Innis & Gunn Rum Finish

       Drink name                 Drink makers                 Drink type              Drink strength
       Rum Finish                 Innis & Gunn                 Beer                        6.8%


I'll start by saying that its a lovely day so I'm doing to give you a quick one (oow-er misses).

This is a great tasting beer. It a full bodied dark drink  with a smoky oak taste along with a not overpowering rum finish.
It's a sham its so strong and in such a small bottle because I could drink it all day but that would be a day ending up with me passed out in the garden with a drunken heatstroke combo :)  .
330ml bottle which looks old fashioned and very appealing.
I wish I bought more now!

tasty rating
Good as a drink 10/10 Good as a beer 10/10
Can't put down factor10/10
Good at getting you drunk 7/10
Bottle art 10/10
Rated = 94ish out of 100%
That one darn fine drink

Raspberry Saision - The Durham Brewery

       Drink name                 Drink makers                 Drink type              Drink strength
   Raspberry Saison           Durham Brewery            ? Bitter... Stout ?           5.8%


Another drink from the Durham Brewery! This ones a limited edition raspberry flavored one.

No opening a beer, ale, stout, cider etc I usually contemplate the smells emanating from the bottle. On opening this bottle some of the contents exploded out of the bottle in a very happy manner but luckily my close caught most of the drink and I can say without a doubt that this beverage and also indeed my trousers smell is very fruity.

The color is dark and impenetrable like a frozen bar of bournville chocolate! Which is apt as the drink its self infact tastes like a fruity bit of chocolate that had a collision with stout.
I ate some chocolate covered cherries once and this reminds me of it.

It's nice. I like a good stout and I can't seem to but this one down. If I finish it off too soon I may have to resort to sucking on m trousers just to prolong the experience (don't worry, they were clean on today).

Looking at the bottle it does say that the bottle may be a bit lively and to have a bottle it hand, though I'd recommend a bucket or maybe open it in the bath just in caste.
 It also says that this batch consists of 1500 bottles only and that it has a hint of ginger in it... I can't taste that... oh and something to do with a Brewdog collaboration.

MAN THIS STUFF IS GOOD! 
















tasty rating
Good as a drink 9/10 Good as a beer 9/10
Can't put down factor10/10
Good at getting you drunk 6/10
Bottle art 8/10
Rated = 84ish out of 100%
The ruiner of trousers

www.durhambrewery.co.uk

Light Bitter - North East England

      Drink name                 Drink makers                 Drink type              Drink strength
      Magus                         The Durham Brewery    Bitter                      3.8%

AH-HA! A Bitter brewed  in the North East, not too far from my neck of the woods!
Plus its a beer that matures in the bottle with live sediment. exciting.
I've been looking for local brewers and micro breweries lately and was happy to  find this ones produce accidentally whilst on a bike ride threw Norton high street at a butcher/bakers called Blackwells.

The bottle's label caught my eye with it's Celtic-like cross and writing that instantly made me start humming the theme tune from Farther Ted. Like it.

This one I'm trying now is called Magus and is a light bitter.
On opening I can tell that there is a strong citrus smell to this bitter and on poring I wish I'd left it to settle more because I'm sure that it should not be as cloudy as it is! With these beers it's best to leave them standing upright (storage wise) but even then the drink will still probably be cloudyr that you expect.

The taste is incredible! Hops are the main taste hear but also wheat too and spice.  The flavor is bitter as expected and surprisingly right for it's pale color.

I'm looking forward to trying this brewery's other beverages.










tasty rating
Good as a drink 9/10 Good as a beer 10/10
Can't put down factor 9/10
Good at getting you drunk 4/10
Bottle art 9.5/10
Rated = 83ish out of 100%
North East England Bitter. Nice

www.durhambrewery.co.uk

burger - Angus

Made an Abadine Angus burger with blue cheese, tomato and lettice.

Cooked it in a George Forman grill and the fat that came off it was amazing.

But oh-no forgot the buns!!
It is a poor substitute for a bun when you have to cut bread into a slightly less square shape... but entertaining never the less.


I'd stopped off in Aldi to pick something up for a friend and found myself wandering around and picking things up. before I knew it I had practically made myself a burger.

Good prices in there but I'd stay away from their cheep coffee :p

Ale - stick toffee pudding flavor

 Drink name                         Drink makers             Drink type             Drink strength
Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale     Wells                        Ale                           5%

The flavor of stick toffee pudding? in an ale? surely that's more of a cider thing to do.
Wells does some nice different tastes in there range and I'm particularly fond of there banana bread beer ale.

This smells sweet, which isn't supprising, and has the sort of a lable you would expect from a drink with a toffee taste.
The drink it's self is lees pudding and more burnt toffee. It's good, don't get me wrong, but the dark ale taste is simaler to that of a chocloate stout I've sampled in the past.

Saying that. It is enjoyable and as I look over I've noticed that I'm almost half way down the bottle!
 You can't really go wrong with Wells though. they are a good brewer. .... oh, and the tiny lable under their name on the bottle says brewers since 1976! Never noticed that before.

If strong and sweet is your thing then this may just be the thing for you.


tasty rating
Good as a drink 8/10 Good as an ale 10/10
Can't put down factor 7/10
Good at getting you drunk 5/10
Bottle art 8/10
Rated = 76ish out of 100%
(whet I say good as a drink I mean refreshing or would taste good even if there was no alcohol in it. I may not think the same if the alcohol was replaced with badgers)

bitter wheat bear

 Drink name/ Drink makers                             Drink type                   Drink strength
 Revisionist Hefeweizen Wheat Beer              Wheat beer(bitter)         4.8%


 Hello Hello! Whats all this? We'll have not trouble here!
Ah-ha! An english wheat beer trying to improve on a classic German taste I see... Well we'll soon see about that.

I must admit to liking classic wheat beers so this one had better be good.

I quite the bottle and the simble on the bottle top is really good     in    my     opinion .

This is an exclusive for Tesco drink so I'm instantly on my gaurd. This could go any way as I've had their own alcohol ranges before and as long as you dont get their cheep beer/bitter/lager they are usually ok.

smells good!   just what you would expect in a wheat beer.

The taaste is .... is ... well, it tastes like an English version of a German wheat beer as it happens!

It is more bitter and less sweet so it might appeal to a wider pallet. Hops are strong in the taste with a .... a mildly fruity banana taste which is odd with the bitter in there but not unpleasant. Spicy too.

On the hole I could drink quite a bit of it but its not what I would choose to stock in a wheat beer just for myself but I can think of a few people who would like it.

Please though, give it a try if you like an unusual bitter because that's really what it is  ...

 a bitter

tasty rating
Good as a drink 7/10 Good as a beer 8/10
Can't put down factor 6/10
Good at getting you drunk 5/10
Bottle art 9/10
Rated = 70ish out of 100%
It's difference, I'll give it that.

Pulled Pork

A friend of mine had been telling me of a recipe he used to make pulled pork using Dr Pepper so I thought I'd have a go!

Being me I couldn't be bothered to take down his recipe so I looked for one on line (realising I couldn't remember more than two of the ingredient) and there are loads of recipes!

I had a look at some and then thought ...

Ah! I have the gist of this, I'll just grab some stuff from the shops. no problem!

and for once I was right.

(In my Opinion)

Here's a rough guide.
Pulled pork...

Get some boneless pork shoulder, an onion, a 2 litter bottle of Dr Pepper, an actual pepper (red) and some salt & pepper.

Cut the meat roughly into chunks (to aid cooking and maximum flavour penetration) and add to an oven safe dish along with the onion and pepper after chopping. Then add a pinch of salt & pepper then pore in the Dr Pepper so it covers the meat.

Stick it in the oven on about 180-200 for approx 3 hours, covered over with foil. Give it an occasional stir if you like.

Once the meat is done you can fish it out onto a plate etc and leave until cool enough to get two forks and begin pulling the meat apart.
I found that a lot of fun. If you are feeling particularly silly you can always pretend to be a T-Rex whilst doing this but just make sure that don't burn yourself or somehow poke your own eyes out... not sure how you could but still.

If you want some gravy to go with that then I recommend taking some of the liquid left in the dish and adding it to a pan and heating it then adding a stock cube and a thickening agent (like corn flower or arrowroot) until to your preferred thickness.

Apple sauce or BBQ sauce goes well with this and if you make enough you can have amazing sandwiches the next day!

If you do make veg I recommend you put the veg on approx 20 to 30 mins before end of meat cooking time.

ENJOY!

Wheat Beer from the worlds oldest brewery

This New Years Eve I was in the Newcastle-upon-tyne.
One of the pub we went into was The Head Of Steam, which I haven't been in for ages but is still good (shame they don't do the ska night they used to do but never mind).
I mention the place because it was there that I found an amazing cloudy wheat beer and I need to pass on, to anyone I can, how great this stuff is.
It's brewed by the worlds oldest brewery  1040  which I think is called Weihenstephan as that is the name most prominent on the bottle and I an therefor assuming the the beer  is called   Hefe Weissier and it's alcohol vol is 5.4% . 

It's the best wheat beer I've had so far.

Plus Tesco deliver it but don't seem to have it in store. Not sure what that's about.

Try it... If you can get hold of it  :)

Wheet Beer - Hoegaarden Rosee

 

Drink name             Drink makers             Drink type             Drink strength
Rossee                     Hoegaarden               wheat beer             3%

I admit to being quite a fan of the Original Hegaarden beer but that was not enough to get me try this Rosee beer. Then I saw it had a cork in it. Had to get it then... sneaky people tempting me to buy there products with unnecessary gimmicks  :p


After the initial cork popping excitement and a quick sniff, which yielded a faint raspberry smell, I had a taste.
How to put this... The first taste made me think of fish!
Yes that's right, fish!
This is a fruity raspberry wheat beer and it took a bit for my taste buds to except those flavours together I think because the flavour because quite pleasant but if I left the drink alone for 5 minuets or so and came back to it, it would have that odd taste again.
Is it just me!?!      Please try some and tell me because it's just bizarre!

May be a good accompany to fish.



tasty rating
Good as a drink 5/10 Good as a beer 2/10
Can't put down factor 6/10
Good at getting you drunk 3/10
Bottle art 4/10
Rated = 40ish out of 100%
fish fish fish f f f fiiiiiishy fish

Taste the wild

http://tastethewildblog.co.uk/

Hey! it's a foraging sight!
Soon we may all have to forage if the price of food goes up any more :p

Wyld Wood Cider

Drink name             Drink makers             Drink type             Drink strength
Wyld Wood             Westons                     Organic Cider        6%

To begin with I already know that I like Westons Ciders... Not all of them mind you but enough to build expectations.

This drink has a dark almost leathery smell to it which I find most appealing and I already can't wait to try it.
I've found that most ciders you get are of the alco pop verity which in my opinion are just not worth the making of a bottle to hold them!

Wyld Wood cider however is not one to disappoint. The taste leans strongly toward a brewing in oak barrels and has that flavour I associate with ripe, red crunchy apples. It also has that spike which you often only get with a powerful cider.

Looking at the bottle art too I can't help but think of the this time of year and all of the apple trees I've walked past over the last month, still with apples heavy on their branches and something about it just makes me want to go scrumping.

This is a winner for me.

Well done yet again Westons




tasty rating
Good as a drink 9/10 Good as a cider 10/10
Can't put down factor 10/10
Good at getting you drunk 6/10
Bottle art 10/10
Rated = 90ish out of 100% (92% is really my 100%)
Oak barrels make all the difference.

www.westons-cider.co.uk

Thwaites Tavern Porter

Drink name             Drink makers             Drink type             Drink strength
Tavern Porter          Thwaites                    Porter                     5.7%


Ok, let me just star by saying that this has a good taste! nothing wrong with that but it's so fizzy that I ended up just letting it go flat before drinking an more which took hours!

If you like the feel of needing to burp through your ears then this is for you but not for me.

I was interested in porter as it is obviously stout with a different name so I looked up on the magical Internets and found this on wiki if you are interested in knowing more. *

I tried a better porter in Norfolk when I was there but as I say, the taste of this is good if you can get passed the gas!


tasty rating
Good as a drink 4/10 Good as an ale 5/10
Can't put down factor 04/10
Good at getting you drunk 5/10
Bottle art 2/10
Rated = 40ish out of 100% because fizz isn't always welcome

Drink link

www.thwaites.co.uk

Somersby - cider

Drink name             Drink makers             Drink type             Drink strength
Somersby                Carlsburg                   Cider                     4.5%


It seems like everyone feels the necessity to ruin cider and Carlsburg is no exception!

A with a sweet almost sherry like smell, an uninspiring light sparkle and colour and the taste of crisp green apples with an overly sweet follow up flavour and there you have it. Another cider experience ruined. But what should I expect from a lager... oh no, wait... BEER maker (hmm right)

It reminds me of kindstones cider, if this stuff had honey in it  :p

Don't panic though, I have some Morrisons own cloudy cider in the fridge!

Just a a dash and and it's fixed :)  mmmmmmuch  better.



tasty rating
Good as a drink 3/10 Good as a cider 5/10
Can't put down factor 02/10
Good at getting you drunk 5/10
Bottle art 2/10
Rated = 34ish out of 100% .
When will people learn that the best ciders are cloudy ciders!?! I guess when people stop thinking lager/beers are good

Mud city - Stout

Drink name             Drink makers             Drink type             Drink strength
Mud city stout         Sadlers                       Stout                      6.6%

Strong stout smell on this one (as long as it doesn't smell like a cows arse though I'm usually happy)

On tasting this dark and foreboding looking drink, the first thing that is apparent is the taste of burned toffee and dark chocolate! the after taste is just burned though so they, in my opinion, went a bit over the top with at least one of there ingredients or processes. ok lets face it.... this thing is malt'tastic!

There is also a bit of carbonation to the sup.

I'm a bit unimpressed by the label art but I've seen worse. On the other hand I do get the feeling that this stuff is brewed by a cabal, cult or at least the stone masons! Lets hope none for my sake :-p

When all is said and done, this is a very strong stout and if that is what you like then give it a taste (to quote a Yorkshire set film).


tasty rating
Good as a drink 6/10 Good as an ale 6/10
Can't put down factor 07/10
Good at getting you drunk 7/10
Bottle art 1/10
Rated = 54ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.
I bet this would be perfect for a stake n stout pie

Belgian Wheat beer

Drink name / Drink makers             Drink type             Drink strength
     Belgian Wheat beer                     Wheat beer           4.9%

This is a Tesco finest product and as such is not too bad. It's a 750ml bottle and yes it has a cork in it!
(such fun)

This wheat beer has a subtle smell  which is pleasant but it's not as pleasant as the taste!

I'd class this as quite a fruity and fragrant tasting wheat beer, if that makes sense, with a slightly perfume like aftertaste that is just on the border between acceptably and too strong so I would imagine that a few people may find that aftertaste overpowering but I'd say it's still in the realms of acceptably.

All in all, being a bottle that cost on the lighter end of between 2 and 3 pound, I'd say this is a drink well worth enjoying, especially with Oktoberfest almost upon us and  Lederhosen so easy to buy thanks to the Internet.

I'm sure with all of tha wheat beer in you, you may even get to do tha German shlapping dance, yar?!

tasty rating
Good as a drink 8/10 Good as an beer 9/10
Can't put down factor 09/10
Good at getting you drunk 5/10
Bottle art 6/10
Rated = 74ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.
don your Lederhosen and do the slapping dance!

Red Dragon - stout

Drink name          Drink makers             Drink type                 Drink strength
Red Dragon          Red Stripe                  Stout                         7.5%


I smells like a stout, looks like a stout ant tastes like the bastard child of a pint of stout a questionable whisky!

I noticed this stuff going cheap in a local supermarket and said "34 pence!?! well, if you insist" ..which got me some do looks but I mean, come on, if you've not experienced worse you probably deserve you lobotomy you would wish upon others if you weren't so ignorant as to know what it was :-D but I digress!

The bottles I picked up were 284 mL but as the things a 7.5% I think that's fair enough.

This is also made by red stripe and still brewed, I believe, in Jamaica and I must say that as larger like beers go they're done good (larger/beer is usually counted as filth in my eyes).

Plus the bottle art is nice yet simple. I'd have probably assumed it was made in wales if my reading skills were a little worse. So well done to 'em I say!


tasty rating
Good as a drink 7/10 Good as an beer 8/10
Can't put down factor 07/10
Good at getting you drunk 8/10
Bottle art 8/10
Rated = 76ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.
I LOVE DRAGONS!!

wheat beer - Erdinger Weibbier

Drink name          Drink makers             Drink type                 Drink strength
Weibbier              Erdinger                     Wheat beer


I like wheat beers in the main and on opening this one I thought I was in for a treat. Alas not!

The taste of this beer is as good and imaginative as its bottle label.
I found it bland in taste. As if someone had watered it down.
Wheat beers should be nice and strong and this one isn't... Unlessssss, It's a wheat larger and then as a larger it's alright :-D

Still, I'd avoid this one.

tasty rating
Good as a drink 3/10 Good as a beer 2/10
Can't put down factor 01/10
Good at getting you drunk 4/10
Bottle art 2/10
Rated = 22ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.

Ice cream - Helmsley

I've found a great place to get ice cream in Helmsley.
It's called Ryebrun tea rooms (at least I think that's what it's called) .
They have a fantastic collection of homemade flavours.
When I was in they had a few sorbets and more ice cream flavours than I can remember from vanilla and  chocolate fudge to whisky and even a bubble gum one. Plus several different choices of cones.

The place is on the same road as the car park entrance so please go in and have a taste :-p

Pale ale Bure gold - Woodfordes

      Drink name               Drink makers                       Drink type                 Drink strength
      Bure Gold                 Woodforde's                         Ale                             4.3%

If I could give this ale a higher rating I would. The first time I tried this was in Great Yarmouth and I was instantly impressed.
It's a pale aromatic beer, which is a taste I like but only when the balance is just so. Often people get the mix wrong, in my opinion, and you end up with something that just isn't right (or maybe it's just because I'm more of a stout lover usually.... mmmm  malty).
It has a slight cloudiness to it due to the old fashioned way it is made apparently and I gotta say the taste is one I have liked so much, I went to their brewery on the way home. Well, I was in the Norfolk area anyway.
It's got hops from Washington in the USA but the malts used are home grown in Norfolk.








tasty rating
Good as a drink 10/10 Good as a beer 10/10
Can't put down factor 10/10
Good at getting you drunk 4/10
Label Art 8/10
Rated = 84ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.
 Ah heck, as far as I really care it's as good as 100%! I just can't rate it like that.

Alcoholic lemonade and ginaer beer - Hooper's

I had to try these after trying the Dandelion & Burdock that Hooper's do but I have to say that although they are nice, they are nothing special.

They have an after taste a little like vodka. Now by that I mean that they have an alcohol taste to them no well masked by their actual taste, they don't actually taste of vodka.

On the hole they are nice drinks but not as good as the D&B they do.