Bath Ales: Barnstormer
A while ago, when we first ventured to Bristol to visit some friends of ours we discovered the Bath Ales Brewery. I did not hide my love for their beer – to the point in which last Christmas I was given the very amazing present of a Bath Ales box set.
The first of the three box set I’m sampling is “Barnstormer”. Its a fruity dark ale, with an slight smell of chocolate. It looks deep and heavy, but doesn’t taste like it. Its thirst quenching, and tastes like the sort of beer that you could have a good session with.
Interested? You can buy Barnstormer from BeerMerchants.com.
Beer Review: Chesire Chocolate Porter
Chocolate +Beer. It never works! Until now…
Long term readers will know that I’m a fan of chocolate, and that I’m obviously a fan of beer. On the other hand if you put the two together, it never works. Its either always to thick, or to sickly. You may wonder why I’m giving this a go – well Christmas presents are there to be drank.
And I’m glad this was drunk. Marks and Spencer’s have done a good job here. Its a light tasting drink, but it has just the right amount of ‘chocolate’ thrown into it. The original sensation is first thirst quenching, followed by the gentle chocolate breeze, which is finished with a fantastically tangy aftertaste.
Good stuff! Worth a sample!
The Blog o’Beer 2009 Awards
Best Pub
Well, what I mean by this, is best pub I paid a random visit to. Now there are plenty of places we could name, but we go there all the time. So I’m going to name the best place we’ve been once. This year the award goes to The Victoria Inn in Salcombe. Great welcome and fantastic beer, making this place worth while checking out.
Worst Welcome at a Pub
The Old Lock and Weir Inn in Bristol, wins this hands down! Not the most friendly people ever…
Best Brewery
Hands down, it has to be Skinners. It might have been because we were in Cornwall for a while and drank a fair bit from them, but they were all beautiful. Its just a shame that they were closed when we tried to visit!
Worst Breakfast
Breakfasts this year have included hotels, B&Bs, Pubs, and Cafes. The worst of them has to be found at the Plume of Feathers in Princetown, it was pricey and cold. Not nice after a bad nights camping on Dartmoor!
Crazy Media Story of the Year
Tactical Nuclear Penguin. Its a beer, designed to be drank like whiskey. How is this worthwhile news?
Disappointment of the Year
People dont agree with me and the rest of the table I was on that evening, but Titanic Velvet Curtain was so bad, we didn’t finish it.
Agree with any of the above?
Disappointment of The Month: Sainsbury’s Christmas Ale
Well its a new year, and time for the first “Disappointment of The Month”. I opened up this promising looking tube on New Years Day, a present from the Mrs, it looked like a nice gift… on the outside. When you open it up, there are two disappointments. To start with – the bottle itself, is so small at 330ml its really quite sad. Secondly the free pint glass is non branded – its totally blank! Now I know a pint glass is a pint glass – but a bit of effort would have nice!
So this year… if you’re looking for a beer set for next Christmas. Skip the Sainsbury’s own box set – its not worth 4 quid…
The Christmas Beer Roundup (part1)
Tis the season to be jolly! Tis also be the season to take advantage of the huge amount of Festive Ales that are out and about.
So here’s what could possibly be the first part of my round up of Christmas Beers I’ve come across:
Ugly Sisters
Guys. Imagine having a conversation with a mate in the pub. You hear about these sisters, they sound great, but when you get to meet them – they’re kinda ugly. Ugly Sisters from Marstons is a bit like that. The first impression is nice and refreshing – then that tangy, citrus aftertaste hits your senses like a train. This is the sort of beer that then rests on your gut like a stone.
So – its nice… but be ready for that tangy aftertaste!
Snowy
From the Sisters – I moved onto the Owl. You can almost the white feathers! Well you cant, but me saying that is more interesting then the beer itself. Its good – just kinda boring….
Beer Presents? Beer Bottle Holder
Mmmmm now heres something I’m not sure of this. Part of me wants to laugh, and see the fun, but no part of me wants this myself! (With thanks to the Lighterside of Beer)
The Blurb…
Dress your beer in a beautiful busty bikini style body with this Sexy Beer Bottle Holder! This is the sexiest way to enjoy your favourite bottle of lager! We all know that man’s 2 favourite things are Beer and Boobs, now this bottle holder has ingeniously combined the two! This will provide an overwhelming amount of happiness for any male user! You can hold onto any part of the big busted babe’s body while sipping your beer, without even getting so much as a slap! This is a beer bottle holder in the shape of a sexy lady’s body.
This will hold any normal sized bottle of beer (or any other bottle of the same size) The beer bottle holder comes in 4 different coloured bikinis, Red, Black, White 0r Pink. Unfortunately it is random and you can not stipulate which colour you want! It comes packed in a stylish acetate box as seen in the picture which makes this a perfect little gift! Size Of Sexy Beer bottle Holder: 14cm x 10cm x 9cm
The Gulden Draak
The Gulden Draak looks like a quite beer in its little white bottle. Then it hits you like a train. It could be the strength of the beer itself, its dark look and slightly fizzy taste makes no excuses about the 10.5% beer.
Its the sort of stuff you drink a few beers to warm your stomach up to it. You drink two of them if you feel brave – seriously I’ve seen people go seriously weird on this stuff….but dont let that put you off!
If you like darker beer, and see this on sale – go for it! You should be able to find it in Darts Farm – Devon.