Badger Leaping Legend

Not bottle conditioned

Badger Leaping Legend [baron rating 4/5] - 4.8% copper ale,lime citrus smell,cereal zingy citrus peppery taste,bitter lime finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to @Badgerales from Hall & Woodhouse for sending this through for a baron rating!

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Dark Star Revelation

Not can conditioned

Dark Star Revelation [baron rating 5/5] - 5.7% copper ale,resin sweet tropical smell,candied tropical fruit taste,fruity piney bitter finish Baron Orm

Buy Dark Star ales from Holborn Ales

Hafod Big Red

Not can conditioned

Hafod Big Red [baron rating 2/5] - 5.5% amber ale,slight candied smell,earthy mild sweet candied fruit taste,dry sweetish finish Baron Orm

Thornbridge Tzara

Not bottle conditioned

Thornbridge Tzara [baron rating 3/5] - 4.8% gold beer,clean cereal smell,refreshing creamy cereal taste,dry slight creamy finish Baron Orm

Buy Thornbridge ales from Holborn Ales

Pork Crackling Showdown #1

Lots of cooked fat! Let's dig in!

Listen to what Chris and the Baron have to say about these pork scratching products, all found locally for sale in Ormskirk, Lancashire.

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Our preference were for the Black Country Snacks No Nonsense ones (black bag) and the Mr. Porky's Prime Cut (silver/black checked bag), they were our winners out of this selection.

Hiver The Honey Ale

Not bottle conditioned

Hiver The Honey Ale [baron rating 1/5] - 4.5% amber ale,sweet honey smell,honey but cloying taste,artificial honey finish Baron Orm

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

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

Buy Hiver ales from Ales By Mail

Hafod Safe Bet

Not can conditioned

Hafod Safe Bet [baron rating 3/5] - 3.5% gold ale,orange squash smell,spicy orange bit thin taste,juicy spicy finish Baron Orm

Badger Daring Diver

Not bottle conditioned

Badger Daring Diver [baron rating 2/5] - 4.7% copper ale,earthy oaty biscuit smell,spicy buttery oat biscuit taste,cloying buttery finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to @Badgerales from Hall & Woodhouse for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Badger ales direct

Barnsley Coil Oil

Not bottle conditioned with flat carbonation

Barnsley Coil Oil [baron rating 1/5] - 3.9% dark amber ale,ground spice plum raisin taste,tart acidic taste,horrible bitter lemon finish Baron Orm

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

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Looking forward to baron rating these Badger ales soon

I mentioned via Twitter recently that I'd spotted that Badger Ales (Hall & Woodhouse) had released a number of new ales into the Badger lineup that I'd not tried. They offered to send some over and this is what arrived today:

Hall & Woodhouse

• Daring Diver - 4.7% See: light copper, Smell: hoppy, citrus, Taste: hoppy with  biscuit undertones
• Firkin Fox - 4.6% See: auburn, Smell: intense, citrus hop, Taste: biscuity maltiness, refreshing hop
• Leaping Legend -  4.8% See: autumnal gold, Smell: citrus, grapefruit hop, Taste: fresh, full, hoppy

Look out for baron ratings for these beers soon, and a big thank you to  @Badgerales from Hall & Woodhouse for sending them through for a baron rating!

Buy Badger ales direct

Badger Wild Wader

Not bottle conditioned

Badger Wild Wader [baron rating 5/5] - 4.2% gold ale,mild sweet grapefruit smell,spicy fleshy fruit taste,juicy bittersweet finish Baron Orm

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

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Brecon Cwrw-istmas Beacons

Not bottle conditioned

Brecon Cwrw-istmas Beacons [baron rating 3/5] - 4.2% gold ale,fruitcake nutmeg cinnamon smell,crisp bready fruity taste,spicy finish Baron Orm

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

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

Buy Brecon ales from Ales By Mail

Asahi Super Dry Black

Not bottle conditioned

Asahi Super Dry Black [baron rating 3/5] - 5.5% black beer,faint sweet roasted smell,creamy stout vanilla cola taste,dry mild vanilla finish Baron Orm

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

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Thank you to John Humphreys (@ShepherdNeame) from Shepherd Neame for sending this through for a baron rating!

Buy Asahi & Shepherd Neame ales direct

Looking forward to trying a range of Black Country Snacks

During a recent Baron Rating beer tasting session with my review buddy Chris we decided to try a number of different packets of pork scratchings available locally. During the evening Black Country Snacks got in touch to offer us some more from their snack range:

A lot of pork went into making this lot!

Black Country Snacks

• Alf Turner Dragon's Fury - premium chilli pork crackling (50g)
• Alf Turner Pork Scratchings - premium butchers quality (70g)
• No Nonsense Just Proper Black Country Double Cooked Pork Crackling - (50g)
• No Nonsense Just Proper Black Country Hot Pork Crunch - beware hot crunch (30g)
• Black Country Traditional Crackling - MSG free, gluten free, hand cooked quality pork scratching (60g)
• Q Salted Peanuts - roasted & salted peanuts (50g)

Look out for our views on these soon, and a big thank you to Black Country Snacks (@bcscratchings)  for sending them through!

Looking forward to trying Freshers Openshaws Big Bag traditional pork scratchings

I wanted to explore what pork scratchings were available in Ormskirk recently and so visited a few supermarkets to see what they had. After tweeting about the selection a couple of weeks ago, Freshers Foods in Wigan tweeted saying that I was missing out on a major manufacturer of pub snacks and offered to send me some, this is what arrived late last week:

75 grams of seasoned porky goodness & it really is a big bag!

 Freshers Foods

• Openshaws Big Bag - traditional pork scratchings, seasoned fried pork rind (75g)

Look out for our views on these soon, and a big thank you to Freshers Foods (@FreshersFoods)  for sending them through!

Looking forward to baron rating Asahi Super Dry Black very soon

Shepherd Neame are a solid supporter of the Baron and for that I thank them greatly. Regardless of whether it is a new beer they have brewed or a newly imported one, a nice brown box arrives at Baron Towers:

Shiny labels are a camera's enemy

Asahi Brewery

• Super Dry Black - 5.5%  dark lager, brewed using the same No.318 yeast as their flagship beer but with the addition of roasted malt to achieve a deeper, flavour and darker appearance

Look out for baron ratings for this beer soon, and a big thank you to  John Humphreys from Shepherd Neame for sending it through for a baron rating!

Buy Asahi & Shepherd Neame ales direct