Summer Daze (Hatherwood)

Name: Summer Daze
Label: "Craft Beer Company"
Brewery: Hatherwood
ABV: 3.8%

Tasting notes: "Summer Daze is a shining example of a pale ale, both delicate and refreshing. Traditionally craft-brewed using a light blend of British and American Cascade hops, with grassy notes that shine through golden grapefruit and bright citrus overtones."

Game: Issue 12 of the Alien and Predator figurine collection is Johner.  This one actually bears a passing resemblance to Ron Perlman too so it's all good. The film actually ain't tooooo bad either.

Rating: 7/10

Issue 12 of the Alien and Predator figurine collection: Johner

No. 6 - The Ginger Grizzly (Hatherwood)

Name: The Ginger Grizzly
Label: "No, 6 - Alcoholic Ginger Beer"
Brewery: Hatherwood
ABV: 4.0%

Tasting notes: "This Ginger Grizzly Alcoholic Ginger Beer has been blended to give a light effervescence with natural ginger essences from around the world giving a refreshing and zingy lemon taste with a tongue-tingling warm spice finish. Pour over ice and garnish with fresh lemon for the prefect serve"

Game: There's nothing wrong with Mass Effect Andromeda... but it just got a tad boring and Assassin's Creed Rogue is now available on backwards compatibles. And it doesn't take much for GamingAles to have an excuse to replay Assassin's Creed games.

Revised Mass Effect Andromeda rating: 6.5 fetch quests out of 10
 

No. 5 - The Purple Panther (Hatherwood)

Name: The Purple Panther
Label: "No. 5 - Porter"
Brewery: Hatherwood
ABV: 5.0%

Tasting notes: "This Purple Panther is dark, silky and deeply delicious. This full-bodied and muscular blend has coffee roast bitterness at its core. Speciality sugar adds a distinctive toffee flavour to this sleek and smoky malted porter."

Game: SO we got our Mass Effect Andromeda review code (also known as Play First with EA Access) and we're well impressed so far. Not seen any problems with how characters' gobs move or any other bugs or glitches that everyone seems to be moaning on about. The opening few hours reminds us quite a bit of the first Mass Effect, but with way snazzier graphics. And a different story. And different characters. Full review coming not very soon, because the game is quite big.

Initial rating: 8 probiotics out of 10
 

No. 4 - The Ruby Rooster (Hatherwood)

Name: The Ruby Rooster
Label: "No. 4 - Ruby Ale"
Brewery: Hatherwood
ABV: 3.8%

Tasting notes: "This Ruby Rooster Ale is a bold and proud British classic, craft-brewed using Burton water and 100% British barley. A blend of Pale, Crystal & Chocolate malts deliver a delicious toffee malt flavour ensuring that this ale sits right at the top of the pecking order."

Game: Yet another free game reviewed! Banner Saga 2. Great game, we like the turn based combat, all the powers and horsey people and stuff. The story was incomprehensible gibberish though but we suspect playing the first Banner Saga would help with that. There are some big people, some less big-sized people, a big dude with an arrow stuck him who's kinda dead (?), the aforementioned horsey people, some black armoured baddies and a big snake thing that looks like an eel. Mix 'em all up and throw in some magic and BOOM - a story about travelling across the countryside.

Rating: 7 campsites out of 10

No. 3 - The Amber Adder (Hatherwood)

Name: The Amber Adder
Label: "Amber Ale - No. 3"
Brewery: Hatherwood
ABV: 4.3%

Tasting notes: "This Amber Adder Ale is a dry-hopped, craft-brewed blend with bite! Lashings of big flavour American hops add sharpness and venom to dark coffee and toffee undertones."

Game: Free game with Xbox Live Gold: Layers of Fear.  Brilliant game, great atmosphere, creepy af. Actually jumped more times playing this than during Resident Evil 7. I did really bad at it too and got the ending that doesn't even class as a proper ending!

8 scaries out of 10

No. 2 - The Green Gecko (Hatherwood)

Name: The Green Gecko
Label: "IPA - No. 2"
Brewery: Hatherwood Craft Beer Company
ABV: 5.0%

Tasting notes: "The Green Gecko IPA is a tropical thunder-storm of big flavour new world hops with a peppery lemon zest finish. This unblinking classic is underpinned by a biscuit malt taste, allowing the bold exploration of frontier flavours."

Game: Xbox Live free Games with Gold time! Project Cars is great. It's got cars and race tracks and you drive really fast around the track to get back to the start and if you do this before everyone else then you are the winner. Looks nice, strange music, we like the format better than Forza Horizon 3.

Rating: 8 laps out of 10

No. 1 - The Golden Goose (Hatherwood)

Name: The Golden Goose
Label: "Golden Ale - No. 1"
Brewery: Hatherwood
ABV: 3.8%

Tasting notes: "This Golden Goose Ale has been traditionally craft-brewed using Burton water and 100% British barley. Pale and Crystal malts combined with Fuggle and Styrian Golding hops deliver a refreshing and full-bodied flavour showing that this ale is not afraid to stick its neck out!"

Game: This week we've been giving the For Honor Beta a whirl. Firstly, we spotted a typo, they spelt "Honour" wrong... but as it's Ubisoft we'll let them off. Second thing that strikes us about For Honor [sic] is that it feels more like a fighter than a third-person hack 'n slash. That's about it for now folks... [I think we need to write more - Ed]. Erm.. ok, the graphics are great? The full game will have a single player mode but the focus is more on multiplayer? [Enough! - Ed]

Rating: 7 hacks out of 10

Ruby Rooster (Hatherwood)

Name: Ruby Rooster
Label: "Craft ale - 100% British Barley - Hatherwood Craft Ales, Ales With Real Character"
Brewery: Hatherwood
ABV: 3.8%

Rating: "The Ruby Rooster Ale has been traditionally craft-brewed using Burton water, 100% British barley and a blend of Pale, Crystal & Chocolate malts, delivering toffee malt flavour which is balanced with the aromatic and refreshingly fruity character of Fuggle, Golding, Cascade and Styrian hops. Jeff Drew - Head Brewer."

Game: Oh no! I just inadvertently let some of my Pikmins drown! Pikmin 3 is brilliant. The HD graphics look amazing and I can already tell the puzzles are going to get fiendishly difficult as the game progresses. It's devastating when the little Pikmins die too, either by coming a cropper due to environmental hazards, or if they get left behind at sunset and become a late night snack for the local beasties wandering around. The gamepad controls are a treat too. I wouldn't want to play it any other way. Rating: 8/10.

Golden Goose (Hatherwood)

Name: Golden Goose
Label: "Craft ale - 100% British Barley - Hatherwood Craft Ales, Ales With Real Character"
Brewery: Hatherwood
ABV: 3.8%

Rating: "This Golden Goose Ale has been traditionally craft-brewed using Burton water, 100% British barley and a blend of Pale & Crystal malts, delivering a distinctive rich malty flavour which is perfectly combined with the classically refreshing, bitter finish of English Fuggle and Styrian Golding hops. Jeff Drew - Head Brewer."  I've never had a Hatherwood beer before. I can report they're great! Just googled Jeff Drew and seen he's Head Brewer of Ringwood & Wychwood Brewery at Marston's PLC. Erm.... so where does Hatherwood fit in? What the actual..?

Game: After my disastrous Half Life 2 gaming session yesterday, I'm pleased to say I'm back and fighting fit. Beer really does make everything better!  Tonight I'll be back on the Wii U playing Pikmin 3 which I've just purchased. I nearly didn't buy it because everyone seems to be going on about how the controls using the new gamepad are rubbish and the wii-mote and nunchuck (which I don't have) are by far the better control system.  Edge online reckon the gamepad is great though and having never played a Pikmin game before, that's what I've based my purchase on. That one review... GamingAles review incoming soon.