Golden Host (Jennings)

Name: Golden Host
Label: "A deep golden beer with a hint of spice & toffee"
Brewery: Jennings Brewery
ABV: 4.2%

Tasting notes: "A full flavoured golden bitter brewed using the finest English malted barley and carefully selected aromatic hops. A generous handfull of crystal malts has been added to give a delicate flavour & subtle aroma."

Game: New(ish) to Xbox Game Pass, Ruiner.  This Cyberpunky, Blade Runnery top down twin stick shootery game has brilliant aesthetics and design but a punishing difficulty level. Deep weapon and ability skill trees and a great looking city-hub area make for an intriguing experience potential RUINED by an insane difficulty spike after the first mission. We shall try to persevere with this but first, let's knock that difficulty level down a bit...

6.5/10 - score to be revisited possibly

The Governor (JW Lees)

Name: The Governor
Label: "Marco Pierre White - All-malt British Beer"
Brewery: JW Lees Brewery
ABV: 4.1%

Tasting notes: "The Governor is an all-malt British beer created by Marco Pierre White and JW Lees Brewery. Marco is famous for developing delicious flavours in his cooking and for searching the finest ingredients, so when he teamed up with our head brewer, Michael Lees-Jones, it was no surprise that they crafted a deliciously moreish amber ale with a zesty floral aroma and refreshing dry taste. The Governor was made to be drunk on its own and to be enjoyed with food. The recipe was designed to compliment the flavours in what you eat, not to overpower them. We like to say that The Governor is 'brewed for food'."

Game: Another Xbox Game Pass offering, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic for Xbox Original is now backwards compatible on Xbox One X! As massive Star Wars fans we've played this several times, although shamefully, never got round to completing it. Last time we got stuck fighting some baddies and didn't have a suitable Save to go back to. Stupid stupid error. Here we go again... epic RPG time.

Rating: 9/10

Hophead (Dark Star)

Name: Hophead
Label: "Light and hoppy"
Brewery: Dark Star Brewing Co
ABV: 3.8%

Tasting notes: "Perfectly balanced light ale. Straw coloured finest malted barley and delicate fruity cascade hop flavours. Enjoy by the sip or by the gulp"

Interesting fact: "Dark Star is named after the music of the Grateful Dead rock band... and just like the band, what we do is our hobby. They did it for the music, we do it for the beer."

Game: Xbox Game Pass allows you to play stuff you may have missed out on, in our case that's Halo 5: Guardians. Although it appears this is more of a co-op / multiplayer oriented game, we're giving it a go solo. Having not played Halo for ages, this game is a reminder of just how great a shooter Halo is. It also looks absolutely amazing on Xbox One X.

Recommended. 8/10

Session Pale (Hambleton Ales)

Name: Session Pale
Label: "Light & Refreshing Pale Ale"
Brewery: Nick Stafford's Hambleton Ales
ABV: 3.8%

Tasting notes: "SEE: Pale straw. SMELL: Fruity, lemon, apple. TASTE: Zesty, refreshing, light" Who is Nick Stafford??

Game: It's summer. It's really hot. There are no games coming out for a while that are any good. Great time to try the Xbox Game Pass then! We snagged the 3 months of Game Pass for £7.99 offer.  We wanted to play Mad Max (pictured on the Game Pass advert). We searched for Mad Max. Mad Max is no longer available with Game Pass. Not off to a good start.