditioned

Wychwood Gratis [baron rating 3/5] - 4.2% gold beer,grassy earthy smell,juicy bittersweet but lacking body taste,lager-like finish Baron Orm

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to Emanuele from R&R Teamwork for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Wychwood ales everywhere!

Wychwood King Star

Not can conditioned

Wychwood King Star [baron rating 4/5] - 5.6% gold beer,grassy herbal smell,buttery menthol bittersweet taste,dusty dry clean finish Baron Orm

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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Thank you to Emanuele from R&R Teamwork for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Wychwood ales everywhere!

Looking forward to baron rating Wychwood Gratis gluten-free beer

Not only have Wychwood released a lager recently but they are now addressing the ever growing sector of Gluten-free beers. Brewed due to an enquiry from Marston's Inns and Taverns' pubs, it will be available in 330ml bottles. Apart from the bottle they also send some Gluten-free snacks, Rude Health's organic Mini Corn Crackers & The Pumpkin snack bar:

Gluten-free beer & snacks

Wychwood Brewery

•  Gratis - 4.2% crafted golden beer brewed with the flavoursome Styrian Golding hop to give a light floral aroma, but a heady and firm bitterness, for a sharp and bold aftertaste

Look out for a 'baron rating' of this beer soon, and a big thank you to Emanuele from R&R Teamwork for sending it through to me!

Looking forward to baron rating these Wychwood beers

The good people at R&R Teamwork (drink & food PR) sent through a nice care package yesterday, containing some Wychwood cans including their new King Star lager as well as a selection of Mr. Trotter's Sausalami. King Star is an "extrovert, food-friendly lager showcasing the 5 special hops from which it is brewed" (Hallertau Magnum, Tradition, Hersbrucker, Styrian Goldings & British Admiral):

Wychwood Brewery

• Hobgoblin - 4.5% ruby beer, brewed with roasted malts for a well balanced, rich, smooth taste
• Hobgoblin Gold - 4.2% golden beer
• King Star - 5.6% crafted lager, a big and bold lager which is laced with flavour, enjoy a spicy herbal nose and a crisp quaffable elixir

Mr. Trotter's

• Cracked black pepper Sausalami
• Original Sausalami
• Jalapeno Chilli Sausalami

Look out for 'baron ratings' of these beers soon, and a big thank you to Emanuele from R&R Teamwork for sending these through to me!

Wychwood Dr Thirsty's No.4

Not bottle conditioned

Wychwood Dr Thirsty's No.4 [baron rating 3/5] - 4.1% gold ale,grassy mild sweet citrus smell,lemony peppery taste,peppery bitter finish Baron Orm

Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold

Not bottle conditioned

Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold [baron rating 4/5] - 4.5% gold ale,orange peach apricot smell,light citrus wheaty peppery taste,spicy minty finish Baron Orm

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about it

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Wychwood Pumpking

Not bottle conditioned

Wychwood Pumpking [baron rating 2/5] - 4.2% dark amber ale,earthy slight sweet pumpkin smell,toffee spicy taste,dry odd spicy dusty finish Baron Orm

Wychwood Bah Humbug

Wychwood Bah Humbug [baron rating 2/5] - 5% dark amber ale,sweet spicy aroma,cinnamon sweet toffee spicy taste,dry grainy bitter finish Baron Orm

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

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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:

• 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]

Find out which Christmas ale we think you should be drinking with your Christmas dinner...

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:

• Fyne Ales
• Hook Norton
• Humpty Dumpty
• Shepherd Neame
• Wold Top

Christmas Beers with The Ormskirk Baron (teaser)

We are going to do a 'Christmas Beers' audio special at the beginning of December, running though a range of xmas-themed ales giving them 'baron ratings'.

As a warm-up we thought we would do a little video detailing some of the beers in the line-up, please let us know what you thought of the video, we had a lot of fun doing it!

Waitrose November ale & beer offers (10th November - 7th December 2010)

It's November's new beer & ale offers time in Waitrose, their PR staff informed me of what this month's ale offers are:

• Badger Tanglefoot [baron rating 4/5]
  £1.25 instead of £1.57

• Badger Fursty Ferret [baron rating 4/5]
  £1.22 instead of £1.53

• Badger Golden Champion [baron rating 3/5]
  £1.33 instead of £1.67

• Badger Golden Glory [baron rating 2/5]
  £1.20 instead of £1.50

• Badger Blandford Fly [baron rating 1/5]
  £1.55 instead of £1.94

• Badger Poacher's Choice [baron rating coming soon]
  £1.64 instead of £2.05

• Badger First Gold [baron rating 3/5]
  £1.32 instead of £1.65

• Morland Old Crafty Hen [baron rating 4/5]
  £2.01 instead of £2.69

• Greene King Very Special IPA [baron rating coming soon]
  £1.49 instead of £1.99

• Morland Old Speckled Hen [baron rating 4/5]
  9x355ml £8.97 instead of £11.22

• Morland Old Speckled Hen [baron rating 4/5]
  8x440ml cans £8.17 instead of £10.89

• Greene King IPA [baron rating 2/5]
  12x440ml cans £8.39 instead of £10.49

• Wychwood Hobgoblin [baron rating 4/5]
  4x500ml cans £4.79 instead of £5.99

• Wychwood Mixed 4 Pack
  £5.35 instead of £6.69

• Marston's Head Brewers Choice 4 Pack
  £5.08 instead of £6.35

There are quite a few Badger ales within the 'baron bargain' price range (£1.30 or less) and some good discounts on the stronger end of the ales market.

Wychwood Hobgoblin 8 for £8 in Morrisions (19th October - 7th November 2010)

Morrisons has 8-bottle (500ml) boxes of Wychwood Hobgoblin [baron rating 4/5] for just £8 until 7th Nov.Best before 31/10/2011 #baronbargain

Morrisons August ale & beer offers (9th August - 5th September 2010)

It's August's new beer & ale offers time in Morrisons so I popped into the local Ormskirk branch on Tuesday to check them out.

Here are the details:

• Black Sheep Yorkshire Square Ale [baron rating 3/5]
£1.43 instead of £1.63

• Holts Humdinger
£1.19 instead of £1.69

• Marston's Strong Pale Ale [baron rating 3/5]
£1.55 instead of £1.75

• Marston's Pedigree VSOP [baron rating coming soon]
£1.95 instead of £2.25

• Ringwood Old Thumper [baron rating 2/5]
£1.56 instead of £1.76

• Wothington's White Shield [baron rating 4/5]
£1.59 instead of £1.89

• Wychwood King Goblin [baron rating 2/5]
£1.89 instead of £2.19

The winner this month is Worthington's White Shield, it's a quality bottle conditioned ale with a superb mouthfeel, so light & frothy and very balanced as well.

Waitrose July ale & beer offers (7th June - 27th July 2010)

It's July's new beer & ale offers time in Waitrose, their PR staff have informed me ahead of time what this month's ale offers are:

• Wells Bombardier [baron rating 4/5]
4x275ml bottles: £3.99 instead of £4.99

• Wychwood Hobgoblin [baron rating 4/5]
£1.24 instead of £1.66

• Innis & Gunn Oak Aged [baron rating 1/5]
2x750ml bottles: £5 instead of £6.90

• Marston's Classic Ales
12x500ml bottles: £15.19 instead of £18.99

• Marston's Pedigree [baron rating 3/5]
8x500ml cans: £8.70 instead of £7

• Badger Sett
4x500ml bottles: £5.51 instead of £6.89

• Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted
£1.56 instead of £1.95

• Greene King Abbot Ale [baron rating 5/5]
£1.43 instead of £1.79

• Greene King Ruddles County [baron rating 4/5]
£1.35 instead of £1.69

• Morland Old Speckled Hen [baron rating 4/5]
£1.45 instead of £1.82

• Greene King IPA [baron rating 3/5]
660ml bottle: £1.38 instead of £1.73

• Greene King IPA Export [baron rating 4/5]
£1.54 instead of £1.93

• Greene King Very Special IPA
355ml bottle: £1.59 instead of £1.99

Wychwood ales price reduction in Aldi

Aldi have reduced their Wychwood ales from £1.39 down to £1.19.This appears to be a proper reduction not a sale price. Hobgoblin for £1.19!

Waitrose June ale & beer offers (9th June - 6th July 2010)

It's June's new beer & ale offers time in Waitrose, their PR staff have informed me ahead of time what this month's ale offers are:

• St. Peter's Golden Ale
£1.38 instead of £1.84

• Skinners Bitter Betty Stogs
£1.48 instead of £1.85

• Skinners Bitter Heligan Honey
£1.48 instead of £1.85

• Skinners Bitter Cornish Knocker
£1.48 instead of £1.85

• Well's Bombardier [baron rating 4/5]
£1.42 instead of £1.78

• Courage Directors [baron rating 3/5]
£1.43 instead of £1.79

• Morland Old Speckled Hen [baron rating 4/5]
9x 355ml bottles: £9.59 instead of £11.99

• Wychwood Hobgoblin [baron rating 4/5]
£1.38 instead of £1.84

• Jennings Cumberland Ale [baron rating 3/5]
Buy 3 bottles save £1.50 normally £1.96

• Jennings Snecklifter [baron rating 3/5]
£1.40 instead of £1.96

• Innis & Gunn Rum Cask [baron rating 2/5]
£1.59 instead of £1.99

• Marston's Head Brewers Choice
4x 500ml bottles: £5.08 instead of £6.40

• Shepherd Neame Spitfire [baron rating 4/5]
£1.47 instead of £1.84

• Fuller's London Pride [baron rating 2/5]
£1.56 instead of £1.95

• Fuller's Organic Honey Dew
£1.56 instead of £1.95