Old Spooky Hen (Morland)

Name: Old Spooky Hen
Label: "Crafted Fine Ale - Limited Edition Bottle"
Brewery: Morland
ABV: 5.0%

Tasting notes: It's exactly like the normal Old Speckled Hen but way way way way scarier.

Game: The GamingAles Assassin's Creed addiction continues this week with Assassin's Creed: Liberation HD.  This is an Xbox 360 port of the PS Vita game Assassin's Creed III: Liberation. Unsurprisingly it really shows too with the ropey graphics and at times dodgy free-running. However, that doesn't make it a bad game by any means... au contraire! (that's French for, "so shut up criticising").  It's an interesting aside to the "main" AC games and well worth a look. Plus you get to stab alligators in the eyes and steal their eggs. Just cos.

Rating: 6.5 alligator eyes out of 10

Hens Tooth (Morland)

Name: Hen's Tooth
Label: "Bottle conditioned strong ale"
Brewery: Morland
ABV: 6.5%

Tasting notes: "This fine ale matures in its bottle producing a richer and more distinct character. A warming blend of fruit and malt flavours are followed by a smooth finish."  I've been looking for this beer for years! It's been literally rarer than a hen's bollock (I think that's the phrase anyway). I even got to the stage where I thought I'd imagined drinking it once upon a time.

Game: Still on PS3 remasters for PS4. This time The Last of Us. Erm.. wow.. what a game! Even though it effectively still boils down to; move to an area, kill all baddies, move to the next area, rinse and repeat, the storytelling craftsmanship on show here is like nothing I've seen before in a video game - that means it's pretty good. And it looks ace because it's 1080p and you can tell. Plus there's a horsey bit in it.  My suspicions of PlayStation truly having the best exclusive games is borne out with this one. Go Naughty Dog!
Rating: 9 horses out of 10.

Old Hoppy Hen (Morland)

Name: Old Hoppy Hen
Label: "A hoppy pale ale with a deliciously refreshing grapefruit character"
Brewery: Morland
ABV: 4.2%

Rating: "Crafted by the master brewer of 'Old Speckled Hen', this hoppy pale ale is bursting with flavour and aroma. It is brewed with the finest pale and crystal malts as well as the American Chinook hop to give a fresh grapefruit hop character. The addition of rye malt adds a touch of spiciness. 'Old Hoppy Hen' is perfect for all occasions and best enjoyed chilled with friends." Argh, that's me not able to enjoy it at it's best then!

Game: Downloaded Twitch for Xbox One which is an app that lets you broadcast your gaming skillz over the internets. I broadcasted me playing Titanfall. Strangely though, the notification at the bottom of the screen said it was broadcasting but it said "0 viewers".  I played for about two hours and it always seemed to say "0 viewers". I messed around with various settings but it didn't improve. I can only assume there's something wrong with the software so I'm going to write to the Twitch developers and ask them to fix it.

Old Speckled Hen (Morland) - in an Old Speckled Hen Pint Glass

Name: Old Speckled Hen
Label: "Strong fine ale - A distinctive rich malty taste bursting with character, fruity aroma and deliciously smooth"
Brewery: Morland
ABV: 5.2%

Rating: Continuing my current penchant for drinking ale out of branded glass receptacles, here's Old Speckled Hen in an Old Speckled Hen pint glass. Double quality.

Game: True Skyrim story: so I arrived at the College of Winterhold, cold, hungry and fantastically tired. I'd been walking for what felt like days, since the tragic incident where my horse decided to gallop itself off a cliff. Stupid horse, that was a 1000 septims badly spent. Anyway I chatted to a bunch of people in the college and I was a bit like "Yeah, whatever, I just need to get some kip, which way is bed?" but they insisted on trying to teach me magic. Right, forget your Lesser Ward spell, I'm off down the Frozen Hearth for a pint.

Stepping outside of the college I'm greeted by one annoyed looking dragon spewing flame in my general direction. Now armed with just my Lesser Ward spell, a steel sword and a carrot, I attempted to battle the beast as its sole purpose was blatantly to hinder my evening visit to the local ale house. As the conflict progressed I became ever more weary, and slightly toasted. But suddenly the dragon's health rapidly started to ebb. I knew it wasn't the effects of the carrot and so I turned my charred body away and noticed all the residents of the college had come out to battle the dragon with me. Standing shoulder to shoulder with my new found comrades-in-robes, the dragon was quickly vanquished and from this day forth I pledged my allegiance to the College and all who live there.

Old Crafty Hen (Morland)

Name: Old Crafty Hen
Label: "Vintage Ale - Crafted by the Master Brewer of  'Old Speckled Hen' - Gold Quality Award Winner 2009 - Superior Fine Ale"
Brewery: Morland
ABV: 6.5%

Rating: "This strong fine ale combines a distinctive malty taste with a satisfying, smooth raisin finish. Brewed with a blend of the famous old 5X, which is aged using our vintage oak vat maturing method, this delicious dark amber ale is perfect for indulging yourself and your friends."

Game: Less than a week until Batman: Arkham City and the reviews are bigging it up as the best game ever invented.  No longer is it just the best superhero game, it's the best game, 'period'. And I want it 'stat' (whatever this means, presumably 'at once').  Now trying to avoid reading anything more about it, lest it be spoilt by over-zealous reviewers.  Skyrim is now less than a month away too and what better way to whet the appetite than a read of the following post from Games From the Void about all the awesome improvements and changes since Oblivion. I'm going to need a sabbatical from work this autumn.

Old Golden Hen (Morland)

Name: Old Golden Hen
Label: "Refreshing crafted beer - A refreshing golden beer with tropical fruit notes"
Brewery: Morland
ABV: 4.1%

Rating: "Crafted by the Master Brewer of Old Speckled Hen, this light golden beer delivers both flavour and refreshment. Brewed using the finest pale malts and the rare Galaxy hop to give a light golden colour, subtle tropical fruit notes and a deliciously smooth finish."

Game: I found out today that Batman: Arkham City for Xbox 360 has appeared on various torrent sites. This must be soul destroying for the developers and all who worked on the game at Rocksteady.  I can't understand how people try to justify illegal downloads, whether it be movies, music or indeed, video games.  It's just inherently wrong in my opinion. Just because you can make digital copies an infinite amount of times doesn't automatically make it OK to have stuff for free. Yes, games are expensive, that's why I only buy the ones I really really want.  And when I'm skint and can't afford a game I go without.  Anyone who downloads it is categorised as "thieving scum" in my book. Shameful.

Old Speckled Hen (Morland)

Name: Old Speckled Hen
Label: "Strong fine ale - A distinctive rich malty taste bursting with character, fruity aroma and deliciously smooth"
Brewery: Morland
ABV: 5.2%

Rating: Named after an MG car used as a runaround in the factory or something.

Game: Now trying to complete missions on Veteran difficulty on Modern Warfare 2. Was tempted to replay Bioshock but the lure of MW2 (even single player) is too much.  Although the frustration factor will no doubt raise its frighteningly ugly face when attempting missions on Veteran.  Watch out for flying control pads! Gamerscore is now 49995 by the way. Five tiny gamerpoints away from 50k.