Tuesday 26 November 2013

Simon Rimmer Presents A Beer To Go With Curry (Robinsons)

Simon Rimmer Presents A Beer To Go With Curry (Robinsons)
Name: Simon Rimmer Presents A Beer To Go With Curry
Label: "Tasting notes: A unique craft lager brewed with rice and a fab mix of Stellar and Cascade hops, crisp and clean with hints of lemon grass and lime, perfectly created by Simon to cut through chilli heat and experience a smooth and tasty lemony aromatic finish."
Brewery: Robinsons
ABV: 5.0%

Rating: "Beer and Curry is a match made in heaven... FACT!! But what I want in a beer with my favourite curry is one that's not too gassy, full of flavour and an aromatic tickle. SO down this and as the beer cools you, savour the light refreshing taste of perfection..."

So far I've had Simon Rimmer's beers to go with curry, chicken and steak.  Now the dude has to invent a beer to go with pizza, pasta, burrittos and hotdogs and that will be all my favourite foods covered. In beer... FACT!!

Game: Ryse is great. The 'proper' reviews moan about it being shallow and devoid of meaningful story and so on and so... yawn!  But while the naysayers are saying nay, I'm playing the ass off it. Because it's great. Stabbing is my favourite. The executions never get old. And the graphics are AMAZING. I don't care that it's not much of a cerebral challenge, don't question it, just enjoy it! Rating: 9.99999999 / 10

Saturday 23 November 2013

Simon Rimmer Presents A Beer To Go With Chicken (Robinsons)

Simon Rimmer Presents A Beer To Go With Chicken (Robinsons)
Name: Simon Rimmer Presents A Beer To Go With Chicken
Label: "Tasting notes: A vibrant zesty little number - absolutely bursting with Amarillo citrus hop ending with a crisp dry sweet lemon finish"
Brewery: Robinsons
ABV: 4.0%

Rating: "Simon says... The delights of a golden ale are limitless. Clean, crisp, hint of citrus - all essential. Those qualities make it a perfect drink to have with chicken. Bringing out the delicate flavours and adding an extra dimension to everything from a roast chicken to a Caesar salad. So don't put all your eggs in one basket - save room for a bottle of my beer for chicken."

Game: Xbox One has landed. Looks ace. Plays ace. It's ace, basically. Games list currently consists of Dead Rising 3, Assassin's Creed 4 and freebies FIFA14 and Killer Instinct (who said brand loyalty was a bad thing?) Also expected is the arrival of my Ryse: Son of Rome pre-order at some point *narrows eyes at shopto.net*.

Friday 22 November 2013

Premium Best Bitter (Slater's)

Premium Best Bitter (Slaters)
Name: Premium Best Bitter
Label: "Handcrafted ales - Quintessentially quaffable! Brimming with barrel loads of malt and caramel overtones."
Brewery: Slater's
ABV: 4.4%

Rating: "This pale brown premium bitter has a malt and caramel taste with English Challenger hops producing a rich fruity aroma. Now brewed at our State of the Art Brewery in Stafford."

Game: Happy Xbox One Day!! *dons party hat*. Sat here waiting for the guest of honour to arrive. Email says it will be around 1pm. A whole THREE hours away!  Maybe chance to get stuck into Rocksmith? I'm not sat here drinking by the way. The Premium Best Bitter was supped last night... honest. *hic, blows party blowy thing (y'know that unfurl and make a noise)*

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Bitter & Twisted (Harviestoun)

Bitter & Twisted (Harviestoun)
Name: Bitter & Twisted
Label: "Spicy - Aromatic - Zesty - Blond Beer. In the early days Bitter & Twisted was brewed with a fractious mouse for company; this testy rodent became the brewer's inspiration. Harvie is now our mascot."
Brewery: Harviestoun
ABV: 4.2%

Rating: "B&T has a superb hop profile; it combines aromatic Hallertau Hersbrücker with spicy Challenger, finished by late-hopping with Styrian Goldings which give a very distinctive citrus sharpness. Like all Harviestoun beers, B&T has won awards at home and abroad. We bottle with less carbon dioxide which is why our beers taste more natural. For splendid refreshment, enjoy cold."  ...it combines aromatic what now?? Anyway check out my umlaut!

Game: Only 2 days 'til Xbox One Day!  I've been nervously enquiring with Amazon if they're definitely sure I'm going to get my pre-order on release day. They gave the stock answer of, "We'll process orders in time to be delivered on the given delivery date in your account".  What I actually want to hear is, "Yes! You'll definitely get your Xbox One on release day. In fact I'll be driving it around to your house personally and will be there at 6am to ensure you get the maximum amount of daylight hours in which to set up and get your game on!"  At least they responded though, which was nice. I like it when companies offer support via Twitter. The personal touch, y'know?

Thursday 14 November 2013

Orme (Great Orme Brewery)

Orme (Great Orme Brewery)
Name: Orme
Label: "Bragdy'r Gogarth (Great Orme Brewery)"
Brewery: Great Orme
ABV: 4.2%

Rating: "Rich chestnut bitter with a fine balance of malt and hops. Did you know... the word 'ORME' is believed by some authorities to have derived from an Old Norse (Scandinavian) word 'urm' meaning worm or sea serpent?"

I went to Great Orme once, and as the name suggests, it was great! And it looked like a big sea serpent so those Old Norse dudes know what they're on about.

Game: Poopin' heck it's only 7 (seven) and a bit days left until Xbox One arrives! To pass the time I'm trying my hand at Rocksmith 2014. Didn't get on that well with the first game because the tracklisting wasn't much to my taste. 2014 contains some stonkers though. I'm just hoping I can stick with it this time and that I properly learn to play the guitar. At the moment though I'm still at the point where most people could probably play guitar better with their feet than I can with my hands.

Saturday 9 November 2013

India Pale Ale (Shepherd Neame)

India Pale Ale (Shepherd Neame)
Name: India Pale Ale
Label: "The high hop rate in this brew originally protected the beer during the arduous journey across the continents. Those same Kentish hop notes can now be enjoyed for their own sake in this orginal recipe from Britain's oldest brewer"
Brewery: Shepherd Neame
ABV: 6.1%

Rating: "An historic brew which conjures up images of high seas and faraway places. An IPA encapsulates centuries of brewing tradition, a quintessentially strong and hoppy beer with a bold, stirring character. Our India Pale Ale delivers this magnificently; pale in colour and generously bittered with locally grown Fuggles hops."

And that's the only way I like to experience faraway places, by drinking fine ales such as this and playing video games sat in my nice comfy chair thank you very much.

Game: My pre-order list for Xbox One currently consists of Assassin's Creed 4 Buccaneer Edition (don't tell the wife how much I spent on that), Ryse: Son of Rome and Dead Rising 3. I'm actually pleased Watch Dogs has been put back to 2014 because the bill was becoming rather expensive... Now less than two weeks to go! Rating of having to wait until the 22/11/2013 for next gen: 0/10

Thursday 7 November 2013

Twisted Wheel (Greene King)

Twisted Wheel (Greene King)
Name: Twisted Wheel
Label: "Golden ale with a twist of ginger and a zip of spice"
Brewery: Greene King
ABV: 4.0%

Rating: "This beer celebrates the 50th anniversary of its namesake Northern soul club in Manchester"  Ok, you can take the music but leave me the beer. Thanks!

Game: Got the latest issue of X360 Magazine which has been re-branded as X-ONE Magazine.  This months ish is an Xbox One special and having had a good read of it I'm now ridiculously looking forward to the 22nd November. Before I was pretty excited. The mag has taken it to a whole new level now. I'm not even that arsed about Christmas at the moment, and I freakin' love Christmas! And Microsoft sent me an email saying I'm getting Killer Instinct for free! All characters! And FIFA 14 for free! I'm just hoping Amazon make good on their promise and deliver on the big day. Two weeks to go...

Old Legover (Daleside)

Old Legover (Daleside)
Name: Old Legover
Label: "A right grand Yorkshire beer"
Brewery: Daleside
ABV: 4.1%

Rating: "Daleside Old Legover upholds the very highest standards of English brewing. Old Legover is essentially a Yorkshire beer using a complex mix of malts and hops to produce a well-balanced mid-brown ale. Appreciate the flavours as you enjoy the beer and note the nutty overtones and late bitter-sweet sensations."

Last time I looked 'Legover' wasn't an actual word, but I'll let them off because the beer is so good!

Game: Holy corrupted save file Batman! Disaster strikes! My Batman: Arkham Origins save file has become corrupted.  Oh the Batmanity! All those Enigma packs collected, all those side-missions completed! Gone! All gone! It's ok though, the game is so great I've started again from scratch. Now trying out the cloud save thing on Xbox Live too. Giving Origins 8.5/10 despite the corrupted save file unpleasantness.