Marston's EPA

Marston's EPA [baron rating 3/5] - 3.6% gold ale,bready mild sulphur smell,biscuity slightly sharp citrus taste,dry mild citrus finish Baron Orm

Note: Not bottle conditioned

Northcote Sunshine Jiggle

Northcote Sunshine Jiggle [baron rating 4/5] - 4.3% pale gold ale,grapefruit honey smell,zingy grapefruit smell,pithy fruity bitter finish Baron Orm

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

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Note: Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Thank you to  Jenni (@NorthcoteBeers) from Northcote Brewery for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Northcote ales direct

Northcote El Salvador IPA

Northcote El Salvador IPA [baron rating 5/5] - 6% copper ale,fresh ground coffee smell,citrus mocha taste,big burnt coffee bitter finish Baron Orm

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

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Note: Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Thank you to  Jenni (@NorthcoteBeers) from Northcote Brewery for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Northcote ales direct

Looking forward to baron rating Adnams Old Ale mini-cask

Adnams have always been good to the Baron, they were the very first brewery to send me some samples to baron rate in the form of a couple of bottles of their very tasty Broadside [baron rating 5/5].

After a hard day's shopping I was so pleased to see that a couple of good-looking Adnams-branded boxes had been delivered to Baron Towers, one of them containing mini-casks of Adnams Old Ale:

Adnams Brewery

• Old Ale - 4.1% mild, dark red brown in colour with an aroma of toffee and nutty chocolate. The toffee and chocolate also come through on the palette along with hints of red fruits, malt and roast grain, all balanced by a smooth bitterness, 2012 Champion Beer of East Anglia

I'd also like to say a massive thank you for the bottles of Adnams Tally-Ho 2010 [baron rating 5/5] - I'll be enjoying some of them with some fine cheese over the next few evenings...

Look out for 'baron ratings' for this Adnams beer soon, and a big thank you to @SoleBear & @Adnams from Adnams for sending it through to me!

Buy Adnams ales direct

Holts Humdinger

Holts Humdinger [baron rating 3/5] - 4.1% copper ale,earthy very mild sweet smell,sweet honey slightly spicy taste,slight sweet fruit finish Baron Orm

Note: Not bottle conditioned

St Peter's The Saints

St Peter's The Saints [baron rating 3/5] - 4.8% copper ale,rounded TCP iodine smell,balanced smoky peaty taste,TCP/Islay whisky peaty finish Baron Orm

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

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Note: Not bottle conditioned

Thank you to @StPetersBrewery from St. Peter's Brewery for sending this through for a 'baron rating'!

Buy St. Peter's ales direct  

Happy Christmas from The Ormskirk Baron

Back in July I visited Brentwood Brewery and acquired a couple of bottles of their lovely Chockwork Orange [baron rating 5/5] with the plan to see if the statement on the back of the bottle about them working with cheese held any water.

Well months and months later Chris & I finally got around to testing it out as we finished our Christmas Baron Rating evening with a couple of bottles of the ale and some fine English cheeses (Five Counties and some Lancashire Creamy and Tasty).

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

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The beer really worked nicely with the cheese, the sweet aspect challenging nicely the slightly tart bitter edge of the cheeses in a similar way to a fruity chutney would.



It was a fitting end to an amazing year of Baron Ratings and I would like to say thank you so much to all the breweries who have helped the Baron out over 2011, my website would be nothing without the support that you have given!

Thank You from @Christopher_R & @baron_orm

Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale

Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale [baron rating 5/5] - 6.5% copper ale,fruity grassy resin smell,soft balanced tropical taste,dry balanced finish Baron Orm

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

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Note: Not can conditioned ;)

Thank you to @PintsAndPanels from PintsAndPanels for sending this over for a 'baron rating'!

If you fancy some cartoon-style reviews of beers then make sure you check out the PintsAndPanels website.

Ridgeway TVA

Ridgeway TVA [baron rating 3/5] - 3.4% amber ale,very slightly sweet toast smell,grassy mild caramel bitter taste,slightly fruity finish Baron Orm

BrewDog 5AM Saint

BrewDog 5AM Saint [baron rating 4/5] - 5% dark amber ale,pine resin smell,mild dark toffee liquorice stick taste,dry peppery resinous finish Baron Orm

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

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Note: Not bottle conditioned

This was part of the autumn pack of the superb '52 week beer club' by myBrewerytap.

Join it now and make sure you say the baron made me do it!

Buy BrewDog ales from myBrewerytap

Looking forward to baron rating Northcote Cow Tower & Golden Spire

It wasn't long ago that I received some ales from Northcote Brewery so it came as a great surprise to receive a couple more bottles from their range on Monday:

Northcote Brewery

• Cow Tower - 3.8% dangerously moreish light session bitter brewed with traditional English hops
• Golden Spire - refreshing and hoppy beer, brewed with classic American hops for a fruity and crisp citrus finish

Look out for 'baron ratings' for these Northcote Brewery beers soon, and a big thank you to Jenni (@NorthcoteBeers) from Northcote Brewery for sending these through to me!

Buy Northcote ales direct

Monty's Manjana

Monty's Manjana [baron rating 3/5] - 3.9% dark amber ale,minimal aroma,grainy biscuity slight plumy taste,spicy burnt caramel finish Baron Orm

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

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Note: Bottle conditioned with moderate carbonation

Thank you to @bob_beer from Best of British Beer for handing this over for a 'baron rating'!

Buy Monty's ales from Best of British Beer

Looking forward to baron rating Stringers Spice Weasel

Jon from Stringers comes through Ormskirk quite a bit on his way to deliver casks to various lucky Liverpool pubs (no idea why no Ormskirk pub doesn't think to get some Stringers ales in!). He called in on Thursday this week to hand over a Christmas present for the baron, a 750ml bottle of Spice Weasel:

Stringers Beer

• Spice Weasel - 5.5% spiced, lightly hopped, dry, dark ale. with Cinnamon, Mace, Cardamom, Ginger, and a touch of Chilli

Look out for a baron rating for this Stringers beer soon, and a big thank you to @StringersBeer for handing it over to me!

Buy Stringers ales from myBrewerytap, Ales By Mail and Source Deli

Stonehouse KPA

Stonehouse KPA [baron rating 4/5] - 4.6% gold ale,mild sulphur smell,sweet tropical citrus taste,rounded gentle finish Baron Orm

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

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Note: Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation

Inveralmond Ossian

Inveralmond Ossian [baron rating 4/5] - 4.1% gold ale,straw honey smell,spicy citrus floral honey taste,spicy bitter nutty finish Baron Orm

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

Download flash to hear the audio review

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Note: Not bottle conditioned

This was part of the autumn pack of the superb '52 week beer club' by myBrewerytap.

Join it now and make sure you say the baron made me do it!

Buy Inveralmond ales from myBrewerytap

Nogne O Pale Ale

Nogne O Pale Ale [baron rating 5/5] - 6% copper ale,soft citrus smell,very drinkable balanced citrus caramel taste,dry mild fruity finish Baron Orm

Note: Bottle conditioned with perfect carbonation