Maplemoon (Joseph Holt)

Name: Maplemoon
Label: "Full bodied pleasure with a twinkle of maple - Mystical Maple Ale"
Brewery: Joseph Holt
ABV: 4.8%

Rating: A glimmer of Canadian maple which makes it very pleasurable on the taste buds. One of the better things to come out of Manchester, UK.

Game: There are sooo many quests in Dragon Age: Origins I've lost track of them all. I don't know where anything is and I keep getting wasted by packs of wolves. Christmas tomorrow!

Strong Pale Ale (Marston's)

Name: Strong Pale Ale
Label: "Smooth, refreshing and remarkably easy drinking"
Brewery: Marston's
ABV: 6.2%

Rating: Exactly what it says on the bottle.

Game: As you'll know doubt remember, I've been having a bit of difficulty getting past the Sloth Demon in the Fade on Dragon Age: Origins. Well, no longer. I acquired myself an enchanted dagger and a big red dagger, and a drake scale suit of armour (drake is a male dragon apparently).  Have a bit of daggery goodness in your face Sloth bitch!

Honey Dew (Fuller's)

Name: Honey Dew
Label: "Organic - Refreshing Golden Beer"
Brewery: Fuller's
ABV: 5%

Rating: It's a pity bee sick doesn't taste like this. If it did, everyone would want to harvest bee sick.

Game: I must be doing something wrong or attempting missions too soon, but I find myself struggling in the "Fade" on Dragon Age: Origins. Use an attack against a load of enemies and run away waiting for attack to recharge, enemies are in hot pursuit and we end up circling a conveniently placed pillar or piece of furniture in what ends up looking like a crappy version of the already crap enough Benny Hill show. Incredible game though, I just suck at it... 9/10.

Tribute (St. Austell)

Name: Tribute
Label: "The Ale of Cornwall - A delightfully delicious and drinkable beer that captures the essential character of Cornwall.
Brewery: St. Austell
ABV: 4.2%

Rating/Comment: The Cornish, so far up their own arses that they have their own flag and pretend Cornwall is an independent country. Tourists are made to feel unwelcome even though they play an essential role in the local economy. Although the Cornish people I know are thoroughly decent so maybe the previous statements are a load of old bol. Nice beer!

Game: I'm going all soft-core on the gaming front at the moment. Wii is quite addictive and playing through Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure is fun fun fun. Its just a phase I'm sure, the novelty will soon wear off...

Black Sheep Ale (Black Sheep Brewery)

Name: Black Sheep Ale
Label: "Crisp, dry & bittersweet - The culmination of five generations of brewing expertise. Brewed at the Black Sheep Brewery in Masham, North Yorkshire and nowhere else."
Brewery: Black Sheep Brewery
ABV: 4.4%

Rating: Excellent ale unimaginatively named.

Game: Got a black Nintendo Wii.  Definitely a "family" console which will probably end up being used just by me.  Trying to encourage other family members to partake in video games is like trying to get blood out of a cabbage. Cant remember the reason for getting it now, especially with Natal on the way...

Golden Ale (Shepherd Neame)

Name: Golden Ale
Label: "A well balanced fusion of malt & floral hop, with a clean dry citrus finish"
Brewery: Shepherd Neame (for Asda)
ABV: 4.5%

Rating: "Extra special"

Game: Currently playing at trying to clear my mailbox of play.com "Christmas offers" - an apparently relentless spamming campaign set to run the course of December.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, after the Assassin's Creed 2 debacle (AC2 delivered two (2) days late) and as Darth Vader would say - You have failed me for the last time, bitches. I ain't buyin nuffin from use anymore!"

Whitechapel Porter (Shepherd Neame)

Name: Whitechapel Porter
Label: "A dark ruby traditional porter combining underlying  roasted malt flavour with spicy hop notes"
Brewery: Shepherd Neame (for Asda)
ABV: 5.2%

Rating: Tough but slightly sweet

Game: Veteran difficulty is getting a bit tough now on Modern Warfare 2. Slowly working through it but may give up soon... Talking of Modern Warfare 2, Labour MP Keith Vaz doesn't like video games, the corrupt little cockroach recently crawled out from under his stone to comment on how "psychologically damaging" it is to children. He wants a sticker on 18 rated games to say "This has the potential to damage your health". Laugable maybe but he obviously fails to realise that children shouldn't be playing 18 rated video games. Modern Warfare 2 is rated 18. Which means people under the age of 18 shouldn't be playing it. Vaz obviously thinks games are aimed at children, he's therefore obviously an ignorant fool. Lets all point and laugh at the idiot. Sorry to pick on you Vaz, there's probably other idiotic, knee-jerk reactionary technophobes out there somewhere. I'll try and name and shame them in upcoming posts.