It’s the weekend !
While people are stranded at airports and worrying about who to vote for in the election, my only real concern right now is what bottle of ale I am going to crack open first.
Hook Norton Brewery are based in Oxfordshire and I’ve previously sampled most of their range and Tweeted about [...]

We have an ‘Eat as Much as You Can’ Chinese Buffet restaurant near our work that we tend to visit every week. Aside from all their Chinese/Thai bottled beers, ‘Batemans Bitter’ lurked at the bottom of the drinks menu. We ordered it and haven’t stopped ordering it since – because it turned out to be [...]

Brad and I have previously raved about the Bath Ales via Twitter, both out of the bottle and on the pump. I figured it was time to write a proper review.
I became familiar with the Bath ales when the Trading manager at Ocado gave me a selection of their range to sample. They were all [...]

Ringwood Brewery is a New Forest Beer which is 4.9%.
Label notes say “… it is a full bodied premium golden beer with a deep bitter-sweet finish.”
It is brewed with Maris Otter barley and Goldings, Progress, Fuggles and Challenger hops.
This is nicer than the Jennings ale of yesterday – principally because if isn’t super gassy. [...]

Jennings Cumberland Ale is a 4.7% Golden ale.
The bottle notes are so fluffy and pointless that I’m not going to mention them.
It’s a bit too gassy straight out of the bottle. It has a nice bitter twang to it. I’m undecided about this bottle. It doesn’t really do much for me. It’s ok – but [...]

One drawback of being modern father to a young child is you don’t get to go out much. Gone are the days of going to the pub after work while the wife makes the dinner – something my dad used to do daily.
So bottles of ale are the solution. Ideally polypins from someone like Nethergate [...]

My local Farm Shop (yes I live out in the country) sells City of Cambridge Brewery ales.
Hobson’s Choice is one of the 4 bottles I bought last time I was there. Atom Splitter, Parker’s Porter and Boathouse Bitter are the other ones I’ll try sometime soon.
Hobson’s Choice headlines as a light golden ale with [...]

Last of the 6 is the stout. Always best to leave the stout til last.
Stoodley Stout (black bottle top) headlines as rich and creamy.
Bottle notes say: “… the bottle is a traditional British Stout. The beer is rich and pitch black and contains chocolate malt with oats and wheat. It has a rich and creamy [...]

It’s reached an acceptable hour in the day where you can open a bottle of beer and not be frowned upon. Besides – I’ve been working hard all morning so why not.
Two ales from Little Valley remain – this one being the Cragg Vale Bitter.
Cragg Vale (purple bottle top) headlines as bold and malty.
Bottle notes [...]

Probably the last for today.
Little Valley Ginger Pale Ale is a 4% bottle (with a green top). It headlines as fresh, light and gently ginger.
Bottle notes say: “… the bottle exceptional drinkability. Light and ginger with a hint of citrus, it makes a delicious aperetif or perfectly accompanies any spicy Chinese or Indian meal [...]