Cismontane Black's Dawn

Bottle conditioned with excellent carbonation

Cismontane Black's Dawn [baron rating 3/5] - 8.5% black ale,berry coffee smell,vineous cherry liquorice taste,vineous burnt rubber finish Baron Orm

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Thank you to Paul Kruzycki from Ales By Mail for sending this through for a baron rating!

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Freedom Organic Dark Lager

Not bottle conditioned

Freedom Organic Dark Lager [baron rating 3/5] - 4.7% ruby beer,earthy raisin candied smoky smell,peppery treacle taste,burnt very dry finish Baron Orm

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Thank you to Casey Onufrey from Ales By Mail for sending this through for a baron rating!

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Hardknott Nuclear Sunset

Not bottle conditioned

Hardknott Nuclear Sunset [baron rating 5/5] - 4.7% gold ale,pithy citrus coriander smell,fragrant orange minty taste,cold minty sour finish Baron Orm

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Thank you to Dave (@hardknottdave) for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Hardknott ales from Source Deli

Grand Canyon White Water Wheat

Not can conditioned

Grand Canyon White Water Wheat [baron rating 2/5] - 4.9% pale gold ale,lime ground spices smell,banana lemon thin taste,peppery lemon finish Baron Orm

Freedom Organic Lager

Not bottle conditioned

Freedom Organic Lager [baron rating 4/5] - 4.8% pale gold beer,grassy corn smell,crisp sweet bready juicy taste,clean dry mild herbal finish Baron Orm

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Thank you to Casey Onufrey from Ales By Mail for sending this through for a baron rating!

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Grand Canyon American Pilsner

Not can conditioned

Grand Canyon American Pilsner [baron rating 3/5] - 5% gold beer,slight sweet cereal smell,cereal mild honey taste,mild bittersweet finish Baron Orm

Lluna De Blat

Bottle conditioned with lively carbonation

Lluna De Blat [baron rating 1/5] - 4.8% cloudy gold ale,mild sugary fruity smell,acidic sticky sweet taste,sweet & sour finish Baron Orm

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Thank you to Paul Kruzycki from Ales By Mail for sending this through for a baron rating!

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Grand Canyon Sunset Amber Ale

Not can conditioned

Grand Canyon Sunset Amber Ale [baron rating 3/5] - 5.4% amber ale,sweet caramel smell,toast brown sugar bittersweet taste,long dry finish Baron Orm

New Belgium Somersault

Not bottle conditioned

New Belgium Somersault [baron rating 2/5] - 5.2% gold ale,tart fruit wheat,tart apricot with ground spices taste,long mild tart finish Baron Orm

Looking forward to baron rating Neptune ales

Breweries have been popping up all over the UK for a few years now, but here around Ormskirk it's not been quite like that. Times seem to be changing though as a number of bottles from new breweries have appeared recently, one of which is Neptune Brewery. Based in Maghull, Merseyside (around five miles from Ormskirk, Lancashire).

They are a 1 barrel brewery, which started up in July this year and they are already in a number of pubs and bottle shops around the area. The bottles below were dropped off for me by Neptune Brewery at Source Deli in Ormskirk, a great deli with a superb range of bottled beers.

Neptune Brewery

• Erik The Red - 4.5% American red ale
• Jack May - 6.3% India Pale Ale
• Riptide - 3.6% English bitter
• Triton - 4.4% pale ale

Look out for a 'baron rating' for these Neptune Brewery beers soon, and a big thank you to @neptunebrewery for handing them over to me!

Celt Silures

Not bottle conditioned

Celt Silures [baron rating 5/5] - 4.6% copper ale,pineapple citrus smell,frothy mousse-like chalky tropical taste,dry pithy bitter finish Baron Orm

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Thank you to Paul Kruzycki from Ales By Mail for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Celt ales from Ales By Mail

By The Horns Gift Of The Gab

Bottle conditioned with very lively carbonation

By The Horns Gift Of The Gab [baron rating 3/5] - 5.9% black ale,mocha smell,warming choc coffee beans taste,cloying creamy sweet finish Baron Orm

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Thank you to Paul Kruzycki from Ales By Mail for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy By The Horns ales from Ales By Mail

Boulevard Single-Wide IPA

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Boulevard Single-Wide IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 5.7% gold ale,gentle tropical smell,balanced sweet juicy spicy taste,long spicy bitter finish Baron Orm

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

Live beer blogging at EBBC15

Lindermans Oude Kriek Cuvée Rene
3 fermentation processes brewed with old cherries, ABV 6.5%
Cloudy deep red colour, Sour cherries, clean, refreshing, left with a fruity tart finish

Hoorn Cornet Oaked
8.5% vanilla on the nose, very smooth, tannic taste, marzipan herby sweetish finish

Bush (Dubuisson) de Charmes
10.5% sweet almond white grape smell, very balanced fruity white wine taste, dry vanilla mild fruity finish










Straffe Hendrik Heritage 2013
Oaked aged version of the triple beer, aged on oak barrels from red wine and cognac.
11% quadruple ale barrel aged, boozy smell like Xmas cake, very smooth balanced fruity, choc, rounded taste, smooth long fruity finish







 St Bernardus Extra 4
4.8% pale gold ale, light, wheaty, slight lemon smell, crisp, refreshing, spicy taste, very dry lemon pith bitter finish










Delirium Tremens
8.5% gold ale, crisp mild herbal smell, frothy moose-like spicy vanilla complex fruity tastes, dry very clean finish









Het Anker Gouden Carolus
8.5% burnt meaty smell, dark amber colour, very sweet dark brown sugar taste, dry sweet finish










St Feuillien Grand Cru
9.5% gold ale, crisp fresh meadow smell, creamy soft vanilla taste,vanilla cream finish









Roman Ename
5.5%hazy pale gold ale, crisp peachy fruity taste, mild fresh apricot finish










Duvel Tripel Hop - Equinox
9.5% clean pale gold ale, citrus, cheesy smell, herby citrus peppery taste

Finding content beyond the beer review

Panel made up of Ina Verstl, Prof. Dr. Fabrizio Bucella, Pete Rowe, moderated by Paul Walsh.

Beer writers have progressed greatly since "it's to style". One thing that Ina doesn't like who say they don't like a particular beer, they should describe it but not give their opinion. Keith says that criticism is fine. A numbered review is just a hint towards the beer review says Fabrizio.

Beer reviews or beer stories? Is there a half-way house? Keith says that he pulls in all sorts of beer-related content: reviews, stories, recipes for home brew, etc. The beer community seems to have more social media awareness than other alcohol-related communities. "Top 10 best X" posts get great click through rates on websites but are they any good? (Mixed reaction from the audience).

Craft beer blogs - can you define a niche from this or are you deriding the whole brewing industry? Ina says that they are all linked, families brewers can't exist without huge corporate brewers and visa versa. Larger breweries have huge marketing budgets to help promote new beers or creations whereas smaller breweries don't have that 'voice'. Bush brewery beer is available everywhere in Belgium and their normal beer would not be considered craft whereas they also do a limited edition special beer which could be considered craft - so are they craft or not? says Fabrizio.

When a brewing behemoth is pretending to be a small craft brewery maybe they should be called out on that? says Pete.

History, Present and Future of brewing in Belgium

A panel-based session with An De Ryck (De Ryck), Didier Van der Haeghen (Silly) & Willem Van Herreweghen (Timmermans), moderated by Krishan Maudgal.

Breweries were traditionally farms in the summer time and breweries in the winter time. Every single little village had at least one brewery. De Ryck's grandfather went to Germany to learn how to brew beer and then came back and started brewing.

Brewers were important people in the city, hold important posts helping to organise events, invest in the city, invested into the cafes and the pubs. The brewery is heavily linked to the social life in the village.

The passion from the brewers is not only to brew but also to pass down the passion from generation to generation. This passion has helped the Belgium family brewers to survive the downturn of interest in Belgium beer back in the 90s.

18 million hectolitres brewed every year, 62% of Belgium beer is exported around the world - 10 times its demographic weight.

What does the market look like today? The consumer is demanding different shapes of bottles, labels, etc. - packaging is very important. Developing new products (some with universities) is very important, really getting to know what is happening inside the bottles, as well as outside. Lower ABV beers with big flavours is an important new market too.

Bottle conditioning is very expensive, much more so than the regular brewing process. It needs to be managed very carefully to ensure a quality product. Quality approval is very important, base recipes are not being changed just the way in which they are being produces- don't touch the basics!

The breweries have been releasing 4-5 new beers a year, and beer and food matching is very important. To develop a new beer takes around 2 years, ensuring that it pairs well with food. Listening to feedback from customers is very important to ensure that it matches expectations. It is not up to the brewer to say if the beer is good, it's up to the market to decide. It's not hard to brew a beer, but it is hard to brew one that the market wants.

Generations of brewing is quite impressive, in some cases they are on the 7th generation of family brewer!