Shipyard Low Tide Ale (Morrisons) By @SpectreUK

Back in the day I used to have a crafty half and a packet of crisps, whilst on a break at work. I'd sit in a pub somewhere and have a half a pint of beer and a packet of Ready Salted Crisps or pork scratchings. Gone are those days now, but I fancied a pint with my lunch this afternoon.

I had a beef sandwich, and some Walkers Ready Salted Crisps, and I needed something to wash it down with. The amount of rum missing from my latest bottle shows I've probably been drinking too much lately. Not for sorrows, just because I like the taste with my meals. This Shipyard Low Tide is 0.5% in volume, so it should wash my lunch down rather well, without the worry of too much alcohol per week.

Shipyard was established in Portland Maine, USA, and is produced by Carlsberg Breweries, in the UK. At 65 calories, Low Tide, is an American style low alcohol pale ale. Its tropical and citrus hops should go rather well with my lunch.

I haven't had a beer blowup on me for a long while. This Shipyard Low Tide was quite spectacular and surprised me. After opening the bottle and mopping up the kitchen counter surface, I found there was a sweet malted barley aroma with light tropical hops.

On taste the sweet barley was dominant, with crispy tropical and citrus hops followed by the creaminess from the milk, added in the brewing, into the aftertaste. A feisty beer to start with, this flavoursome low alcohol beer went perfectly with my sandwich and crisps at lunchtime. Cheers.

This Ale - Teme Valley Brewery (Co-Op) By @SpectreUK

This is a blog about This, it is not a blog about That, That is next week. This is a 3.7% in volume ale brewed by Teme Valley Brewery, with local hops from Herefordshire and Worcestershire. I'm hoping that This is good, and not reliant on That.

Described as a light drinking ale, This is gluten free, containing barley and wheat. I am hoping This will compliment my Moussaka tonight, rather than disappear under all that lamb, cheese, aubergine and potato. This will hopefully be a good strong ale.

On opening the bottle This was a deep golden coloured Ale, with sweet biscuit malt and herbal hop aromas. On taste This was a nice strong ale with a crisp herbal bitterness and sweet biscuit and caramel malts into the aftertaste. This was very flavoursome indeed, and was definitely not all That. We'll talk about That next week.

Barry Island IPA (Morrisons) By @SpectreUK

I haven't been to South Wales for many years. I've heard Barry Island is a fun beach resort near Cardiff. I've heard Cardiff is a great place to visit too, with its castle and Dutch Church, and Roald Dahl exhibition. Perhaps we'll have to visit sometime.

S.A. Brain & Co., Dragon Brewery have produced this 4.5% in volume Barry Island India Pale Ale. Made with three American hops, the can suggests citrus and berry bitterness, with a smooth malt finish.

On opening the can there was a smell of berries and a little citrus from the hops, with malted barley at the back of the aroma. There was a deep golden colour to Barry Island IPA. On taste there was strong fresh fruity bitterness, and a touch of citrus from the hops, and then smooth sweet pale malts into the aftertaste. Very nice indeed. It washed down my chilli dogs a treat. Cheers.

Super “Dry” Asahi 0.0% (Cannock Designer Outlet - Wagamama) By @SpectreUK

Off to the shops today to buy some new trainers. Although to be honest, I'm so old now, I'm not sure they call them trainers anymore. Believe it or not, when I was a kid back in the 70's, they we called plimsolls. They seem to have had name changes many times since then.

Anyway, my trainers have holes in them and are falling off me. I like Skechers, and there is an outlet shop at Cannock Designer Outlet near where we live.

We decided on a meal at Wagamama. We haven't eaten there for years. Been as though I was driving there, I thought a zero alcohol beer would go down rather well with my meal.

Super "Dry" Asahi 0.0% in volume had a pilsner aroma. On taste there was a sweet flavour of malted barley, followed by a crisp bite of herbal hops, and then a strong corn maize flavour into the aftertaste. It washed my meal down in an authentic flavoursome way, but there are other alcohol free beers that don't taste so strong of corn.

Shandy Shack Elderflower Lager Top (Co-op) By @SpectreUK

I fancy a shandy. I haven't had one in years. I used to drink sweet lemonade shandy all the time when I was a kid. It just seems difficult to find it in the shops these days.

Shandy made me feel grown up as a kid, with the feel of drinking a little beer with my lemonade. Now I prefer beer, but sometimes I do reminisce for the simpler times.

This Shandy Shack Elderflower Lager Top should go well washing down my calamari and scampi and chips tonight. It is a pilsner lager with a top of elderflower cordial. At 105 calories per can, gluten free and with an ABV of 2.5%, it won't give me a headache for my early start in the morning to Milton Keynes Film and Comic Con.

On opening the can there was a light aroma of elderflower and pilsner. The elderflower cordial was fresh and sweetened the lager shandy, making it very moreish indeed.

Shandy Shack Elderflower Lager Top was a very refreshing drink, and after a very hot day, I could see why the can mentioned simpler times of summers on the village green.

gwei.lo Neon Jungle IPA [@NLi10]

 Authentic Hong Kong IPA - but brewed in York so easier to get hold of!

Lots of reasons to pick the can up and read it, including all the cultural links, but essentially it's a very smooth and light drinkable IPA.

Ghost Chap instead of Ghost Ship for a change!

Basic ingredients but lovely flavours.

Reminds me of my favourite Hitachino beers, but a bigger can.  Perfect for hot days, and hot nights.  Will seek out both this brewery and inspiration again.

Hop Hut IPA Summer Slam (Morrisons) By @SpectreUK

It's been pretty sunny off and on here in the UK, so I'm having a Fri-yay Friday fishy treat of Calamari and Scampi with chips. I do like Calamari. I had a big Calamari lunch at a Greek restaurant last time we visited Trentham Gardens. Oh, it was scrumptious.

This Hop Hut IPA Summer Slam should wash my dinner down very well. At 5.5% in volume, Tiny Rebel added Simco and Idaho7 hops in the brewing, for citrus flavours of orange peel and mango.

On opening the can there was a tropical citrus hop aroma with sweet pale malts behind it. This hazy India Pale Ale had a very crisp bitterness, with citrus, and orange peel flavour, perfect for my Calamari and Scampi and chips, with a touch of mango fruitiness, and sweet pale malts into the aftertaste. Very nice indeed. Cheers.

Beavertown Brewery Sun God Beer (Morrisons) By @SpectreUK

It's been really hot and sunny over the last few days. So sunny that I'm struggling with the heat, and I'm already wishing for colder weather. I need something to cool me down and wash down my Cumberland Sausage burger and salad for dinner tonight.

This Sun God IPA was produced by Beavertown Brewery. At 6.3% in volume this is a tropical India Pale Ale, which should go well with my curly sausage and help quench my thirst.

On opening the can there was a crisp tropical citrus hop aroma with pale malts behind it. Sun God was a deep golden coloured IPA, which poured with a frothy head.

On taste Sun God had a surprising herbal hop flavour to begin with, followed by mild tropical fruits and a little citrus, with sweet pale malts and a little wheat into the aftertaste. I found Sun God very refreshing and it went very well with my sausage burger and salad dinner. Cheers.

Luminous Nights Beer From 71 Brewing (Morrisons) By @SpectreUK

I love the moon. I like to see it on clear evenings and miss it on cloudy nights. I was born in July which makes me a Moonchild. So, you can see the appeal of the front of this can with the man sitting on the crescent moon.

At 7.4% in volume, Luminous Nights should give me some illumination. This beer was produced by 71 Brewing, in Dundee. The can states that it is a hazy beer with tropical and citrus hops.

On opening the can there was a lovely tropical citrus hop aroma. On pouring, this hazy golden ale had a rather excitable head. On first taste, Luminous Nights was big on crispy tropical and citrus hops from the start. There was a refreshing juiciness to this hazy beer, with sweet malted barley into the aftertaste. This was a lovely luminous beer on any evening.

Shark Bay Amber Ale (Lidl) By @SpectreUK

I love the movie Jaws, and we've also enjoying playing the board game. I've always been fascinated by sharks since I watched the Jaws films when I was young. The silent killer under the sea, and in shark documentaries they are shown to be a whole lot more.

This Shark Bay Amber Ale Was produced by Hatherwood Brewery for Lidl. At 4.3% in volume the bottle states that it's packed full of malts and spicy hops. It recommends trying it with battered seafoods or a good Sunday roast. I'm washing down a pizza, jacket potatoes, baked beans and cheese, with mushrooms and red pepper on the side.

On opening the bottle there was an amber malt aroma with bitter herbal hops behind it. Deep in sweet malted barley biscuit flavour to begin with, bitter herbal and lightly spiced hops followed, with further sweet caramel malts into the aftertaste. Very flavoursome indeed, this Shark Bay Amber Ale washed my dinner down a treat. Cheers.

Crossing The Rubicon Beer (Drygate Brewery) By @SpectreUK

Crossing The Rubicon is a phrase that originates from when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River in AD49. Crossing The Rubicon means crossing the point of no return. To some that may mean the end of all things for love, work or friendship. Some may never except that crossing. Some of us are haunted by ghosts that have since crossed and left us floating without a paddle.

Crossing The Rubicon was created by Drygate Brewing, in Scotland. At 6.9% in volume, the can of this West Coast India Pale Ale states to expect flavours of citrus, caramel, pine and resin. Not sure about a beer that tastes of resin, but I'm fairly open minded.

On opening the can there was a smell of pine and citrus hops, with sweet pale malts at the back of the aroma. On taste this deep golden Crossing The Rubicon IPA, was quite malty, with strong sweet caramel malted barley, followed by pine and a crisp citrus bitterness into the aftertaste. This made for an unusual but most welcome West Coast IPA.

My Rubicon has always been a vast uncrossable sea where the rules can change from day to day. Those ghosts that cannot or at least feel that they cannot come back, well it's up to them. I'll just bob around hoping for a break in the tide and another cool beer.

Poppies Macarons (from Home Bargains) [@NLi10]

 We picked up a few things from Home Bargains for a eurovision party - the host has bunnies so we picked up the lovely apple & banana stix for them - and a frozen box of Macarons for us!

They are in the freezer section which means they are perfectly fresh and in tact when you get them home, and 30 mins later they are ready to consume.  This really does feel like the perfect way to sample them.

The flavours are Vanilla, Lemon, Caramel, Chocolate, Raspberry & Pistachio and you get two of each - so a dozen for £2.89 which feels reasonable.

They are well packaged too so a good thing to present to a host of a party!

Poppy wasn't allowed to have one, even thought they do look a bit like dog treats.

The lemon one had a good flavour and was very fresh, the raspberry one was fruiter and very nice.

I'll have to try the rest next time!

What was I drinking? Summery IPAs!  This first one bordered on a sour - and as a split can was a nice size

You could totally taste the fruits!

This tropical one in comparison had none of the fruity sharpness, but the beer itself was more smooth and drinkable.  Our host loved this one so I might have to nab a few to donate.  It's Vocation which we are already big fans of from holidays in Cornwall.

Lucky Saint Hazy IPA (Morrisons) By @SpectreUK

I tried Lucky Saint Lager at a pub recently and liked it. I liked it partly because it went rather well with my fish and chips, and partly because I could drive home afterwards. Now I have found this Lucky Saint Hazy IPA in a local supermarket. I usually prefer an ale to a lager, so I wondered what it would taste like.

At 0.5% in volume and vegan friendly, the can mentions notes of tropical and stone fruits. Lucky Saint Hazy IPA was brewed with pale malts, malted wheat, oats and New World hops. This India Pale Ale was also left unfiltered for maximum flavour.

On opening the can there was a citrus tropical fruity smell from the hops, with sweet pale malts behind it. Lucky Saint Hazy IPA poured with an excitable frothy head. On taste there were crisp citrus and tropical fruity hops to begin with, as well as a full smooth body from the oats, followed by sweet pale malts into the aftertaste.

After hundreds of beer blogs over the last fifteen years, I couldn't tell the difference between Lucky Saint Hazy IPA and an alcoholic IPA on the market. Gorgeous, cheers.

Nitro Mini Mars - Nitro Steller Stout (Vault City Brewing) By @SpectreUK

I fancy a pudding stout. I'm still working my way through a chocolate stash I had over Easter. This Nitro Mini Mars - Nitro Steller Stout from Vault City Brewing should fit the bill rather well.

At 6.2% in volume this milk stout was produced with chocolate malt, vanilla, caramelised brown sugar and cacao nibs to resemble the classic Mars Bar. Unfortunately I don't have a Mars Bar to enjoy it with, but it does remind me to get some in. I love the mini Mars treat size bags that are available over Christmas, so I can have the odd one and not worry too much about the calories.

On opening the can there was a milky creamy aroma with chocolate malt and sweet sugary caramel. On taste this almost black Nitro Mini Mars stout had silky smooth creaminess, with oodles of malted chocolate, a touch of herbal bitterness from the hops, and then sweet caramel into the aftertaste. Simply gorgeous, cheers.

Vocation Brewery Love & Hate Beer (Morrisons) By @SpectreUK

Love & Hate, two sides of a coin that can flip between two people quite quickly. Some may say you can't feel hate without love, just the love may have been hurt so badly the coin can't be flipped back easily, perhaps not at all.

This Love & Hate New England IPA from the Vocation Brewery was made with Vermont yeast and oats for a smooth body. Brewed with Citra and Galaxy hops for tropical citrus notes, this hazy India Pale Ale is 7.2% in volume. It seems unlikely I'm going to hate this beer from its description.

On opening the can there was a tropical citrus fruity aroma from the hops, with sweetness from the pale malts behind it. On taste there was the crisp tropical fruity flavour of hops to begin with, followed by smoothness from the oats and a little sweetness from the pale malts.

Love & Hate. Two sides of a coin. There is a catch though. To me there are two types of love. There is conditional love, where the coin can easily be flipped when hurt turns to hate. There is also unconditional love you may only feel for one or two people in your life, where there is no coin, and no matter what happens, there is no capacity for hate. Unconditional love is rare, and some people may never experience it.

Whatever your opinion on Love & Hate, I rather enjoyed this beer, and I'll raise a glass to the Lovers out there, and hope the Haters find some peace someday.

Roosters Roots. Rock. Reggae. Pineapple & Grapefruit IPA (Asda) IPA By @SpectreUK

We can't find a decent Chippy nearby. Our last Chip Shop changed the oil they use to a cheaper brand, which makes me ill. All the prices of fish and chips have been hiked up so much that they not worth the chance of being ill over. So, I have home cooked fish and chips tonight.

I do like a fruity India Pale Ale to wash my fish and chips down with. Rooster Brewing Company in Harrogate produced this Roots. Rock. Reggae. Pineapple & Grapefruit IPA. To add more flavour it has pineapple and grapefruit zest and juice in the ingredients. At 6.4% in volume, tropical flavoured hop varieties of Admiral, Cascade, Summit, Centennial and Nelson Sauvin, as well as malted barley and wheat were added in the brewing.

On opening the can there was a strong smell of pineapple mixed with grapefruit, and tropical hops, with sweet pale malt behind it. In taste this was a very fruity tropical IPA. Roots. Rock. Reggae. Pineapple & Grapefruit IPA was strong in both pineapple and grapefruit to begin with, followed by a crisp bitterness of tropical hops, and sweet pale malts to finish. This was a perfect beer with fish and chips for a totally tropical taste.

Crème Imperial Stout (Vault City Brewing) By @SpectreUK

It's Easter tomorrow and I'm looking forward to tucking into some chocolate eggs. My favourite snack this time of year is the Cadbury Crème Egg. This Crème Imperial Stout should wash down my Cadbury Crème Egg pudding a treat.

Produced by Vault City Brewing, at 14% in volume, this Crème Imperial Stout will certainly pack a punch. Served in a 330ml can there were malted barley, wheat and hops in the ingredients, as well as brown sugar, cholaca (liquid cocoa), and vanilla.

The back of the can stated this Crème Imperial Stout has a velvet texture, with flavours of chocolate and vanilla, and with the gooey flavour of a Cadbury Crème Egg, mixed with the caramelised sweetness of an Imperial Dessert Stout.

On opening the can there was the familiar aroma of Cadbury Crème Egg, sugar sweetness, creamy vanilla, and malted chocolate. This black Imperial Stout oozed into my glass. On taste Crème Imperial Stout certainly had the wow factor.

There was thick heady chocolatey goodness to begin with, cushioned with creaminess of vanilla, the mildest touch of herbal hops, followed by luscious malted chocolate into the aftertaste. Gorgeous. Happy Easter.

Steam Brew Beer (Lidl) By @SpectreUK

I have a home cooked fish and chips supper tonight, so this Steam Brew should go rather well with that. At 4.9% in volume and in a slightly larger 500ml can, this is quite a strong Session IPA. It states "Let's oil the gears of life," on the side of the can. Any worker on a steam engine would be properly oiled after having one of these beers before going back to work after a liquid lunch.

On opening the can there was a strong smell of crisp herbal hops, with sweet pale malts at the back of the aroma. This hazy golden India Pale Ale poured with a good frothy head. In its taste, Steam Brew had the reverse of its smell. It had sweet pale malts to begin with followed by bitter herbal and slightly floral hops, then back to the malts into the aftertaste. Very flavoursome indeed, this IPA washed my fish and chips down a treat. Cheers.

Brixton Coldharbour Lager (Ocado) By @SpectreUK

Many years ago Brixton Coldharbour Lane was a shelter for travellers in London. The back of the can of this Brixton Coldharbour Lager goes on to say that these days the street has a free spirited feel to it, which probably originates from the travellers from way back when.

I have a Chinese Takeaway tonight, which may not seem free spirited, but I reckon this floral bitter lager will wash it down rather well. At 4.4% in volume, Brixton Coldharbour Lager is a Pilsner lager. So, I'm looking forward to find out how the floral hops fit in with those familiar sweet malts.

On opening the can there was quite an excitable fizz to this bubbly lager. Brixton Coldharbour Lager had a heavy Pilsner and yeasty aroma, and poured with a frothy head.

On taste there was a crisp almost sour floral bitterness to begin with, which mixed okay with the sweetness of the malts into the aftertaste. I was pretty surprised by the sourness, as I wasn't expecting it. It was as if the floral hops were fighting the Pilsner malts before giving in, rather than complementing each other. A bit of a rough diamond this one, to some.

Lucky Saint Lager (The Bell at Belbroughton) By @SpectreUK

I wouldn't go as far as calling myself a saint. Although I spent much of yesterday taking my mom for a scan at a hospital twenty or so miles away. The traffic around there was awful, and the parking worse, so I had to have a lot of patience if nothing else. We had fish and chips in a pub on the way back, and I found this Lucky Saint lager on the menu.

At 0.5% in volume, Lucky Saint is good for drivers. I had done a lot of driving on motorways, and also around car parks several times trying to park. So being able to drink a lager with my dinner seemed ideal, and without the unwanted ABV.

This not too bubbly lager had a Pilsner malt and citrus Noble hop aroma. There was a citrus bitter flavour to begin with from the hops, followed by Pilsner malt into the aftertaste. Lucky Saint complemented my fish and chips rather well. At 53 calories, it helped me have a pudding too. Cheers.