Cherry Head (Marstons)

Name: Cherry Head
Label: "Cherry Stout"
Brewery: Marston's
ABV: 4.5%

Tasting notes: "The fruits of our labour have never tasted so good. With hints of sweet, sumptuous cherries and rich chocolate roasted malts, this sweet cherry stout is bottled Black Forest decadence at its best. But be warned, it'll drag you into the woods and back out again"

Game: We're branching out. Please check out and follow our Gaming Ales Collectables instagram page!  It's where we will be showcasing our favourite pieces from our collection, such as Falconer Predator below.  We had some MAJOR issues deciding whether it should be called Gaming Ales Collectables or Gaming Ales Collectibles. We didn't know which is grammatically correct because we're thick [speak for yourself! - Ed]

Wainwright The Golden Beer (Marstons)

Name: Wainwright The Golden Beer
Label: "Refreshingly rewarding crafted golden beer"
Brewery: Marston's
ABV: 4.1%

Tasting notes: "A superb thirst quenching, refreshing beer packed full of flavour, lightly hopped with subtle sweet notes and a delicate citrus aroma"

Game: Lets get back to GAMES. This week we're playing remasters, specifically Batman: Return to Arkham which contains Arkham Asylum and Arkham City games. First up, obviously is Arkham Asylum. The graphics have supposedly been updated and optimised for Xbox One. Can't really tell unless you're playing both versions side by side. And that would just be crazies because you'd need two tellies set up, one with the Xbox 360 version and one with an Xbox One version.  Plus we'd need four hands as separate controllers would be required and four eyes, two for blankly gazing at each screen. And we'd need two mouths for our beers. Anyway, lets assume the graphics are better. It's also still an absolutely amazing game!

Rating: 9.5 batarangs out of 10

61 Deep (Marstons)

Name: 61 Deep
Label: "Pale Ale"
Brewery: Marston's
ABV: 4.1%

Tasting notes: "61 metres. That's the depth of the well at the brewery that gives this refreshing pale ale its name. The five American and Australian hops give it its fresh, zesty aroma, whilst the tropical fruit and citrus notes make it extremely drinkable. Dive in."

Game: The latest delivery of Eaglemoss Alien and Predator Figurine Collection Part I is Issue 8 Private William Hudson Figurine. Like with Hicks and Dallas, the human figurines don't look all that like their real life movie counterparts, but still, this is a nice enough figurine with the motion tracker, pulse rifle and decent detailing on the armour. There's also a sneaky alien sneaking up sneakily from behind.

Rating: 7/10

Issue 8 Private William Hudson Figurine

Amber Stone (Marstons)

Name: Amber Stone
Label: "Extraordinary Character - Rich and malty nose with a hint of apple fruit"
Brewery: Harper's Brewing Co. - Brewed by Marston's Brewery [wtf?]
ABV: 4.4%

Tasting notes: "Notice the smooth caramel flavours from crystal malts with a lightly dry and nutty texture to finish. Fresh, soft earthy and hedgerow aroma from old world hops. All that sweetness is balanced out by a rounded but robust bitterness"

Game: This week we've mostly been scared w(sh)itless on Resident Evil 7 Biohazard. It's great. It's given us some great ideas for the office refurbishment plan too. Basically we're going to have random lumps of statue that when you hold them up at a certain angle, the shadow they cast onto the wall will complete a picture that will then cause a secret door to open in the wall enabling us to get to another area of the office where a much needed item is kept, probably the stapler or the hole puncher thingy.

Rating: 7 office refurbs out of 10.

IPA (Marstons)

Name: IPA
Label: "A smooth and floral British classic"
Brewery: Marstons
ABV: 5.8%

Rating: "Soldiers serving in India longed for a taste of home, but British beers never survived the epic sea journey. So, brewers developed super-strength India pale ale, designed to be watered down once it arrived in India. British troops didn't appear to get that message however, choosing to drink it neat instead. And although today's IPAs aren't quite so potent, they still retain the distinctive taste that helped to build an empire"

Game: Not played anything other than Titanfall for like, a month or something!  Absolutely addicted.  Almost regenerated up to Level 3, which for none Titanfall players will mean absolutely nothing of course.  Regen happens when you max out at Level 50.  So to get to regen 3 you have to max out twice. But when you regenerate you lose all your unlocked weapons and abilities, other than Titans. A bit like in Doctor Who. He loses all his wigs and scarves but can still climb into the Daleks he previously unlocked. Rating: 10/10