Spill the Beans (Brains)

Name: Spill the Beans
Label: "Coffee Porter - A malty chocolate taste with an aroma of caramel & sweet malt."
Brewery: Brains
ABV: 4.4%

Tasting notes: "Deep brown porter brewed with real coffee beans. There is an initial roasted malty chocolate aroma, with notes of caramel, liquorice, raisins and some cocoa. The taste is creamy smooth with notes of chocolate, figs, raisins and sweet malt."

Game: Today, surprisingly, we're playing Assassin's Creed Origins. First off, it looks absolutely incredible - we can't wait for the 4K optimised version when we get our hands on the Xbox One X.  Second off, the prologue took as long to finish as the entire purported length of the Battlefront 2 single player campaign.  The prologue... Took as long to finish... As the entire Battlefront 2 single player campaign... Did Assassin's Creed just become better than Star Wars? [No - Ed]  Personally, I think it may have!

Preliminary rating: 10 times better than Star Wars out of 10.

Hop Bomb (Sadlers)

Name: Hop Bomb
Label: "Incomparable Ales - Craft Brewed Beers"
Brewery: Sadler's
ABV: 5.0%

Tasting notes: "American pale ale brewed with Amarillo and Citra hops. A sweet malt base is lifted by a powerful hop character."

Game: Finally the release date has rolled around and we now have in our greasy mitts the Assassin's Creed Origins - Dawn of the Creed Collector's Case. This includes the Bayek figurine and collector box (below), the game, season pass, 'Ambush at Sea' exclusive mission, 'Secret of the First Pyramids' mission, art cards, art book, steelbook, map, Bayek's amulet and soundtrack [is that all? - Ed].  Quite possibly the best thing we've ever bought.

Boxset rating: OMG / 10

Squires Connivance (Baytown)

Name: Squire's Connivance
Label: "Robin Hood's Bay - Porter"
Brewery: Baytown
ABV: 5.0%

Label notes: "Even in the 18th century, local gentry tried to avoid central government control. They worked hand in glove with Baytown's residents. Celebrate the local free spirit. Be Independent!"

Game: The big fella has arrived at GamingAle Towers. All 32cm (12.5 inches) of Eaglemoss's MEGA Alien Xenomorph.  Amazingly detailed and stunningly painted, this is a quality slavering slice of badassery.  The base includes Brett's cap and shedded Alien skin.

Rating: 9.5 / 10

MEGA Alien Xenomorph

Hobgoblin (Wychwood)

Name: Hobgoblin
Label: "The Unofficial Beer of Halloween - Season of Mischief"
Brewery: Wychwood Brewery
ABV: 5.2%

Tasting notes: "Listen up, Hobgoblin is the Unofficial Beer of Halloween. No Hobgoblin, no Halloween, it's as simple as that. But I'm bored of all the tasteless paraphernalia that comes with this time of year so I'm asking you to help me smash for cash. Go to my website, choose your weapon & smash the hell out of my pumpkin parade, the best destroyer wins! www.wychwood.co.uk/smashforcash"

Game: So I played the above "Smash for Cash" game on the Hobgoblin website. It was rubbish. I even smashed for a spooky 666 times to see if that won me a prize, but no. Cool limited edition bottle label for Halloween though.

Game rating: 1 turnip out of 10
Bottle and beer rating: 9 pumpkins out of 10

Circadian (Ringwood)

Name: Circadian
Label: "Every Day IPA - A hoppy & full flavoured session India Pale Ale"
Brewery: Ringwood Brewery
ABV: 4.5%

Tasting notes: "It's a refreshing 'All Day' IPA jam-packed with American hops producing pine-like aromas."

Game: Assassin's Creed Syndicate Big Ben Collector's Case here ladies and gentleman. Apparently this is exclusive and prestigious and is the "definitive collection for the ultimate fan". I happen to agree, it looks the bees knees - Jacob Frye init. Quite varied price-wise - look to pay around £80 - £200!

Rating 8/10

VIPA (Tatton Brewery)

Name: VIPA
Label: "Real Cheshire Ale - Big bold British-hopped pale ale"
Brewery: Tatton Brewery
ABV: 6.3%

Tasting notes: "Our 5th anniversary brew is a strong pale ale, balancing exotic fruit character with a modern British hop aroma. Brewed with British and European malts, Cheshire honey, and hopped with Bramling Cross and UK Cascade"

Game: More Assassin's Creed figurines, this time we have Blackbeard The Legendary Pirate and Edward Kenway The Assassin Pirate. Both stand together to form a unique diorama. Both figures look pretty cool, Blackbeard being quite rare nowadays, expect to pay around £60 - £80. Kenway is still knocking about so expect to pay around £40 - £50.

Rating: 8/10

Cornish Mutiny (Wooden Hand Brewery)

Name: Cornish Mutiny
Label: "Brewed and bottled in Truro Cornwall"
Brewery: Wooden Hand Brewery
ABV: 4.8%

Tasting notes: "This fine beer enjoys a dark rich colour with a distinctive 'hoppy' character and slightly 'biscuity flavour'"

Game: Telltale's Batman: The Enemy Within Episode 2 – The Pact now sits before our beady eye. This feels like a stop-gap episode, it's over quite quickly but contains some great fight sequences and interesting character development. Specifically between Harley and Bruce. I tried my best to get Bruce and Harley together to see how this would affect the Joker. It didn't pan out as planned but here's hoping that possible storyline can be weaved into the overall arc in later episodes.

Rating: 7/10

Pirates Gold (Wooden Hand Brewery)

Name: Pirate's Gold
Label: "Brewed & bottled in Truro Cornwall"
Brewery: Wooden Hand Brewery
ABV: 4.0%

Tasting notes: "Easy drinking pale coloured ale, a tempting hop aroma with light fruit notes. Strong malt and hop flavours with a dry tangy fruit finish."

Game: Xbox Live Games with Gold time! This fortnights freebie is Gone Home. It's a walk-em-up. It's about a girl who comes home and the house is empty and her sister has left lots of diary entries around so you build up a story of what's happened. Nothing interesting has happened from what we could tell [maybe you just didn't get it? - Ed]. The game can also be completed in less than 1 minute. There's an achievement for it and everything.

Rating: 5 slow strolls out of 10

Press Gangs Arrival (Baytown)

Name: Press Gang's Arrival
Label: "Robin Hood's Bay - Pale Ale"
Brewery: Baytown
ABV: 3.8%

Label notes: "The Press Gang was a constant threat throughout the 18th century. Baytown's residents used subterfuge and brawn to thwart the Navy's recruitment process. Celebrate triumph over adversity. Be Resilient!"

Game: Still waiting for Assassin's Creed Origins, and it's still just under two weeks away until release!  So here's Arno from Assassin's Creed Unity Notre Dame Edition box set.

Rating: 8/10

Golden Bolt (Steam Box Brewery)

Name: Golden Bolt
Label: "Beautifully Engineered in Wiltshire - A straw coloured hoppy bitter"
Brewery: Steam Box
ABV: 3.8%

Tasting notes: "Golden Bolt is a straw-coloured bitter with a tropical fruit nose and a light but satisfying hoppy aftertaste"

Game: Still waiting for Assassin's Creed Origins, but look what just arrived in our display cabinet!  This is Aya combined with the figurine of Bayek to form a unique Assassin’s Creed Origins diorama. We've not read much about them lest there be spoilers for the game. But again, more quality figurine goodness from Ubicollectibles!

Rating: 9/10

Cornish Buccaneer (Wooden Hand Brewery)

Name: Cornish Buccaneer
Label: "Brewed & bottled in Truro Cornwall"
Brewery: Wooden Hand Brewery
ABV: 4.3%

Tasting notes: "A golden coloured quenching beer with great hop character. Full fruit in the mouth with good hop balance and a long dry finish."

Game: Assassin's Creed Origins is less than two weeks away! To go with this Cornish Buccaneer beer, here's Captain Edward Kenway from Assassin's Creed Black Flag Buccaneer edition. Another classic figurine from Ubicollectibles. Currently a steal at only £19.99!

Rating: 9/10

Snowdon (Great Orme Brewery)

Name: Snowdon
Label: "Craft Lager"
Brewery: Great Orme
ABV: 4.7%

Tasting notes: "Flavoursome craft lager brewed with European noble hops and Snowdonia Water."

Game: Part two of yet another Eaglemoss Alien and Predator collection delivery! Issue 15: Red Xenomorph Figurine. We haven't read the comics so we'll hang our heads in shame whilst looking at this fabulously rendered nasty. And then go buy the comics!

Rating: 9/10

Issue 15 Red Xenomorph Figurine

Double Stout (Shepherd Neame)

Name: Double Stout
Label: "Classic stout"
Brewery: Shepherd Neame
ABV: 3.8%

Tasting notes: "A classic Irish stout combining the flavours and characteristics of three coloured malts and additional roasted barley, generously bittered with choicest East Kent hops."

Game: Yet another Eaglemoss Alien and Predator collection delivery! Issue 14: Prometheus Engineer Figurine. Great figure, been looking forward to this one for a while because Prometheus is GREAT and this bad boy looks spot on!

Rating: 8/10

Issue 14 Prometheus Engineer Figurine

Welsh Black (Great Orme Brewery)

Name: Welsh Black
Label: "Champion Mild - A truly awesome mild. GBBF Mild Champion and multiple winner of CAMRA Mild of Wales"
Brewery: Great Orme Brewery
ABV: 4.0%

Tasting notes: "Brilliant with beef and, believe it or not, chocolate."

Game: Special edition figurine time - this is the Alien Xenomorph Queen. Part of the Alien and Predator Figurine Collection but numbered as Special Edition 1. One of the best figurines so far, amazing paint work and a great size considering the prize. The pose is from the bit at the end of Aliens and get away from me you bitch!

Rating: 10/10

Special Edition 1 Alien Xenomorph Queen 

Black Sheep IPA (Black Sheep)

Name: Black Sheep IPA
Label: "A bold Yorkshire IPA full of fresh juicy hop character."
Brewery: Black Sheep Brewery
ABV: 5.1%

Tasting notes: "A classic English hopped Yorkshire IPA full of fresh, juicy hop character from Progress & Goldings. Brewed in homage to the original highly hopped IPAs sent on the slow boat to India."

Game: Figurine time, this is from Assassin's Creed III, Connor: The Last Breath and depicts Connor killing a dude. Well detailed, probably one of my favourite pieces. Ubisoft did do a Premium Edition of this which was twice as big I think but cost around £420. Missed out sadly.

Rating: 9/10

Assassin's Creed® III: Connor - The Last Breath Figurine

Castle (Arundel)

Name: Castle
Label: "Tawny Bitter - Malty, Fruity & Hoppy - Armed with taste"
Brewery: Arundel Brewery
ABV: 3.8%

Tasting notes: "A tawny beer with a hoppy aroma. A good balance of malt, fruit & hops with a dry, hoppy finish."

Game: Sometimes Gameseek's Cyclonic deals SUCK though. Attempted to buy Wolfenstein 2 but it wouldn't let me so I thought I'd cry about it like a baby. Anyway, where were we [you were crying like a baby - Ed], ah yes, we're replaying The Evil Within. One thing I forgot about was the interesting camera angle (3rd person but with most of the person blocking the screen), letterbox view, and grainy visuals. All help to provide a very claustrophobic, atmospheric experience. Next up, the DLC!

Rating: 9/10

Ynys Mon (Great Orme Brewery)

Name: Ynys Mon
Label: "Ynys Mon (Anglesey in English) is the largest island in England and Wales with 75% of its population Welsh speaking"
Brewery: Great Orme
ABV: 4.5%

Tasting notes: "Style - best bitter. Colour - Mahogany. Bitterness - Low. Hopped - Medium"

Game: Revisiting The Evil Within this week in preparation for The Evil Within 2 in a couple of weeks (pre-ordered for £29.99 with Gamseek's Cyclonic deals). Shit, which reminds me Wolfenstein 2 is on a deal in a few minutes! Back laters...