1845 (Fuller's)

Name: 1845
Label: "Bottle conditioned ale matured to perfection for 100 days - Award winning strong ale - Celebrating 150 years of brewing excellence"
Brewery: Fuller's
ABV: 6.3%

Rating: When I was drinking this I thought it was like liquid Christmas cake (but in a good way), I might be getting better at this beer tasting lark as the back label says, "Being bottled conditioned and matured for at least 100 days before being released for sale, helps bring out the delicious fruit cake aroma from the amber malt and Goldings hops in the brew." Get in.

Game: Zombies. Lots of zombies. Played through Red Dead Redemption's massive Undead Nightmare expansion game and it was great: 8/10. Now playing Dead Island which seems to have received mixed reviews, possibly due in part to extremely high expectations generated by the rather exceptional and evocative official Dead Island trailer. This is probably one of the best video game trailers I've ever seen. Ever. No game could live up to the hype generated by that. Its selling well despite the mixed reviews. Most shops in town had sold out, Game only had a couple of copies left and had hiked the price up to £47.99, Gamestation had it pre-owned for £42.99!  So it's rareness suddenly meant I just had to have it. Asda saves the day though with plenty in stock for £10 cheaper than Game, their stock manager needs to win Colleague of the Month, Game's stock manager needs to be sent to an island full of flesh-eating zombies.

Betty Stogs (Skinner's)

Name: Betty Stogs
Label: "2008 CAMRA Champion best bitter of Great Britain - THE Cornish Session Beer - Special edition Coronation bottle - The Queen of Cornish ales"
Brewery: Skinner's
ABV: 4.0%

Rating: Light hop aroma with underlying malt. Easy drinking copper ale with a superb balance of citrus hops, bitterness, Cornish malt and wheat. Named after the wonderfully wicked West Cornwall folklore character.

Game: So to try and stop myself from playing Deus Ex too much I've invested in several new games: Vanquish, Bulletstorm, Portal 2 and Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare. It's my birthday in a few days so I thought what the heck. And with a few days off work, what better way to celebrate the yearly reminder of my inexorable march to the grave than by playing loads of games and drinking beer? I'm giving Deus Ex 9/10 by the way, due to its sublime action, stunning visuals and immersive storytelling. And using the rather clever analogy of a page-turner that's difficult to put down, this is a game that's er... difficult to put down.  For a detailed review that makes more sense check the Games from the Void review here.