Sunday 29 September 2013

Tilting Ale (RedWillow for Virgin Trains)

Name: Tilting Ale
Label: "Pale Ale - Proudly brewed in Macclesfield, GB"
Brewery: RedWillow
ABV: 4.1%

Rating: "Brewed especially for Virgin Trains, this British Pale Ale evokes the spirit and speed of our tilting trains. A high-speed whoosh of flavour tilts smoothly into a light hoppy tastes and arrives, right on time. at a clean finish of bitter. Perfect for sipping at 125mph!"  A bad way to end Eurogamer was with a bit of a cry that it was all over.  A good way to end Eurogamer was with a transport themed ale on the train home!

Game: On the first day of Eurogamer I queued up for Dark Souls 2 but then chickened out because it looked dead hard. Saw someone beat it but also saw people being mocked for their lameness at it. Considering it took me two years to finish Dark Souls 1 and fearing a good mocking by onlookers I pretended someone phoned me and I had to leave the queue to meet them. Fooled everyone (no one).

Saturday 28 September 2013

Dark Ale (Everards for Morrisons)

Dark Ale (Everards)
Name: Dark Ale
Label: "A rich, silky ale to rival red wine - Wm Morrison Specially Selected"
Brewery: Everards
ABV: 5.0%

Rating: "Forget Claret and Chianti - this ruby red ale is the thing to serve with a slap up meal. It has a rich, silky texture and fruity flavour that's not dissimilar to a punchy New World red wine. It's got the oomph to stand up to the meatiest pie and the stinkiest cheese. So swap the grape for the grain next time you invite your mates round for a meal - you'll never look back. Try it with: Your Sunday roast beef or to round off a meal with a really punchy British cheeseboard."  Credit where credit's due, this is the first time I've seen the words oomph, punchy, meatiest and stinkiest used to describe an ale. And it's true, it's definitely a wine beater!

Game: So, still reminiscing about Eurogamer. Day two was all about the Xbox One games. Played Ryse, Dead Rising 3 and Titanfall. Queuing for Titanfall took about two hours. Two very loooong hours.  All three games were absolutely top notch though, but by the time I got to play Titanfall I could no longer feel my legs. This put me off and was *definitely* the reason why I sucked at the game.

Golden Ale (Black Sheep Brewery for Morrisons)

Golden Ale (Black Sheep Brewery)
Name: Golden Ale
Label: "A smooth and citrusy buxom blonde - Wm Morrison Specially Selected"
Brewery: Black Sheep
ABV: 4.2%

Rating: "In Greek mythology, heroes travelled the world in their quest to claim the Golden Fleece as their own. And this golden ale from the iconic Black Sheep Brewery is the kind of treasure modern heroes will quest for too. OK, so you and your mates might not be Jason and Argonauts... but this refreshingly smooth Yorkshire beer is guaranteed to make even a quiet night in feel epic. Try it with: Chicken and fish dishes - especially seafood like simple marinara pasta or barbecued prawns."

Game: Eurogamer is over for another year. Met some cool peeps and played some awesome next-gen games. Didn't realise how quickly you get chucked off a game though, so on the first day I spent five precious minutes playing draughts in Assassin's Creed 4. Shame there's no achievement for being the only person (idiot) at Eurogamer to win a game of draughts on AC4.

Tuesday 24 September 2013

Gold (Tetley's)

Gold (Tetley's)
Name: Gold
Label: "A premium refreshing golden ale"
Brewery: Tetley's
ABV: 4.5%

Rating: "Tetley's Gold is a glorious, gleaming beer, with a glistening golden hue. It's crafted from 100% English barley, kilned under the gentlest conditions to produce a malt that's full of flavour, yet of the very palest colour. An intriguing blend of cutting-edge hop varieties combine to give Tetley's Gold a sprightly, quenching citrus character. Added layers of complexity follow in the finish; floral, herbal & grassy hop notes intertwine with the subtle suggestion of cloves from the famous Tetley yeast strain. Tetley's Gold is a unique, contemporary beer, at once refreshing and satisfying." I couldn't agree more.

Game: It's less than 36 hours until my 2013 Eurogamer trip begins.  Set adventure phasers to STUN!  We're quite anxiously looking forward to it.  Dark Souls 2 is going to be there. And Assassin's Creed 4. I'm quite tempted to play one of these games ALL DAY on Thursday. Is this allowed, or would it be frowned upon? Will there be an angry mob queued up heckling, "You're shit at that, mate." until I leave the area? Let's find out!

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Old Hooky (Hook Norton Brewery)

Old Hooky (Hook Norton Brewery)
Name: Old Hooky
Label: "Fruity & Full Bodied - Handcrafted in the Cotswold Hills since 1849"
Brewery: Hook Norton
ABV: 4.6%

Rating: "Old Hooky is a beautifully balanced beer, fruity by nature with a well-rounded body and the suggestive echo of crystal malt. Try it as an accompaniment to meat dishes. Cheers!"

Game: Everyone's got GTA V it seems. And so have I, yippee! The game is truly epic. Played it for four hours yesterday and I've just scratched the surface. Spent most of the time street racing and then I got blown up driving a bulldozer. Crazy.  I'm still towards the start of the game really with Franklin and Lamar. The dialogue is so good between these two, I can't really understand what they're saying though because it's all in that gangstery language.

Friday 6 September 2013

Heligan Honey (Skinner's)

Name: Heligan Honey
Label: "At the world famous Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall visitors delight at the only fully working productive gardens in Britain, where a new community keeps alive traditional varieties and skills from an age when quality and flavour were king"
Brewery: Skinner's
ABV: 4.0%

Rating: "Heligan Honey is a light refreshing bitter, pale amber in colour with distinct hoppy overtones. The subtle addition of real Cornish honey will give your palate a buzzzzz!" I was in Cornwall. It would have been literally rude not to.

Game: I've suddenly had a thought about selling my Limited Edition Star Wars Kinect Xbox 360 console in preparation for the arrival of Xbox One. Also I'm playing a card game on my Xbox now... Magic: The Gathering 2013 which was free on Xbox Live Gold. PlayStation+ subscribers got Hitman: Absolution. We get a card game. I don't know, maybe I'll get into it. Seems quite popular and mustn't grumble considering it was free.