Tuesday 25 September 2018

Whitby Whaler (Whitby Brewery)

Whitby Whaler (Whitby Brewery)
Name: Whitby Whaler
Label: "Amber - Toffee - Citrus"
Brewery: Whitby Brewery
ABV: 4.0%

Tasting notes: "A fruity bitter with a malty, citrus flavour and a not too intense bitter finish. The combination of both East Kent and Aurora hops gives Whitby Whaler a pleasantly fruity full flavour.  This beer should be quaffed heartily."

Game: Remember when explorers used to go around murdering pretty much everyone and everything that moved? No, us neither. But that's Lara Croft in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The murderous, light-fingered grave botherer extraordinaire. It would still be amazing without all the murdering to be honest, but video games, eh?

9 stealth kills out of 10



Saturday 8 September 2018

Dragons Heart (Felinfoel)

Dragons Heart (Felinfoel)
Name: Dragon's Heart
Label: "The oldest brewery in Wales - Welsh Craft Ale"
Brewery: Felinfoel Brewery
ABV: 4.2%

Tasting notes: "This is a full drinking premium Welsh Ale which is malty and gently hopped. Dragon's Heart has a rich colour and smooth balanced character with lots of red fruit flavours and buttery overtones."

Game: The first new game in a while: Jurassic Park Evolution.  Theme park management sim where your visitors can get eaten, which happens a lot until you stop playing like a complete fool. The dinosaurs kept escaping, until we realised (pro tips incoming) you have to make sure the dinos are happy! So plenty of grassland and/or forest depending on their requirements. Oh and food. Food is important. We had several enclosures and were wondering why the dinos kept breaking out. No feeding stations. Duh!

Rating: 8 / 10

Sunday 12 August 2018

Golden Host (Jennings)

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)

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)

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


Saturday 4 August 2018

Session Pale (Hambleton Ales)

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.

Saturday 30 June 2018

Mauler (Ringwood)

Mauler (Ringwood)
Name: Mauler
Label: "Thirst quenching craft pale ale"
Brewery: Ringwood
ABV: 3.9%

Tasting notes: "We take two things seriously here at Ringwood Brewery, our ales & our leisure time. Along with creating quality craft ales, we are relaxation enthusiasts. Mauler is a golden craft beer delivering crisp bitterness, combined with a thirst quenching refreshing finish."

Plug: Ever wanted an awesome Predator Jungle Hunter pillow to rest your sleepy head on?  Well now you can with our new sister website www.bickle77collectables.com!

Check this bad boy out:
Predator Jungle Hunter Pillow
Predator Jungle Hunter Pillow

All items are limited edition. Just visit the site click the pic you want, and then click the item you want! Then Get To DA CHOPPA!!

Sunday 3 June 2018

Ripsaw (Wychwood)

Ripsaw (Wychwood)
Name: Ripsaw
Label: "A refreshing Red Beer with a Maple Syrup twist..."
Brewery: Wychwood Brewery
ABV: 4.2%

Tasting notes: "A take on the American Red, with a Maple Syrup twist. Expect rich red colours from crystal malts, roasted barley & caramalts, with a spicy resinous bitterness & an aroma of grapefruits & peaches."

Game: We've been having a break from gaming. But now we're back into gaming.  Today we're playing Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Edition. This includes 12 (twelve) Street Fighter games. Even Street Fighter 1 which totally sucks.  But the rest are great and currently works out at about £2 a game! Oop Oi!

Rating: 9/10



Sunday 15 April 2018

Dead Pony Club (Brewdog)

Dead Pony Club (Brewdog)
Name: Dead Pony Club
Label: "Session Pale Ale"
Brewery: Brewdog
ABV: 3.8%

Tasting notes: "Our West Coast Pale Ale kicks like a mule. Hopped to the verge of insanity it delivers a citrus juggernaut. The toasted malt backbone accelerates hard into a huge hop hit, where tropical fruit and floral notes abound, all under-pinned with a little spice. Dead Pony Club - California dreaming for those of us who are awake and in need of a beer."

Game: What's this?  A triple AAA indie game that's a digital download only title? It can only be Ninja Theory's Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice! Previously a PlayStation 4 for the players only exclusive, it's now on Xbox One X with better graphics and stuff.  It looks amazing, it sounds amazing, the main character walks/runs too slow.

Rating: 8 voices in my head out of 10



Sunday 4 March 2018

Punk IPA (Brewdog)

Punk IPA (Brewdog)
Name: Punk IPA
Label: "Post Modern Classic"
Brewery: Brewdog
ABV: 5.6%

Tasting notes: "Our flagship IPA is a post-punk apocalyptic ale. This light golden classic has been subverted with new world hops, creating a devastating explosion of flavour. Kalashnikov bursts of caramel, incendiary tropical fruit and an all-out riot of grapefruit, pineapple and lychee, precede a spiky bitter finish. Punk - Quintessential Empire with an anarchic twist."

Game: This week is Trials of the Blood Dragon which is currently free on Xbox Live.  Having not heard anything about this game previously, it's not what we were expecting. We were expecting more Blood Dragon 80's inspired Far Cry gamage but instead it's Trials HD meets Blood Dragon [oh, the clues in the name then? Who'd have thought... - Ed], with strange floaty 2D side-scrolling platforming action. It actually works really well and it's got that addictive "just one more go to see the next level" vibe to it.

7 irritating physics based motorcross bike jumps out of 10.