Amber Ale (Black Sheep for Morrisons)

Name: Amber Ale
Label: "A smooth, fruity brew with a bitter finish - Wm Morrison Specially Selected"
Brewery: Black Sheep
ABV: 4.5%

Rating: "Brewed in the heart of Yorkshire, this amber ale is a true British classic - the kind of beer that'll warm your cockles on the coldest of Northern nights. Brewed in the famous Black Sheep Brewery in Masham using Maris Otter malted barley, it's packed full of rich, fruity flavours for a classic ale that leads the field, rather than following the herd. Try it with: Hearty meat pies or punchy British cheeses like Wensleydale and Stilton."

Game: I have won second prize in a 2K Games fictional writing competition! It's like Monopoly but in real life and without all the money and property!  The competition was to write a short story involving UFOs as a bit of tie-in with the recent release of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. Here's my entry and a link to the winning entry. I read the winners effort but I didn't understand it. Too high brow - she can obviously write properly.  Anyway, I got the game by the way. It's a tough cookie and unfortunately I've not had quite enough time to get into it yet, what with Eurogamer and GTAV and so on. However it's looking good so far.

Ale in a "Dead Man's Drink" Skyrim tankard

After a week of being in work, Eurogamer 2013 feels like it was decades ago. It was in fact but seven short days ago. To celebrate I'm drinking ale out of a "Dead Man's Drink" Skyrim branded tankard which I purchased at said Eurogamer event. As it happens the ale is 'Traditional English Ale' from Hogs Back Brewery and will be reviewed very soon.

Rating: The tankard appeared on one stand at Eurogamer for £9 and on a different stand for £10. Fortunately I spotted the £9 version first. As far as drinking vessels go, this is one of the best. It's made from chunky, weighty, glass-like material (so, thick glass then) and has already survived being dropped. 10/10.

Game: I've been trying to get on to GTA Online for the past four nights. Apparently there's (another) update due out today so may actually get a go. To be honest I'm not all that fussed about the fuss being made of not being able to get online. There's billions of people trying to access it literally all at the same time. It's never going to work first time is it. Plus I've not finished the single player mode yet. Currently hovering around the 60% mark. Although consistently getting the first race glitch *every* time I try to go online is getting rather irritating.

Tilting Ale (RedWillow for Virgin Trains)

Name: Tilting Ale
Label: "Pale Ale - Proudly brewed in Macclesfield, GB"
Brewery: RedWillow
ABV: 4.1%

Rating: "Brewed especially for Virgin Trains, this British Pale Ale evokes the spirit and speed of our tilting trains. A high-speed whoosh of flavour tilts smoothly into a light hoppy tastes and arrives, right on time. at a clean finish of bitter. Perfect for sipping at 125mph!"  A bad way to end Eurogamer was with a bit of a cry that it was all over.  A good way to end Eurogamer was with a transport themed ale on the train home!

Game: On the first day of Eurogamer I queued up for Dark Souls 2 but then chickened out because it looked dead hard. Saw someone beat it but also saw people being mocked for their lameness at it. Considering it took me two years to finish Dark Souls 1 and fearing a good mocking by onlookers I pretended someone phoned me and I had to leave the queue to meet them. Fooled everyone (no one).

Dark Ale (Everards for Morrisons)

Name: Dark Ale
Label: "A rich, silky ale to rival red wine - Wm Morrison Specially Selected"
Brewery: Everards
ABV: 5.0%

Rating: "Forget Claret and Chianti - this ruby red ale is the thing to serve with a slap up meal. It has a rich, silky texture and fruity flavour that's not dissimilar to a punchy New World red wine. It's got the oomph to stand up to the meatiest pie and the stinkiest cheese. So swap the grape for the grain next time you invite your mates round for a meal - you'll never look back. Try it with: Your Sunday roast beef or to round off a meal with a really punchy British cheeseboard."  Credit where credit's due, this is the first time I've seen the words oomph, punchy, meatiest and stinkiest used to describe an ale. And it's true, it's definitely a wine beater!

Game: So, still reminiscing about Eurogamer. Day two was all about the Xbox One games. Played Ryse, Dead Rising 3 and Titanfall. Queuing for Titanfall took about two hours. Two very loooong hours.  All three games were absolutely top notch though, but by the time I got to play Titanfall I could no longer feel my legs. This put me off and was *definitely* the reason why I sucked at the game.

Golden Ale (Black Sheep Brewery for Morrisons)

Name: Golden Ale
Label: "A smooth and citrusy buxom blonde - Wm Morrison Specially Selected"
Brewery: Black Sheep
ABV: 4.2%

Rating: "In Greek mythology, heroes travelled the world in their quest to claim the Golden Fleece as their own. And this golden ale from the iconic Black Sheep Brewery is the kind of treasure modern heroes will quest for too. OK, so you and your mates might not be Jason and Argonauts... but this refreshingly smooth Yorkshire beer is guaranteed to make even a quiet night in feel epic. Try it with: Chicken and fish dishes - especially seafood like simple marinara pasta or barbecued prawns."

Game: Eurogamer is over for another year. Met some cool peeps and played some awesome next-gen games. Didn't realise how quickly you get chucked off a game though, so on the first day I spent five precious minutes playing draughts in Assassin's Creed 4. Shame there's no achievement for being the only person (idiot) at Eurogamer to win a game of draughts on AC4.

Gold (Tetley's)

Name: Gold
Label: "A premium refreshing golden ale"
Brewery: Tetley's
ABV: 4.5%

Rating: "Tetley's Gold is a glorious, gleaming beer, with a glistening golden hue. It's crafted from 100% English barley, kilned under the gentlest conditions to produce a malt that's full of flavour, yet of the very palest colour. An intriguing blend of cutting-edge hop varieties combine to give Tetley's Gold a sprightly, quenching citrus character. Added layers of complexity follow in the finish; floral, herbal & grassy hop notes intertwine with the subtle suggestion of cloves from the famous Tetley yeast strain. Tetley's Gold is a unique, contemporary beer, at once refreshing and satisfying." I couldn't agree more.

Game: It's less than 36 hours until my 2013 Eurogamer trip begins.  Set adventure phasers to STUN!  We're quite anxiously looking forward to it.  Dark Souls 2 is going to be there. And Assassin's Creed 4. I'm quite tempted to play one of these games ALL DAY on Thursday. Is this allowed, or would it be frowned upon? Will there be an angry mob queued up heckling, "You're shit at that, mate." until I leave the area? Let's find out!

Old Hooky (Hook Norton Brewery)

Name: Old Hooky
Label: "Fruity & Full Bodied - Handcrafted in the Cotswold Hills since 1849"
Brewery: Hook Norton
ABV: 4.6%

Rating: "Old Hooky is a beautifully balanced beer, fruity by nature with a well-rounded body and the suggestive echo of crystal malt. Try it as an accompaniment to meat dishes. Cheers!"

Game: Everyone's got GTA V it seems. And so have I, yippee! The game is truly epic. Played it for four hours yesterday and I've just scratched the surface. Spent most of the time street racing and then I got blown up driving a bulldozer. Crazy.  I'm still towards the start of the game really with Franklin and Lamar. The dialogue is so good between these two, I can't really understand what they're saying though because it's all in that gangstery language.

Heligan Honey (Skinner's)

Name: Heligan Honey
Label: "At the world famous Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall visitors delight at the only fully working productive gardens in Britain, where a new community keeps alive traditional varieties and skills from an age when quality and flavour were king"
Brewery: Skinner's
ABV: 4.0%

Rating: "Heligan Honey is a light refreshing bitter, pale amber in colour with distinct hoppy overtones. The subtle addition of real Cornish honey will give your palate a buzzzzz!" I was in Cornwall. It would have been literally rude not to.

Game: I've suddenly had a thought about selling my Limited Edition Star Wars Kinect Xbox 360 console in preparation for the arrival of Xbox One. Also I'm playing a card game on my Xbox now... Magic: The Gathering 2013 which was free on Xbox Live Gold. PlayStation+ subscribers got Hitman: Absolution. We get a card game. I don't know, maybe I'll get into it. Seems quite popular and mustn't grumble considering it was free.

Ashes Ale (Marston's)

Name: Ashes Ale
Label: "Definitely not for Aussies"
Brewery: Marston's
ABV: 4.1%

Rating: "A very easy drinking, light-coloured pale ale brewed using Cascade hops give a slight citrus and grapefruit aroma. Brewed to celebrate the Investec Ashes series and to spur on England's best, this beer is sure to bowl you over. Come on boys knock them for six." Drinking this then pissing on the Oval is entirely optional. Well done lads! *sighs*

Game: The 360 has been feeling neglected so I got it (me) Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Splinter Cell is definitely back to its best. I forgot how tough being stealthy is though. It's good that you can just go through the levels playing it like a shooter but it's far better to get your stealth on.  It's just finding the willpower to make sure the levels don't degenerate into a massive bullet-fest killing spree. There's an upgradeable aeroplane as well. Ace. Rating: a neck-snappingly good 8/10

Double Stout (Hook Norton Brewery)

Name: Double Stout
Label: "Smooth & Full Bodied - Bottle conditioned - Handcrafted in the Cotswold Hills since 1849"
Brewery: Hook Norton
ABV: 4.8%

Rating: "A blend of malts gives Double Stout a character all of its own. Black malt enriches the colour and teases the palate with an unmistakable 'toast' flavour. Brown malt gives it the dryness.Cheers!"

Game: Currently having a bit of gaming crisis. With next-gen so close I don't know whether to still buy games for the Xbox 360. Definitely getting GTA V and Dark Souls 2 but what about The Bureau: XCOM Declassified and Splinter Cell: Blacklist? Bureau doesn't seem to have rated that well which is a shame. Splinter Cell has rated well but not sure if I have the patience / arsedness for a proper stealth game at the moment. On the upside, FIFA 14 is bundled with XBO pre-orders! Woo!