Saturday 27 June 2015

13 Guns (Crafty Dan Micro Brewery)

13 Guns (Crafty Dan Micro Brewery)
Name: 13 Guns
Label: "An intense hit of hops - American IPA - A salute to the original 13 states of America"
Brewery: Crafty Dan Micro Brewery
ABV: 5.5%

Tasting notes: "Intensely hoppy, rich mouth feel, malty flavours with soft tropical fruit aroma and taste."

Game: Yikes, Batman Arkham Knight is incredibubbles. Finally, something to distract me from The Witcher 3 for a bit. I hear it's a bit knackered on PC though (smug mode engaged).  Rain doesn't even gather on Batman or the Batmobile on PC. And check out the lack of ambient occlusion!  Fools!  This is a perfect of example of why consoles are better. They don't cost thousands of squids, you don't have to continually upgrade bits of them, they have a life-span of ten years plus, Batman is better on them. Batman wins.

Friday 19 June 2015

Five AM Red Ale (BrewDog)

Five AM Red Ale (BrewDog)
Name: Five AM Red Ale
Label: "Bitter Sweet Chaos"
Brewery: BrewDog
ABV: 5.0%

Rating: Tastes amazing. Not much more to be said really. Could have done with a bigger bottle. Or more bottles.

Game: Disaster! Amazon are telling me that my Limited Edition Batman Arkham Knight pre-order due next Tuesday has been "delayed as the manufacturer has advised us that there's been a packaging quality issue."  Swines! Think something similar happened in America with the Arkham Knight Batmobile boxset - in that instance it sounded like the Batmobile turned out to be shit. Anyway, I look forward to my updated packaging... in JULY!  To be fair to Amazon though they are sending out download codes so we can still play the game on release day. Smiley BatFace.

Hummingbird (Young's)

Hummingbird (Youngs)
Name: Hummingbird
Label: "Delightfully aromatic, refreshing golden beer with tropical notes"
Brewery: Young's
ABV: 4.2%

Rating: "Hummingbird is an exciting addition to the Young's bottle range following its popularity as a seasonal cask ale. A golden ale with a refreshing tropical hint, Hummingbird brings something a little bit different which we are sure you'll love."

Game: Wow what a week! We've just got back from our trip to E3 with boxes of review code and free consoles (which really means I've been sat at home watching telly and pretty much missed all of E3).  The Star Wars Battlefront gameplay trailer looked interesting though. Can't wait for this game as I'm hoping it will be the truly immersive Star Wars game I've been looking for. However, towards the end of the trailer Darth Vader starts lightsaber duelling Luke Skywalker in the face... on Hoth. This never happened on Hoth!! Maybe they can get Yoda driving one of the AT-ATs too, just to fully spoil any hope that we'll get to play an accurate video game representation of the original Star Wars trilogy.

Saturday 6 June 2015

East Coast IPA (Greene King)

East Coast IPA (Greene King)
Name: East Coast IPA
Label: "American Hops and East of England Brewing"
Brewery: Greene King
ABV: 4.0%

Tasting notes: "This 4% beer fuses the punchy citrus aroma of American hops with the easy-drinking refreshment of classic British pale ales."

Game: Thought I'd crack on with some Witcher contracts I still had outstanding from my time in Velen... four hours later... realised I've just spent the WHOLE EVENING playing Gwent!

Monday 1 June 2015

Leaping Legend (Badger)

Leaping Legend (Badger)
Name: Leaping Legend
Label: "New beer in the sett"
Brewery: Badger
ABV: 4.8%

Rating: "Should you pass the hamlet of Bincombe and hear a slow ticking sound, look closely for the valiant grasshopper leaping further than any other, clattering his wings mid-flight. This light-coloured beer balances the citrus character of Amarillo hops with Fuggles hops for a refreshing and punchy beer. Great with Spanish style tapas dishes. We've been brewing in the heart of Dorset since 1777."

Game: Five reasons why Dark Souls 2 sucks:
1. It's a port of a last-gen game
2. It's got crummy graphics
3. There's little to no story and everyone you meet is so damn... vague.
4. I want to feel like a boss, not be cowering constantly too scared to do anything.
5. Witcher 3 is out.

Ok, it doesn't really suck, it's great but... Witcher 3!

Wolf Rock (Sharp's)

Wolf Rock (Sharps)
Name: Wolf Rock
Label: "Exceptional Red IPA"
Brewery: Sharp's Brewery
ABV: 4.8%

Tasting notes: "Inspired by and named after one of Cornwall's most dangerous offshore reefs located seven miles off Land's End. It is a fusion of the red ale and IPA styles combining Noble and New World hops with the world's finest special malt to give a distinctive red hue."

Game: Episode 4 Sons of Winter is the best yet. Game of Thrones by the way in case you forgot. It's managed to stop me playing the Witcher 3 for a few hours any way. Telltale Games are still winning at games. 8/10