Artesian Dark Ale (Shepherd Neame)

Name: Artesian Dark Ale
Label: "Brewed with Artesian Water"
Brewery: Shepherd Neame
ABV: 3.8%

Tasting notes: "This delicious ale is hand-crafted using chalk-filtered mineral water from the artesian well deep below our brewery. Amber in colour, it is a complex, full flavoured beer combining aromas of fruits and spices with rich biscuity malts."

Game: I've been playing Life Is Strange for a few weeks now. As it's an episodic story-driven thing I've left it til the end of Episode 4 to review a fuller experience. And wow, what a great story, it's deep and veers from the whimsical to the depressingly heavy and dark - they even mention if you're affected by the story and need support, visit www.lifeisstrange.com/talk for details of who to contact i.e. the Samaritans :(  Epic twists and some amazing end of episode cliffhangers keep you hooked though. And woah, I'm super-excited for the finale as it's going to be hella awesomes - that's how they talk in the game by the way.  It's a little grating at first but you totally get over it, and even like, start to talk like that in real life? Rating: a totally epic 8/10

Nice (Fyne Ales)

Name: Nice
Label: "White IPA - Outstanding Craft Beer - Fyne Ales is a Scottish brewery dedicated to brewing outstanding craft beer with passion and integrity"
Brewery: Fyne Ales
ABV: 5.2%

Tasting notes: "Nice is the beer for those who have been perfect angels this year, a white IPA with a fresh citrus aroma. Nice gets it's very pale, almost white, colour from the addition of wheat to the brew while Motueka, Stella, Galaxy and Citra hops along with fresh citrus peel give the beer a heavenly citrus character."

Game: Just realised I've not played a Sierra game for about 25 years, the last one probably being King's Quest V on PC. Well rejoice because King's Quest is back on this-gen consoles and I realise I'm suddenly old!  It's no longer a point-and-click adventure but who cares, it's still got the obtuse puzzles but not quite as obtuse as yester-year, or maybe I'm just slightly less thick 25 years on? Things like, use meat with bush (not a euphemism), use wooly socks on knight etc. There's also the great art style and now superb voice acting. There might have been great voice acting years ago but I didn't have a soundcard. So, overall I'm well pleased to be playing this.  Episode 1: 8/10.  Now if only they would reboot Space Quest and Police Quest...

Ruby Ale (Tesco)

Name: Ruby Ale
Label: "Rich & Smooth Roasted Barley Character"
Brewery: Tesco - can't actually see a brewery name on the bottle so we'll just go with Tesco.
ABV: 4.1%

Tasting notes: "Full of flavoursome roasted barley malt, ruby in colour with a rich fruity taste and dry bitterness to finish."   Tesco is the best supermarket cos they now make beer!

Game: It's that time of year again, PES and FIFA time. As FIFA 14 and FIFA 15 seemed identical to me, I've opted for PES 2016 this year. Seemed like the same old PES routine at first, turn off appalling menu music, check, rename all the English teams to the real names, check, rename all the stadiums, check. Yaaaaaaaaawn. But the actual footy is brilliant! Other than the atrocious graphics on crowd close-ups spoiling the illusion a bit, the actual playing of the footballs is superb 9/10.

Shipwreck IPA (Eden Brewery)

Name: Shipwreck IPA
Label: "Traditionally brewed and bottled in Scotland by an artisan brewing process"
Brewery: Eden Brewery
ABV: 6.2%

Tasting notes: "Traditionally beer would have been highly hopped and strong in alcohol so it could survive long shipping journeys to allow our ancestral expats to enjoy quality beers from home shores; this is where we have taken our inspiration for our Shipwreck IPA. Jam packed with English, American and Australian hops, our IPA has a well balanced, yet complex, deep hoppy flavour with rich, zesty and tropical aromas. Please don't drink and sail."

Game: So is the EA Access subscription any good? Well... yes! Yes it is! Downloaded a bunch of American sports games I've not played before like NBA Live 15 (basketball), NHL15 (hockey), UFC (fighting), FIFA 15 (soccer), Battlefield 4 (rifle club).  They're all kinda old as you can tell from the year and/or number after the title, but considering you get around 10 games for £19.99 a year it's not bad. And hopefully EA will add more titles and branch out from American sports games a bit in future.

Barney's Volcano IPA (Summerhall)

Name: Barney's Volcano IPA
Label: "Sorachi Ace"
Brewery: Summerhall Brewery
ABV: 5.0%

Tasting notes: "A collaboration with Japanese illustrator, Ryoko Tamura. Barney's Volcano IPA made with Sorachi Ace hops, originally cultivated in Japan." Mmmm, volcano beer!

Game: Trying the free Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes game to see if it can tempt me to buy Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which I guess was Microsoft's fiendish plan all along.  I like it! However, I don't love it. I think there's something wrong with stealth games in general. Example, when the shit hits the fan and all the alarms go off and you end up killing half the enemies in a particular area, then hide for a bit until the alarm stops, the remaining guards just go back to their regular positions thinking you've suddenly left the area. Like, at least pick up your colleagues's's dead bodies rather than leaving them strewn about the place? And do you really think I've left the area? Plus do you not think you should put some extra guards around that really high-profile prisoner I'm trying to rescue?