Mocha Amaretto (Batemans)

Name: Mocha Amaretto
Label: "Grande Cafe Mocha! Chocolate coffee beer with a hint of amaretto!"
Brewery: Batemans
ABV: 6.5%

Tasting notes: "Mocha Amaretto: the perfect blend of coffee pot aroma, almond and chocolate indulgence with the sweetness of biscotti. This delicately prepared beer is a true homage to all that is wonderful about Italy's cafe culture."

Game: Telltale Games have really nailed the Game of Thrones atmos in the latest episode The Sword in the Darkness.  Like the books, I can barely keep track of the story because of the amount of characters, how it jumps around between locations and the fact that my brain is slightly broken.  But then DRAGON!  Breathing fire and stuff!  Rating: 9/10

La Tène (Celt Experience)

Name: La Tène
Label: "Crafted Ale - Bracis-Curmi."  Bracis-Curmi means malted beer apparently.
Brewery: Celt Experience
ABV: 3.3%

Rating: Lots of French words on the back even though the brewer is based in Caerphilly. The label also bids us "Welcome" in big letters. Not sure what's going on to be honest. The beer tastes brill though, a pale bitter, great with chicken so I've found.

Game: Just played through the second episode of Telltales' Game Of Thrones.  Suffice it to say The Lost Lords is superb. It is however a little bit glitchy. Choices from episode one sometimes don't carry over into episode two, although I didn't get this issue. I did get a problem where the graphics didn't pop in and big black blobs appeared instead. *Minor spoiler?* Rodrik was looking at some dead bodies and looked quite scared but I just saw Rodrik looking at some big black blobs and looking quite scared. Lesson learned: dead bodies and big black blobs are both quite scary.

Moondance (Triple FFF)

Name: Moondance
Label: "Best Bitter - Bottle conditioned beer - contains sediment - pour carefully"
Brewery: Tiple FFF Brewery
ABV: 3.8%

Rating: Great beer but why all the angry sounding instructions on the bottle label?  Examples; "Pour carefully", "DRINK AWARE", "WARNING: contains malted barley", "PLEASE RECYCLE THIS BOTTLE". I've never seen anything like it, the label designer went CAPS LOCK MAD!

Game: Finally finished Game of Thrones. Didn't realise it was going to be such an epic. An achievement for losing the final battle was also a pleasant surprise.  Having to skip through the 'loser' ending got really tiresome though after getting beaten several times (slow learner)... so you can keep your stupid achievement actually, you crazy game!

Admittedly, it's not the greatest game ever made but if you're an RPG fanatic or have even a passing interest in Game of Thrones then this is definitely worth a look. Otherwise there are a lot of similar, technically superior titles out there that should really be your first choice.

Hobgoblin - Bottle & Glass Gift Set (Wychwood)

Name: Hobgoblin - Bottle & Glass Gift Set
Label: "Brewed with roasted malts for a well-balanced, rich, smooth taste, a beer full of mischievous character"
Brewery: Wychwood
ABV: 5.2%

Rating: Tastes even better out of my awesome new Hobgoblin pint glass. Click the picture and marvel at its greatness.

Game: The game of Game of Thrones is a great game about the game of thrones. Graphics are ok and animation is a bit wonky but the actual story-line and how it slots into the wider picture is really well done. Appearances and cameos by the more famous characters from the Seven Kingdoms are most pleasing. Happy New Year!

Uncle Scrooge (Oxfordshire Ales)

Name: Uncle Scrooge
Label: "Bah humbug, a Christmas Ale"
Brewery: Oxfordshire Ales
ABV: 4.5%

Rating: "Oxfordshire Ales is a family business, passionate about contemporary ales, brewed in the time-honoured way using the finest ingredients. We draw spring water, known in Marsh Gibbon folklore for its healing properties from the village spring at Stump Well. Our malt is from Britain's oldest floor maltings; our barley is grown on the Hampshire chalk downlands and the hops in the Pride of Oxford are Cascade and Perle."  I knew it! Beer (especially this one) has healing properties!

Game: Santa is ace. He must have seen how much I liked Game of Thrones on telly that he fetched me the game this year!  It's looking good, despite its middling reviews. Happy Christmas, one and all!

Oak Aged Beer Rum Finish (Innis & Gunn)

Name: Oak Aged Beer Rum Finish
Label: "Oak aged like no other beer - Full-bodied Scottish beer bursting with fruit and spicy notes"
Brewery: Innis & Gunn
ABV: 7.4%

Rating: "This ruby beer is matured over the finest rum-infused American Oak heartwood resulting in a beer with a delicious warming character that is bursting with fruit and lively spiciness. These vibrant flavours perfectly balance the beer's toffee-malt backbone making it an ideal accompaniment to game meats like venison or duck. It is sublime with mature cheeses served with good chutneys and relishes."  Beer with a backbone, come get some.

Game: A game-free evening! What madness is this?  Now my weekly Raptr report will say I only played for 6000 hours this week rather than the normal 7000. I was watching Game of Thrones by the way. If you're late to the game (like I was) and don't know what it is (I don't know, you might be an alien or something), it's a ridiculously good TV series about swords, battles, politics; with a sprinkling of wolves, boobs and dragons.