Golden Glory (Badger)

Name: Golden Glory
Label: "Gloriously peachy"
Brewery: Badger
ABV: 4.5%

Rating: "On a crisp winter's day, a cloudless sky fills the Dorset coastline with sunshine. Above a White-tailed Eagle can be seen soaring above the sea - the silhouette of its majestic wings a sign that Spring is near. This is the perfect time to enjoy the deliciously balanced peach and melon flavours of this award-winning classic. An ideal compliment to sticky bbq ribs or an indulgent vanilla cheesecake." Here's the original label and review. I absolutely love this beer. The fact I've not drunk it that often is bordering on criminal.

Game: Hey where the living heck did my evening go?  Oh yeah, I've just spent five hours totally transfixed by Deus Ex. Vaguely remember mumbling "G'night" to the wife about three hours ago.  This is how it's been for the past week or so now.  I've had to start setting my alarm to go off when it's sleep time as well as setting it to go off when it's time to get up for work. I hate my alarm clock.

Nelson's Revenge (Woodforde's)

Name: Nelson's Revenge
Label: "The Norfolk born hero of real ales - 200th Anniversary - The Battle of Trafalgar 1805 - 2005
Brewery: Woodforde's
ABV: 4.5%

Rating: "The rich and floral aromas initially excite the tastebuds. The following burst of combined flavours from the citrus hops and the blend of Norfolk malt confirms that this is indeed a delicious beer. The flavour then develops from the biscuity malt sweetness to a long hop-induced finish."

Game: Reached the first boss battle in Deus Ex, a big badass dude called Barrett. I almost thought at one point that this section had completely ruined the game... yes, it was tough. But then, a moment of inspiration - the old gaming cliche of explosive red barrels! Chuck barrels at Barrett, they go boom, Barrett dies, job done.

Chocolate Tom (Robinson's)

Name: Chocolate Tom
Label: "A blend of Old Tom and the finest English chocolate - Strong Ale"
Brewery: Robinson's
ABV: 6.0%

Rating: "Developed by Robinson's with the renowned chocolatier, Simon Dunn".  As a migraine sufferer whose trigger is chocolate, this has the potential to be pure doom in a bottle. I've not had chocolate for about eighteen months now so this tasted great with really strong, but not overbearing, aromas of chocolate. The morning after brought no tell-tale signs of migrainicity either, so rather than liquid pain this was liquid awesome.

Game: According to Robin Kaminsky, Activision's former executive vice president of publishing, innovation in video games has stalled. I'd wholly disagree. Admittedly some developers choose to just reskin their games each year like *ahem* Activision's Call of Duty. However a lot of devs are making constant innovations in terms of tech, user interaction and approaches to storytelling e.g. Kinect, LA Noire, Deus Ex Human Revolution to name but three. And personally I don't think encouraging "alternative payment approaches" is going to help innovation. That's just another way of saying they are looking to get more cash out of gamers wallets.

Admiral's Reserve (Woodforde's)

Name: Admiral's Reserve
Label: "Strong with great Norfolk character - 200th Anniversary - The Battle of Trafalgar 1805 - 2005 - Bottle conditioned real ale"
Brewery: Woodforde's
ABV: 5.0%

Rating: "The solid and generous sweet fruit flavours blend intimately with the luscious malted barley creating a complex and extremely satisfying dark chestnut-coloured beer. The combination of malt and the full hop flavour gives a long dry finish.  The beer is both wonderfully, and dangerously, drinkable." All of this is true, especially the last bit.

Game: Pre-ordered Deus Ex Human Revolution at the eleventh hour and it arrived on Thursday. Woo! Don't know much about the "IP" (Intellectual Property - business speak for "stuff I invented") but apparently it's quite a popular PC franchise. I fell out with PC gaming a long time ago so missed out on a bunch of stuff. Anyway, it's great and looks like it's going to be an epic sci-fi adventure. Blade Runner meets Mass Effect. I've only played a couple of hours of it and it's getting 89%.