Black Wych (Wychwood)

Name: Black Wych
Label: "A dark mysterious spellbinding porter"
Brewery: Wychwood
ABV: 5.0%

Tasting notes: "The Black Wych has cast her spell. Start with a measure of alluringly rich dark malt and allow the bitterness to creep in. Watch out for the caramel sweetness lurking behind. This silkily smooth porter is no taboo, she's a spellbinding force to be reckoned with."

Game: Assassin's Creed: Syndicate has some collectibles right up our alcohol drenched street. Bottles dotted around London can be picked up to unlock Beer Tasting Notes in the database. Apparently the beer wasn't too great in 1868 judging by just one of the examples:

Amber Ale - Robert, Barnaby & Co.
With its strong flavour and heady aroma, this beer would pair wonderfully with halibut. I'm sorry, did I say "pair with?" I meant "tastes of," it tastes like halibut. The body has an unctuous pond-scum quality, but manages to be gritty at the same time. Overall I'd rate this beer somewhere between "poison oak" and "a live and furious piranha" on the "things I'd willingly put in my body" scale.

Buy Black Wych (Seasonal - limited stock)

UK & Worldwide delivery

UK Standard £9.89 GBP UK Signed £10.99 GBP Worldwide Standard £15.99 GBP Worldwide Tracked £26.99 GBP

Dunkel Fester (Wychwood)

Name: Dunkel Fester
Label: "T'is the season of mischief - A disturbingly dark beer"
Brewery: Wychwood
ABV: 4.4%

Tasting notes: "An exceptionally dark malty beer with an eerie red tinge brewed for those with a fetish for rich flavours. Hints of coffee & roasted nuts are haunted by an underlying fruity finish creating the perfect Halloween treat." Yay, it's nearly scary Halloween. Celebrate with this scarily great beer!

Game: Cor blimey, guv'nor! It's a new Assassin's Creed! AC: Syndicate is set in London and there's lots of  assassinating going on and apples & pears or something.  So it's like previous Assassin's Creeds's's but totally better and with a cockney accent.  This time out the multiplayer element has been stealth assassinated! Thankfully there's lots and lots and lots and lots to do. Best bit so far is thieving a horse and cart like it's GTA, 1868 style!

Buy this beer (very limited stock)!

UK & Worldwide delivery

UK Standard £9.89 GBP UK Signed £10.99 GBP Worldwide Standard £15.99 GBP Worldwide Tracked £26.99 GBP

Firecatcher (Wychwood)

Name: Firecatcher
Label: "Dazzling Golden Beer"
Brewery: Wychwood
ABV: 3.5%

Tasting notes: "The warming hints of honeyed nectar will spark the intense and sharp gooseberry flames. A refreshingly crisp catch smoldering in citrus aromas that will leave you glowing inside."

Game: Pre-ordered Star Wars Battlefront Ultimate Edition. We liked the beta a lot judging by the stats. Walker Assault on Hoth was great but the level of immersion was dented somewhat by the hero powerups which see Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader join the fray. I can understand Vader messing about on Hoth, jumping around like a knob and lightsabering rebels, I guess that's why he was late getting to the Millenium Falcon. What I don't get is how Luke managed to change out of his orange flight-suit and don his Return of the Jedi clothes.  Presumably when the rebel base was overrun he then got changed back into his orange flight-suit in order to get in his X-Wing to go to Dagobah. Lucky Hoth had heated changing rooms!

Withens Pale Ale (Little Valley Brewery)

Name: Withens Pale Ale
Label: "Organic Bottle Conditioned - Brewed in Yorkshire - Light and Hoppy"
Brewery: Little Valley Brewery
ABV: 3.9%

Rating: "Light and bright, Withens Pale Ale uses refreshing floral Cascade hops with hints of spice, orange and citrus, giving a delicious dry bitter finish. Withens Pale Ale is a bottle conditioned beer. Connoisseurs prize such beer as it continues to mature in the bottle and carbonates naturally."  I prized it, not because I'm a connoisseurs but because it's awesome!

Game: Initial thought regarding Star Wars Battlefront: OH MY GOD IT LOOKS AMAZING!!  Playing the Beta, and I suck at the multiplayer, Drop Zone on Sullust, but did OK against the 6 waves of baddies on Tattooine in single player.  Now to try the Hoth Walker Assault. It warns me to level up before trying the Walker Assault. Yeah right! Did Dak level up before he went to Hoth? Did he balls. And he did alright... oh no hang on...

High Maltage (Bottle Cap Brewery)

Name: High Maltage
Brewery: Bottle Cap Brewery
ABV: 6.9%

Tasting notes: "The Scottish Ale/Wee Heavy is a strong, malty beast that's deceptively easy drinking for a 6.9% brew."

Game: I've pretty much done all I want to do in the Witcher 3 and Batman Arkham Knight so it's back to a game I played back in May but never got around to finishing: Wolfenstein: The Old Blood. The prequel released after Wolfenstein: The New Order. So it's been five months since I last played an FPS. And wow did the motion sickness kick in. It's a great game but the dangers of playing RPGs and open world stuff for months means that going back to first person makes me want to puke big time. Seriously, I felt so vomitous that I had to turn off the Xbox and go back to building my Halo Mega Bloks set! More ale is in order to help settle the stomach. Game rating: 8/10. Sickness inducement score: 10/10

Artesian Dark Ale (Shepherd Neame)

Name: Artesian Dark Ale
Label: "Brewed with Artesian Water"
Brewery: Shepherd Neame
ABV: 3.8%

Tasting notes: "This delicious ale is hand-crafted using chalk-filtered mineral water from the artesian well deep below our brewery. Amber in colour, it is a complex, full flavoured beer combining aromas of fruits and spices with rich biscuity malts."

Game: I've been playing Life Is Strange for a few weeks now. As it's an episodic story-driven thing I've left it til the end of Episode 4 to review a fuller experience. And wow, what a great story, it's deep and veers from the whimsical to the depressingly heavy and dark - they even mention if you're affected by the story and need support, visit www.lifeisstrange.com/talk for details of who to contact i.e. the Samaritans :(  Epic twists and some amazing end of episode cliffhangers keep you hooked though. And woah, I'm super-excited for the finale as it's going to be hella awesomes - that's how they talk in the game by the way.  It's a little grating at first but you totally get over it, and even like, start to talk like that in real life? Rating: a totally epic 8/10

Nice (Fyne Ales)

Name: Nice
Label: "White IPA - Outstanding Craft Beer - Fyne Ales is a Scottish brewery dedicated to brewing outstanding craft beer with passion and integrity"
Brewery: Fyne Ales
ABV: 5.2%

Tasting notes: "Nice is the beer for those who have been perfect angels this year, a white IPA with a fresh citrus aroma. Nice gets it's very pale, almost white, colour from the addition of wheat to the brew while Motueka, Stella, Galaxy and Citra hops along with fresh citrus peel give the beer a heavenly citrus character."

Game: Just realised I've not played a Sierra game for about 25 years, the last one probably being King's Quest V on PC. Well rejoice because King's Quest is back on this-gen consoles and I realise I'm suddenly old!  It's no longer a point-and-click adventure but who cares, it's still got the obtuse puzzles but not quite as obtuse as yester-year, or maybe I'm just slightly less thick 25 years on? Things like, use meat with bush (not a euphemism), use wooly socks on knight etc. There's also the great art style and now superb voice acting. There might have been great voice acting years ago but I didn't have a soundcard. So, overall I'm well pleased to be playing this.  Episode 1: 8/10.  Now if only they would reboot Space Quest and Police Quest...

Ruby Ale (Tesco)

Name: Ruby Ale
Label: "Rich & Smooth Roasted Barley Character"
Brewery: Tesco - can't actually see a brewery name on the bottle so we'll just go with Tesco.
ABV: 4.1%

Tasting notes: "Full of flavoursome roasted barley malt, ruby in colour with a rich fruity taste and dry bitterness to finish."   Tesco is the best supermarket cos they now make beer!

Game: It's that time of year again, PES and FIFA time. As FIFA 14 and FIFA 15 seemed identical to me, I've opted for PES 2016 this year. Seemed like the same old PES routine at first, turn off appalling menu music, check, rename all the English teams to the real names, check, rename all the stadiums, check. Yaaaaaaaaawn. But the actual footy is brilliant! Other than the atrocious graphics on crowd close-ups spoiling the illusion a bit, the actual playing of the footballs is superb 9/10.

Shipwreck IPA (Eden Brewery)

Name: Shipwreck IPA
Label: "Traditionally brewed and bottled in Scotland by an artisan brewing process"
Brewery: Eden Brewery
ABV: 6.2%

Tasting notes: "Traditionally beer would have been highly hopped and strong in alcohol so it could survive long shipping journeys to allow our ancestral expats to enjoy quality beers from home shores; this is where we have taken our inspiration for our Shipwreck IPA. Jam packed with English, American and Australian hops, our IPA has a well balanced, yet complex, deep hoppy flavour with rich, zesty and tropical aromas. Please don't drink and sail."

Game: So is the EA Access subscription any good? Well... yes! Yes it is! Downloaded a bunch of American sports games I've not played before like NBA Live 15 (basketball), NHL15 (hockey), UFC (fighting), FIFA 15 (soccer), Battlefield 4 (rifle club).  They're all kinda old as you can tell from the year and/or number after the title, but considering you get around 10 games for £19.99 a year it's not bad. And hopefully EA will add more titles and branch out from American sports games a bit in future.

Barney's Volcano IPA (Summerhall)

Name: Barney's Volcano IPA
Label: "Sorachi Ace"
Brewery: Summerhall Brewery
ABV: 5.0%

Tasting notes: "A collaboration with Japanese illustrator, Ryoko Tamura. Barney's Volcano IPA made with Sorachi Ace hops, originally cultivated in Japan." Mmmm, volcano beer!

Game: Trying the free Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes game to see if it can tempt me to buy Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which I guess was Microsoft's fiendish plan all along.  I like it! However, I don't love it. I think there's something wrong with stealth games in general. Example, when the shit hits the fan and all the alarms go off and you end up killing half the enemies in a particular area, then hide for a bit until the alarm stops, the remaining guards just go back to their regular positions thinking you've suddenly left the area. Like, at least pick up your colleagues's's dead bodies rather than leaving them strewn about the place? And do you really think I've left the area? Plus do you not think you should put some extra guards around that really high-profile prisoner I'm trying to rescue?