Red (Lancaster)

Name: Red
Label: "Superb premium ruby ale. Robust malt with a splendid bitter note."
Brewery: Lancaster
ABV: 4.9%

Rating: "A premium strength, Ruby ale. Robust and malt-dominated, fired by a spicy but sweet fragrance. Red is an impact beer designed to leave lasting impressions both visually and on the taste buds." The last beer in the Lancaster collection judging by the shop shelves, Red, Blonde, Amber and Black. A veritable beer flavoured rainbow. Not a very colourful rainbow granted, but a tasty rainbow nonetheless.

Game: I wasn't going to get Max Payne 3, but then I remembered that it's a Rockstar game. And Rockstar games rock. So cutting to the chase, the bullet-time effect is copiously bloody, brutal and brilliant. I can't remember a game where you can shoot someone in slo-mo and then continue to empty a clip into their body and/or face before they hit the floor. Maybe Max Payne 2? I don't know, like I say, I can't remember. So far it's guns, blood and action with a healthy dose of alcoholism. This game is definitely not for the faint of heart, or Daily Mail readers.

Black (Lancaster)

Name: Black
Label: "National Award Winning Brewery - Gold award winning stout for the true connoisseur."
Brewery: Lancaster
ABV: 4.6%

Rating: "Complex taste with a rich and full body. Crisp with a full bouquet of spices, fruit and floral aromas. Black is a stout for the true connoisseur."  I wouldn't describe myself as a connoisseur (I can barely spell it) but this stout is great. I imagine this is what drinking velvet is like, but without the nasty choking issue that arises when you drink material intended for clothing or furniture.

Game: So, it appears Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a bit of an RPG cracker. Fable-y style graphics and lots of story with, at first glance, incredibly deep character progression and customisation. The skill trees are a veritable forest (I hereby copyright the term "skill forest" by the way).  So far, Amalurve it. Did you see what I did there? Amalur..? Lurve..? Love..? Oh never mind.

Black (Crabbie's)

Name: Black
Label: "For more than two hundred years Crabbie's has shipped its ginger from the Far East - following in the pioneering footsteps of the first Scots Merchant Adventures - hence our distinctive Elephant Trade Mark"
Brewery: Crabbie's
ABV: 6.0%

Rating: "Oak matured with extra ginger for enhanced strength & taste - Crafted with added spice & citrus for a rich aroma & flavour." It's spicy AND strong. Beat that.

Game: Suddenly really excited about the Witcher 2. It's rated A for Awesome apparently and the trailer tells me it contains blood & gore, intense violence, nudity, strong language, strong sexual content and use of drugs. One can't argue with that now, can one? The only question left is, will it feel like I'm cheating on Skyrim?  If you're still undecided, check out xboxmeagain.blogspot.co.uk for a preview. Someone buy me that boxset!