Ruthless Rye IPA (Sierra Nevada)

Name: Ruthless Rye IPA
Label: "Purest ingredients - Finest quality - Use bottle opener" Yes the bottle cap really does advise us to use a bottle opener. Shame, I was going to use my eye socket.
Brewery: Sierra Nevada
ABV: 6.6%

Rating: "Ruthless Rye IPA is brewed with this rustic grain for refined flavours - combining the peppery spice of rye and the bright citrusy flavors of whole-cone hops to create a complex ale for the tumultuous transition to Spring." I'm reliably informed that these American beers are getting better than our homegrown brews. On this evidence they may not be better but they're definitely as good as. Seek them out!

Game: Like with The Witcher 2, I seem to be playing Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning without any other games getting a look in. For me this is a sure-fire way to getting totally jaded with the current game. I need to mix it up a bit... starting tomorrow.  And with Batman Arkham City DLC incoming at the end of May, I'll be forced away from RPG'ing anyway.  Bring on Harley Quinn and proper DLC, which isn't just new multiplayer maps or character skins like most DLC seems to be. Three cheers for Rocksteady! Hic, Hic, Hooray!

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.

Caesar Augustus (Williams Bros)

Name: Caesar Augustus
Label: "Lager / IPA Hybrid - Microbrewed for maximum flavour!"
Brewery: Williams Bros Brewing
ABV: 4.1%

Rating: "We use the term lager/IPA hybrid because we cold ferment this beer with classic lager yeast.  The initial fermentation takes at least 2 weeks, after which we lager (store) the beer at zero degrees for a minimum of 4 weeks, during which period we add a chock load of classic IPA style hops and allow the two to marry - fanfare!" After drinking all these different ales over the years I've begun to think I might know a thing or two about beer, but I didn't even realise the word lager meant "to store" *hangs head in shame*. This hybrid lager/IPA is fantastic though and it's cheered me up a treat.

Game: I have Crysis 2 sat on the shelf looking longingly at my Xbox, but I'm not going to play it because I'm in an RPG mood! So avert your eyes Crysis 2, tonight I'm playing Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Wasn't sure whether to get this but IGN gave it a whopping 9.0/10. They gave Witcher 2 8.5/10 so I arrived at the crazed conclusion that Reckoning must be in some way marginally superior. And as I've played Witcher 2 constantly for the past fortnight and loved every minute of it, a Reckoning purchase can only end well surely...