Fyne Holly Daze

Fyne Holly Daze [baron rating 4/5] - 5% dark amber ale,piney citrus smell,slightly sweet bitter lemons taste,tart 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

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 5/5] - 7% dark ruby ale,smoky roasted smell,sweet roasted & piney bitter taste,burnt choc 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

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 5/5] - 7% amber ale,spicy smell,light treacle spicy balanced taste,lasting slightly sweet 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

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] - 5% gold ale,crisp citrus aroma,balanced bitter citrus taste,clean dry bitter mild metallic 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

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:

• 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

Jennings Golden Host

Jennings Golden Host [baron rating 3/5] - 4.2% gold ale,floral buttery smell,sweet juicy toffee taste,sweet slightly drying finish Baron Orm

Buy Jennings ales here

Moorhouse's Pendle Witches Brew

Moorhouse's Pendle Witches Brew [baron rating 4/5] - 5.1% gold ale,caramel apple smell,honey spicy bitter taste,cloying bittersweet finish Baron Orm

Leek Dark Peak Ale

Leek Dark Peak Ale [baron rating 3/5] - 9% black ale,dark roasted chocolate smell,roasted bitter dark choc sour taste,dry sour bitter finish Baron Orm

Thank you to Paul from AlesByMail for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Leek ales here

Odell IPA

Odell IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 7% copper ale,sweet tropical fruit smell,fruity sweet piney taste,lasting fruity bittersweet finish Baron Orm

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 3/5] - 4.2% dark amber ale,yeasty toffee smell,sweet malt toffee bitter taste,lasting bittersweet finish Baron Orm

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

• 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 3/5] - 4.2% dark amber ale,fruity malty caramel smell,fruity caramel bitter taste,dry slightly bitter finish Baron Orm

Bavik Petrus Blond

Bavik Petrus Blond [baron rating 4/5] - 6.6% gold ale,herbal yeasty smell,sweet creamy vanilla taste,lasting sweet bitter finish Baron Orm

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 5/5] - 8.3% amber ale,tropical fruit smell,sweet fruity spicy yeasty taste,lasting bittersweet finish Baron Orm

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

• Courage Directors - 4.8% traditionally brewed superior ale

• Wells Bombardier - 5.2% traditional burnished copper ale

Look out for 'baron ratings' for these Young's beers soon, and a big thank you to Joanna from @YoungsBeers for sending these through to me!

For more information follow @Bombardier_beer on Twitter and check out couragebeer on Facebook.