Boondoggle (Ringwood)

Name: Boondoggle
Label: "Blonde Ale - A deliciously fruity blonde beer"
Brewery: Ringwood Brewery
ABV: 5.0%

Rating: "Down here in the New Forest we call carefree lazy days "Boondoggle days"". This makes me want to go and live in the New Forest with lots of beer. And an xbox of course. And a 50 inch telly...

Game: Finished L.A. Noire. I <3 L.A. Noire. Definitely getting DLC for this game and going to replay it through again starting from tomorrow. This is definitely one of this console-generations defining moments. For some reason I've also got loads of other games on the go at the moment. L.A. Noire, Dragon Age 2, Mortal Kombat, Fallout: New Vegas, Bayonetta and several Kinect games! Busy, busy...

The Original Butcombe Bitter (Butcombe)

Name: The Original Butcombe Bitter
Label: "Butcombe's only beer for the Brewery's first 20 years, and now bottled to celebrate winning the Silver Medal at the Great British Beer Festival 2009."
Brewery: Butcombe Brewery
ABV: 4.5%

Rating: Excellent beer, I can see why it's the West Country's favourite. Made with 100% best Maris Otter Malt with a blend of (never divulged) traditional English Hop varieties.  AND I've managed not to mention anything about butts or combs.

Game: I thought Dragon Age 2 was coming to an end. But no! It appears I've just moved on to a new chapter. I'm loving it at the moment, so much so I'm even thinking of parting with cash to buy DLC!  One minor downside, trying to defeat the Arishok meant having to lower the difficulty level to a less manly "Casual" setting.

Hopping Hare (Badger)

Name: Hopping Hare
Label: "Since 1777 - Refreshingly hoppy - Thrice hopped"
Brewery: Badger
ABV: 4.4%

Rating: "It is a terrific match with roast lamb and spicy Thai dishes" it says on the back, I bet it's a good match with actual hare as well. Does anyone eat hare?

Game: Ordered back in January, L.A. Noire has finally landed. Homicide detectivity (new word) never looked so good!  The game really does need to be seen to be believed. The level of realism and storytelling makes the whole experience considerably more immersive than your average triple A blockbuster. And like a great book it's so, so difficult to put down.  Gaming has turned a corner again it seems and it's so exciting I'm getting car sick.

Snowdonia Ale (Purple Moose Brewery)

Name: Snowdonia Ale
Label: "Cwrw Cymreig Da - Fine Welsh Ale. Cwrw Eryri, Bragdy Mws Piws - Porthmadog"
Brewery: Purple Moose Brewery
ABV: 3.6%

Rating: "Colour: Gold, Style: Pale Ale, Taste: Delightfully refreshing citrus aroma with a medium hoppy finish"

Game: Yeah, well I beat that bitch ass dragon that I was stuck on in Dragon Age II. I found this game slightly unusual for an RPG because you don't appear to be able to equip your other party members with armour. You can only change their weapons (few and far between) and the attribute enhancing rings and amulets.  It makes for easy inventory management though but overall it does seem slightly dumbed down as a result. Having said that, the battle tactics element is as deep as you want to take it. Rating: 8/10

Bacchus Cherry (Castle Brewery)

Name: Bacchus
Label: "Belgian Cherry Beer - 15% cherries"
Brewery: Von Honsebrouck Castle Brewery
ABV: 5.8%

Rating: I really enjoyed the Bacchus raspberry beer.  This is good but just doesn't quite hit the taste heights of it's raspberry kin.

Game: £17.99 for Dragon Age 2 was too much of a good offer to pass up, so with Red Dead out of the way in swoops Dragon Age 2.  So far so splendidly good. Great visuals and voice acting however the sudden difficulty curve, woah there! My party and I were merrily hacking, slashing and zapping (that's the magic bit) our way through monsters and foes alike when all of a sudden there's this big ass dragon. Got a beasting off of it. Can't beat it, try some of the fetch quests instead - far safer and less stressful. That's pretty much an account of progress so far.

Bacchus Raspberry (Castle Brewery)

Name: Bacchus
Label: "Belgian Raspberry Beer - 12.5% raspberries"
Brewery: Von Honsebrouck Castle Brewery
ABV: 5.0%

Rating: Van Honsebrouck is a family owned brewery in West Flanders Belgium. It makes a range of beers including Bacchus, a beer in the local style of the region. It is on this beer that the kriek and framboise is based, a premium fruit beer for which Belgium is well known. Hand wrapped and presented in half champagne bottles this is a remarkable beer.

Game: Still ploughing my way through Red Dead Redemption. Still an awesome game. Spent a fair bit of time now just playing the in-game gambling mini-games in the saloons; blackjack, poker, dice etc. Just seen Dragon Age 2 for £17.99 on play.com though which is a definite tempter.  Would it bad to have so many games on the go...?