Saturday 27 April 2013

Vintage Ale (Fuller's)

Vintage Ale (Fuller's)
Name: Vintage Ale
Label: "Limited Edition - Bottle conditioned - No. 50556"
Brewery: Fuller's
ABV: 8.5%

Rating: "The 2012 Vintage Ale, our 16th is brewed with three of this year's finest hop varieties including, Goldings, award winning Sovereign and Target hops. These combined with our unique yeast and organic barley grown by Sir James Fuller on the Neston Park Estate result in a wonderful limited edition brew that has a luxurious flavour. 

Individually packed and numbered, this bottle is one of only one hundred and twenty five thousand produced.

Probably the most extravagant beer related purchase I've made, (it comes in it's own box and everything), costing a whopping £4.99.  Just noticed on the box that it says it will improve with age for many more years like a fine wine or whiskey. I'm that confident it's going to be great, it appears on this site already and I've not even drank it yet!

Game: There's an Xbox event on May 21st when the new Xbox will be revealed. Yep, you read it here last, the new Xbox reveal! I for one can't wait to see what Microsoft have up their wizards sleeves. I've just seen some Battlefield 4 game-play footage which (I think) is next-gen and it looks amazing.  A new era is dawning and I've still not finished Dark Souls... and I'm currently too busy cursing difficulty spikes in Final Fantasy XIII to get back to it. To the Xbox 360 I go!

Sunday 14 April 2013

Gunhill (Adnams)

Gunhill (Adnams)
Name: Gunhill
Label: "Full flavoured beer - Beer from the coast - Adnams Gunhill is proud to join the fight against Prostate Cancer by contributing a donation from Gunhill sales to the Prostate Cancer Charity."
Brewery: Adnams
ABV: 4.0%

Rating: "A traditional dark ruby ale, delivering full flavour at just 4% ABV. Full aromatic barley malts and an exquisite blend of hops combined to create a wonderful balance of sweet biscuit and subtle fruit flavours, with a hint of chocolate bitterness."

Game: What's all this "always-on connectivity" needed for the next Xbox then?  My internet connection sometimes drops. Not often. But sometimes. And last night I couldn't sign into Xbox Live. So Microsoft can't guarantee 100% service up-time, and to be fair, who honestly can? But to say that I won't be able to play any games on the next console if there's a loss of connection is absolutely bonkers! PlayStation 4 just took the next-gen lead #dealwithit

Tuesday 9 April 2013

Sole Star (Adnams)

Sole Star (Adnams)
Name: Sole Star
Label: "Pale Amber Ale - From the Sole Bay Brewery"
Brewery: Adnams
ABV: 2.7%

Rating: "Named after the brightest star in the sky, which rises first over the Sole Bay Brewery every morning, Sole Star is a celebration of our very special East Coast location. This pale amber ale has a light floral, citrus aroma and gentle caramel notes - it's a great quality ale at only 2.7%"

Game: It's Tuesday, it's great when new games come out on a Tuesday, it means you don't have to wait until Friday. Today there are no new games out but I bought one anyway (take that, release schedule). Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. But what's this? The Thank You For Playing website is go, go, go! Being a contributor to the Indiegogo campaign thing that kick started this thing, it's a proud moment for me. Check it out, right now. Look out for the Escort Service clip too, it's brilliant.

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Golden Hare (Bath Ales)

Name: Golden Hare
Label: "Our full-flavoured light ale"
Brewery: Bath Ales
ABV: 4.4%

Rating: "Golden Hare is bursting with flavour and brimming with condition. It's smooth yet dry, wonderfully fresh and delightfully zesty. We brew Golden Hare using floor-malted Maris Otter barley and the aptly named Goldings hops. These fine ingredients (plus our brewers' skill and patience) have helped to make Golden Hare a very rewarding light ale."  Could only find three Bath Ales stocked locally, all of which I've now covered. Time to visit the Bath Ales website to order some others I think!

Game: I've just heard that Elizabeth's giant bird guardian in Bioshock: Infinite is supposed to be an allegory of an abusive relationship.  And I thought it was just a massive mechanical bird. Must learn to read between the lines.  Time for a replay!