Fuller's Peat Souper

Not bottle conditioned

Fuller's Peat Souper [baron rating 5/5] - 7% black ale,peat TCP dark choc smell,velvety choc earthy burnt taste,short smoky burnt finish Baron Orm

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

Subscribe in iTunes

Buy Fuller's ales from Waitrose

Hardknott Rheged Fjall

Not bottle conditioned

Hardknott Rheged Fjall [baron rating 3/5] - 4.5% gold ale,sharp apple wood smoke smell,herbal very bitter taste,dry methol bitter finish Baron Orm

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

Subscribe in iTunes

Thank you to Dave (@hardknottdave) from Hardknott Brewery for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Hardknott ales direct

Hardknott Long Drop

Not bottle conditioned

Hardknott Long Drop [baron rating 5/5] - 4.8% gold ale,clean minty citrus smell,big bitter citrus taste,very bitter grapefruit lemon finish Baron Orm

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

Subscribe in iTunes

Thank you to Dave (@hardknottdave) from Hardknott Brewery for handing this over for a baron rating!

Looking forward to trying these #BeerNow17 ales

I was at the beer bloggers conference last weekend, which was rebadged the Beer Now conference. I had a great time meeting brewers, beer bloggers and tweeters as well as trying a load of new beers. As always I went collecting samples for review, here are the bottles that will be receiving the 'baron rating' treatment over the coming weeks:

• Abbeydale Heathen - 4.1% pale ale, wonderfully refreshing American-style pale ale showcasing the marvellous Mosaic hop. Light and sessionable, bursting with tropical fruit flavours and a pleasant citrus bitterness
• Hardknott Long Drop - 4.8% exhilarating session IPA, great flavours, mouthfeel and huge satisfaction
• Hardknott Rheged Fjall - 4.5% pale ale
• Ilkley Alpha Beta - 4.5% rye session IPA, distinctive American hop character. Body and depth from the rye. A little beer that's big and bold
• Lost Industry Black Licorice Gose - 3.9%
• Lost Industry Serie Saison Le Pays Noir - 7.3% dry-hopped black saison

• Sharp's Cornish Pilsner - 5.2% bottle conditioned pilsner, fermented with Czech yeast then lagered on a bed of Saaz hops to create stunning, zesty herbal notes and a delicious clean, citrus flavour
• Twisted Barrel I was made for lovin' - 8% imperial stout
• Twisted Barrel It's Aliiive!! - 6.3% hazy IPA
• Twisted Barrel Soup Dragon - 5.8% lime and chipotle saison

Look out for 'baron ratings' of these beers soon, and a big thank you to all the breweries for handing them over to me!

Hardknott Figgy Pudding

Not bottle conditioned

Hardknott Figgy Pudding [baron rating 5/5] - 7% ruby ale,rich fruitcake smell,boozy choc malty charred fruits taste,long burnt raisin finish Baron Orm

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

Subscribe in iTunes

Thank you to Paul Kruzycki from Ales By Mail for sending me their Craft Beer Advent Calendar 2015.

Buy Hardknott ales from Ales By Mail

Hardknott Infra Red

Not bottle conditioned

Hardknott Infra Red [baron rating 5/5] - 6.2% ruby ale,candied fruit smell,burnt rye sweet fruity bitter taste,bitter mild medicinal finish Baron Orm

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

Subscribe in iTunes

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

Buy Hardknott ales from Source Deli

Hardknott Azimuth IPA

Not bottle conditioned

Hardknott Azimuth IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 5.8% gold ale,citrus biscuity smell,fruity pithy bitter but balanced taste,pithy bitter finish Baron Orm

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

Subscribe in iTunes

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

Buy Hardknott ales from Source Deli

Hardknott Elixir Of Invincibility

Not bottle conditioned

Hardknott Elixir Of Invincibility [baron rating 5/5] - 7.3% gold ale,tropical resin smell,boozy fruity bitter taste,very pithy bitter finish Baron Orm

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

Subscribe in iTunes

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

Buy Hardknott ales from Source Deli

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

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

Subscribe in iTunes

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

Buy Hardknott ales from Source Deli

Looking forward to baron rating Hardknott ales

Hardknott Brewery, well what to say. I met a very enthusiastic Dave at a #Twissup in Sheffield, 2010 and immediately liked the guy, he was approachable, friendly & highly energised about all things brewing. Since then I've been sent samples of his beers, helped him get his beers into Ormskirk first craft bottled beer place,  Source Deli, and generally enjoyed his beers where ever I can find them. Just this week I pointed the organisers of the upcoming Ormskirk Beer, Food and Wine Festival towards him and I think an order has been placed.

Anyway, a lovely pack of good-looking samples showed up at the end of last week:

A solid looking line-up

Hardknott Brewery

• Azimuth IPA - 5.8% zesty orange pith nose, with flavours of peach and apricot skins with a hint of caramel honeysuckle and spring gorse flowers
• Elixir Of Invincibility - 7.3% beer using buckets of hops from New Zealand
• Infra Red - 6.2%deep ruby red, earthy orange and caramel nose, sweet toffee start, peppery dark roast parsnips and a long bitter finish
• Nuclear Sunset - 4.2% crisp refreshing wit, with orange, coriander, nutmeg

Look out for a 'baron rating' for these Hardknott Brewery beers soon, and a big thank you to Dave (@hardknottdave) for sending them through to me!

Hardknott Azimuth IPA

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Hardknott Azimuth IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 5.8% copper ale,tropical syrupy smell,juicy resinous tropical fruit taste,fruity bitter finish Baron Orm

Buy Hardknott ales from Source Deli

Hardknott The English Experiment

Bottle conditioned with lively carbonation

Hardknott The English Experiment [baron rating 3/5] - 6% amber ale,boozy sweet nectarine smell,frothy salt caramel taste,burnt bitter finish Baron Orm

Listen to what Chris, Paul, Leigh & the Baron have to say about it

Subscribe in iTunes

Thank you to Paul (@SourceDeliPaul) from Source Deli for bringing this for a baron rating!

Buy Hardknott ales from Source Deli

Hardknott Cool Fusion

Bottle conditioned with lively carbonation

Hardknott Cool Fusion [baron rating 3/5] - 4.4% gold ale,crystallised ginger citrus smell,fresh ginger bitter taste,tingly pithy dry finish Baron Orm

Listen to what Chris, Paul, Leigh & the Baron have to say about it

Subscribe in iTunes

Thank you to Paul (@SourceDeliPaul) from Source Deli for bringing this for a baron rating!

Buy Hardknott ales from Source Deli

Hardknott Queboid

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Hardknott Queboid [baron rating 5/5] - 8% dark amber ale,sweet orange liquor smell,rich sweet sugary Um Bongo taste,long rich spicy finishBaron Orm

Listen to what Chris, Paul, Leigh & the Baron have to say about it

Subscribe in iTunes

Thank you to Paul (@SourceDeliPaul) from Source Deli for bringing this for a baron rating!

Buy Hardknott ales from Source Deli

Hardknott Rhetoric

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Hardknott Rhetoric [baron rating 5/5] - 12.5% amber ale,boozy orange oil smell,sweet syrupy fruity dessert wine taste,long sweet finish Baron Orm

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

Subscribe in iTunes

Thank you to @HardknottAlex for handing this over for a baron rating!

Buy Hardknott ales from Source Deli 

Hardknott Colonial Mayhem

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Hardknott Colonial Mayhem [baron rating 5/5] - 8.1% dark amber ale,juicy fruit smell,thick rich fruity vanilla taste,fruity choc mild finish Baron Orm

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

Subscribe in iTunes

Thank you to Paul from Source Deli for bringing this round for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Hardknott ales from Source Deli

Hardknott Aether Blaec 2011 Sigma

Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Hardknott Aether Blaec 2011 Sigma [baron rating 3/5] - 7.8% black ale,mild vinous smell,sour berries smoky taste,fading juicy fruity finish Baron Orm

Note: The audio review has a load of glitches which we only knew about after the evening had finished :( 

Thank you to Paul from Source Deli for bringing this round for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Hardknott ales from Source Deli

Hardknott Vitesse Noir

Bottle conditioned with mild carbonation

Hardknott Vitesse Noir [baron rating 5/5] - 11% black ale,vanilla coffee boozy smell,rich bittersweet coffee taste,bitter coffee finish Baron Orm

We had recorded some audio to go along with this rating but found it completely corrupt when I came to edit it :(

Looking forward to baron rating #EBBC12 ales

Last weekend I attended the European Beer Bloggers Conference 2012 (which I've blogged about quite a bit already) and quite a few of us had mentioned to each other to bring a bottle of something interesting to open there or swap, here are the absolute delights that I came home with:

• Artisan American IPA - 5.6% American-style IPA, thanks to Simon aka @RealAleToday 
• Bridgeport Hop Czar - 7.5% imperial IPA, thanks to @Tandleman
• Broadford Damn Nation -  8.3% Belgian golden strong ale, thanks to @BroadfordBrewer
• Brouwerij 't IJ IPA - 7% IPA, thanks to the Night of International Beers

• Hardknott Rhetoric - 12.5% (approx) controversial ale, thanks to by @HardknottAlex
• Marston's Marynka - 4% single hopped ale, thanks to Danny on the Marston's stand
• Marston's Sovereign - 4% single hopped ale, thanks to Danny on the Marston's stand
• Mohawk Extra IPA - 7.5% IPA,thanks to the Night of International Beers
• Mohawk Summer IPA - 6.8% IPA,thanks to the Night of International Beers

• Off Beat Far Out Stout - 7.4% whisky stout, thanks to @Filrd
• Vibrant Forest Black Oktober - 7.2% Imperial Russian Stout, thanks to @mrdavidj
• Williams Bros Double Joker IPA - 8% double IPA, thanks to Chris from @WilliamsBrewery

Sharp's new Connoisseurs Choice range

Sharp's Connoisseurs Choice Range

• No. 1 Quadrupel Ale - 10% dark ruby ale, aroma of perfumed alcoholic fruit. A full bittersweet fruitiness leads to a warming alcoholic finish
• No. 2 Single Brew - 4.5% mid-golden ale,fresh herbal lemon aroma,light barley sugars give way to perfumed bitterness. The finish is dry, clean and exquisitely appetising.
• No. 3 Honey Spice Tripel - 10% ale with an aroma of juicy citrus fruit and candyfloss,the flavour is a journey from rich fruity bitterness through to an appetisingly dry finish

I'm really looking forward to baron rating all of these, I have no idea how I managed to get them all home on the train, my arms were killing me by the time I got back! Thank you to everyone who handed something over and I hope you enjoyed the ones that I handed out too!

Baron on Tour: Hardknott Meet the Brewer

Last Saturday night was the next in the series of "Meet the Brewer" nights at Source Deli in Ormskirk. This time it was Hardknott's turn and they added a little twist, each beer was match with a particular food.

Chris and I got there around 7:30 (official kick-off was at 8pm) to find Hardknott Dave & Ann (as well as Andrew & lady) there setting up as well as a few other early starters.

As we had a little while before the Hardknott ales would be presented we decided that a Marble Dobber was really the only way to start - although we had a tough choice, check out the range of ales that Source Deli now stocks:



The place really filled up with 28 of the 25 places available filling the room and getting a good buzz - everyone was in good spirits, I think everyone had a pre-drink drink :)

Dave started the evening by introducing himself, Ann and the brewery and said that his bottled beer selection was designed to be paired with food. Source Deli know a thing or two about food and both Paul and Matt who own and run the place enjoy their ales so we were all looking forward to trying out the matches.

As it was standing room only, the food was all finger food - considering that some courses were curries I was wondering how we weren't going to make a complete mess of the place!

The first beer of the evening was Infra Red (Ruby IPA) which was paired with Beetroot & marinated feta tart. Dave picked out  a roast parsnip (caramelised vegetables) smell in his ale which was mainly coming for the large amount of crystal malt used to provide the reddish tint and toffee/caramel smell.

It worked really well with the beetroot tart (this was proper beetroot, not the vinegar-soaked stuff). Infra Red also has a strong hoppy side to it which Dave told us was coming from the heavy use of some US citrus hops - Cascade & Centennial. It's also dry-hopped with pellets when in the tank for further hoppiness!

Next was Dark Energy (Stout) which was paired with Goan fish curry. The first mouthful of this match was really good with the beer providing a peppery finish but after that the beer dominated and I wasn't convinced - it's an excellent beer though and quite hoppy for a stout.

Code Black (Black IPA) was paired with Slow roast pork belly, chick pea & crisp chorizo stew. Code Black is hopped with Cascade & Amarillo to provide some citrus & grapefruit flavours along with the coffee and chocolate which was coming from the malt.

The pork belly was an excellent match, the slight spiciness of both the food and the beer worked amazingly well - I would have had this combo as a full course.

Aether Blaec (Whisky barrel aged stout) which was paired with Slow cooked beef shin with horse radish bubble & squeak cake - This was a good match as well, this year's Aether Blaec is a bit more forgiving than last years and the slow cooked beef (either cooked for 6 or 8 hours depending on if you talked to Paul or Matt) was amazing.

The beefy meaty gravy flavours of the food worked well with the strong sweet stout aspects of the beer. It also highlighted to me that whisky-barrelled ales should be judged per version which is produced - this year's is miles smoother and easier to drink than last years - it's all down to the barrel.

Next was Queboid (Double IPA) which was paired with Cheese board (Cropwell Bishop Blue Stilton & Quicke's farmhouse mature cheddar). Dave explained that Queboid was a Belgium-style double IPA and so along with the hoppiness gave some banana and golden syrup qualities. It went well with the cheese, which was two small squares of cheese on a long cracker so you could try the beer with each cheese. It went well with the cheese and the new 300ml bottled version is a lot less sweet compared to the 500ml older bottles - A better move in my opinion.

Granite (Barley Wine) which was paired with Bakewell tart. Granite was the strongest beer that Dave has ever made at 10.1% (at that point). They reheat the sugary wort with more barley to get even more sugars out of it to get the sweetness up so that the yeast can go mental and produce a high ABV beer.

It was reasonable match with the Bakewell tart (didn't note the reason why not - it was getting to 'that' stage of the evening!).

Last up was Vitesse Noir (Triple Imperial Vanilla Mocha Stout) which was paired with Hazelnut biscotti with bitter chocolate & salt caramel. This was an excellent match, the bitter chocolate was holding back the sweetness of the stout - really really good food match.

That concluded the meet the brewer evening also Dave & Ann stuck around for quite a while afterwards as did Karl from Liverpool Organic Brewery and quite a few others. Source Deli's shelves were slowly demolished as people bought a ton of beer to take home with them.

All in all it was an excellent evening, a great event for Hardknott brewery to get their ale range tried by the beer-loving folk of Ormskirk (and was brilliant to catch up with Dave & Ann again), and a great night for Source Deli to see their excellent line-up of craft ales!

Dave recently posted an excellent video summary of the event, make sure you check it our to hear him introduce each course. Maybe you could also play 'spot the baron'?