Little Valley's Hebden's Wheat

"Hebden's Wheat Beer is a Belgian style Wheat Beer. The beer is light in colour with aromas of coriander and lemon. Hebden's Wheat is a natural cloudy beer with a refreshing, classic finish. The draft beer won the coverted CAMRA Silver Specialty Beer award in 2007.
"Hebden's Wheat Beer is bottle conditioned beer. Connoisseurs prize such beer as it continues to mature in the bottle and carbonates naturally. Hebden's Wheat is best enjoyed with its yeast sediment as part of the body and flavour. To serve: pour 90% of the cold beer carefully into the glass. Swirl the bottle to release the remaining yeast and pour into the glass. What a nice way to enjoy the benefits of vitamin B!"

"Organically Grown Ingredients
"Hebden's Wheat Beer is brewed with organically grown ingredients. This means it is more environmentally friendly, avoids pesticides and artificial fertiliser. All you get is natural and hand crafted beer that is brewed to the highest standards.
"Wim van der Spek - Master Brewer"

This is an interesting wheat beer, slightly bitter with floral aromas. I generally prefer the German weissbier, though.

4.5% ABV. Read more on Little Valley Brewery website.

Little Valley's Tod's Blonde

"Tod's Blonde is a Belgian style Blonde Beer. The beer is bright yellow in colour with a pleasant malty taste and a smooth finish. Tod's Blonde is a surprisingly mellow beer with a light fruity and spicy aroma. It makes an ideal change to a continental lager.
"Tod's Blonde is bottle conditioned beer. Connoisseurs prize such beer as it continues to mature in the bottle and carbonates naturally. To enjoy Tod's Blonde at its best, store the bottle upright in a cold environment for at least 24 hours. To serve: carefully decant the clear beer into a glass and stop pouring when the yeast sediment reaches the neck of the bottle."

"Organically Grown Ingredients
"Tod's Blonde is brewed with organically grown ingredients. This means it is more environmentally friendly, avoids pesticides and artificial fertiliser. All you get is natural and hand crafted beer that is brewed to the highest standards.
"Wim van der Spek - Master Brewer"

It starts almost tasteless, then reveals the very distinct fruity flavours and the bitterness lingers for a while after swallowing. Interesting.

5.0% ABV. Read more on Little Valley Brewery website.

G. Menabrea e Figli

"Birra del 150° Anniversario."

A good but not exceptional blond beer.

4.8% ABV. Read more on Birra Menabrea website.

Kasteel Cru Rosé

"Brewed with Champagne yeast in Alsace, with a hint of elderberry & elderflower, Kasteel Cru Rosé is a fine, crisp lager which delivers a sparkling taste sensation and a distinct rose like colour."

5.0% ABV. Read more on Kasteel Cru website.

Hambleton Ales' GFA

"Legend of the White Horse
"Galloping across the Hambleton Hills in the Vale of Yorkis a giant White Horse, visible 40 miles away. The mystery of where it came from, however, does not belong to ancient times.
"It was created in 1857 by a grocer, Thomas Taylor who, having made his fortune in London, wanted to leave his mark on his birthplace. So, with 30 local men and 6 tons of lime, the White Horse was scored by hand into this hard rock of the Hambleton hillside.
"At Hambleton Ales we raise a glass to the inspirational Mr Taylor whose vision has stood the test of time and whose extravagance enlivens the landscape of Yorkshire to this day. Just like Mr Taylor, Hambleton Ales leaves a lasting impression."

"A tawny ale with aromas of Cascade, Liberty and Challenger hops and speciallyprepared dark sugars providing full bodied initial sweetness giving way to pronounced fruit and hop character with a strong citrus finish. Hambleton Ales' GFA delivers the full flavour and satisfaction expected from a British ale in a gluten and wheat free formulation."

4.8% ABV. Read more on Hambleton Ales website.

River Horse's Hop-a-lot-amus

"The fable Hop-a-lot-amus is a mythical creature. The heavy hop character of this Double IPA is as subtle as a 'river horse' in your lap, but finishes as a hippo in a tutu. Enjoy!"

Good description of the beer. Hop is indeed very present. Interesting flavour, but as for the Hop Hazard, this one is too bitter.
To counterbalance bitterness, I made a cocktail with it:

• 4cL gin (I used Tanqueray)
• 2cL lemon juice
• 2cL simple syrup
• 12cL IPA (Hop-a-lot-amus)

Shake gin, lemon and sugar over ice. Strain into a tumbler glass over fresh ice. Complete with cold IPA. Garnish with a lemon slice.

I was inspired by a post by A Flowery Song who tried to substitue soda or fizzy ingredients with beer in a few classic cocktails. Mine is a variation of the Gin Fizz.

8.5% ABV. Read more on River Horse website.

River Horse's Hop Hazard

"Let's get it straight, Hop Hazard is an AMERICAN Pale Ale. That means it's balanced with hops, not buried in them. Here's to independence!"

"Balanced, not buried", my ass! This is full of hops, very bitter. The flavour is interesting but the bitterness is too strong for my taste.

6.5% ABV> Read more on River Horse website.

River Horse's Belgian Freeze

"As the days grow shorter and frost becomes snow, our Belgian Freeze Winter Ale will make a great liquid companion. This deep amber beer is brewed with lots of roasted caramel malt for body and warmth to bring in the holidays and see you through to spring."

Obviously, they meant "as the days grow longer". This beer is pretty good. Its name is well chosen: I had the feeling I was drinking a Belgian beer. The ABV is not mentioned on the bottle. I had to check it on their website.

8.0% ABV. Read more on River Horse website.

La Trappe Isid'or

"La Trappe Isid'or has been specially created to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Brewery de Koningshoeven. This ceremonial beer was named after Brother Isidorus, the first brewer of La Trappe."

7.5% ABV. Read more on Bierbrouwerij De Koningshoeven B.V. website.

Sierra Nevada Torpedo

"SIERRA NEVADE TORPEDO ALE is a big American IPA, perfectly balanced yet full of flavor and aromas highlighting the complex citrus, pine and herbal character of whole-cone American hops."

7.2% ABV. Read more on Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. website.

Sierra Nevada Porter

"SIERRA NEVADA CLASSIC PORTER is a completely natural beer, full of roasted malts which give it a rich, bittersweet and roasted tofee flavor. This medium-bodied ale is perfectly balanced, with a smooth malty flavor and crisp American hops."

5.6% ABV. Read more on Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. website.

College Green Brewery's Headless Dog

"College Green Brewery was established in Belfast by the younger generation of the Scullion Brewing family. We are determined to maintain an independent brewing tradition, producing fine individual beers full of character.
"Headless Dog – A pale hoppy ale produced with North American Cascade hops and Munich malt. Named after a mural of a headless labrador on the brewhouse wall, for details check out www.factotum.org.uk."

4.2% ABV. Not unforgetable.

Patrón Silver Tequila

"Patrón Tequila, like the great wines and cognacs of the world, is exceptional for a reason. It begins with the finest growing region in Mexico. High in the mountains of Jalisco exists a region with perfect soil and climate which allows the sugar and acid balances of the Weaber Tequilana Blue Agave to mature and produce an 'agave pineapple' unequalled elsewhere in the world. Like premium wine grapes the sugar acid balance must be perfect before harvest. Patrón tequilas are produced in the traditional handmade fashion.
"After harvest the 'pineapples' are carefully selected, trimmed, and then slowly steam baked. When cooked to perfection the 'pineapple' is macerated with large natural stone milling wheels. The fermentation is done with the fiber of the 'pineapple' which helps impart its unique flavor and smoothness. After a double distillation process the tequila is fine filtered in preparation for hand filling into artisan, hand made bottles. Every bottle of Patrón is truly one of a kind."

This is clearly the most outstanding tequila I ever tasted. I made the best margarita ever with it:

• 4 cL tequila (Patrón Silver)
• 2 cL freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 cL triple sec (Cointreau)

Rim a cocktail glass with Fleur de Sel and put it in the freezer. Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into the chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a long lime twist or thin strands of lime peel or grated lime peel.

Using Fleur de Sel instead of normal salt really makes a huge difference. I was not a big fan of salt rim before that, but Fleur de Sel is much more subtle and enjoyable. Its coarse grains slowly melt in the mouth while drinking and swallowing. The lime zest as a garnish is also fantastic.

40% ABV. Read more on The Patrón Spirit Company website.

College Green Brewery's Belfast Blonde

"College Green Brewery was established in Belfast by the younger generation of the Scullion Brewing family. We are determined to maintain an independent brewing tradition, producing fine individual beers full of character.
"Belfast Blonde – A clean tasting pale beer with a pleasant and distinct hop character lingering at the end."

4.3% ABV. Not unforgetable.

Grolsch Premium Weizen

Wheat beer from Holland.

5.3% ABV. Read more on Grolsch website.

Wild Turkey 8 yo 101 proof

"The famous name on this bottle comes from a group of wild turkey hunters, one of whom brought a special 101 proof barrel-aged bourbon on their annual hunting trip. In later years they always requested 'that Wild Turkey bourbon' and to this day it is still hand-crafted in the same slow traditional way."

This bourbon is very much enjoyable in an Old Fashioned cocktail:

• 4 cL whisky (Wild Turkey)
• 1/2 cL sugar syrup
• 2 healthy dashes of Angostura bitters
• Orange peel

Pour the first three ingredients over fresh ice in an old fashioned glass. Stir a little to blend all ingredients together. Take a big fat orange peel and squeeze the oil out of it and throw it into the glass.

50.5% ABV. Read more on Wild Turkey website.