Just A Home Cook, And Not Even That Good At It

Today I’ve cooked a roast turkey, a roast duck, a glazed ham, 3 different types of stuffing, pigs in blankets, honey roast carrots and parsnips, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts with pancetta, baked leaks and turkey gravy… I’m knackered, I don’t know how chefs do it day in and day out.

Christmas Food

For me Christmas day is almost entirely about food and drink, even down to the late night leftover sandwich and glass of port. Merry Christmas.

It's Mince Pie Season

It's December so I finally feel justified in breaking out the mice pies, nom nom nom.

Hoppy Christmas - Part 3

So I’ve been a little lax in writing my reviews, it’s now boxing day and I feel as though I should do what I intended and finish writing. This is part 3 of my Hoppy Christmas calendar reveiw and it covers the 14th right through to the 24th of December. Please watch part 5, 6 & 7 of my unboxing videos on the links below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exhCXQgTtj0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8CChg_Diqg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx5eGpy7ux0

No.14 I Sea Santa - Brains - A dark brown beer, smells of spices and treacle with a hint of citrus.
No.15 Xmas Chaos - Anarchy Brew Co - A seasonal Christmas beer with a distinctly Christmasy flavour, rum, raisins and spices.
No.16 Earl Grey PA - Atlantic Brewery - A cloudy IPA with a citrus flavour and a hint of bergamot.
No.17 Calypso - Siren Craft Brew - A citrus heavy flavour with a bitter hoppy kick.
No.18 The Honey Ale - Hiver - A gorgoeus deep brown ale with honey sweetness and a slight hoppy bitterness.
No.19 Pils - Fourpure Brewing Co - A German pilsner style beer, floral smell with a crisp refreshing flavour.
No.20 London Pale Ale - Meantime Brewing - A traditional pale ale with a decent amount of bitterness and a citrus flavour.
No.21 Hix’s Darkside - The Unseen University Boathouse Brewery - A very smooth oatmeal stout, complex flavours with a decent amount of sweetness.
No.22 DOA IPA - Los Muertos Brewing - A hoppy IPA with plenty of bitterness and floral notes, just the right amount of sweetness to make it balanced.
No.23 Easy IPA - Flying Dow Brewery - A light, flasvoursome beer with a citrus taste and a light spicyness.
No.24 Red Nose Reinbeer - Cotleigh Brewery - A seasonal beer, deep copper coloured, richly flavoured with hints of chocolate and a toffee sweetness.

Advent Calendar - Part 6

Advent Calendar - Part 5

Hoppy Christmas - Part 2

We're now over halfway through December, Christmas is getting ever closer and this is part 2 of my Hoppy Christmas advent calendar. Part 2 covers the 7th through to the 13th of December, please watch parts 3 & 4 of my unboxing videos on the links below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMr7Y5XMsT8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iJsq86yG9Y

No.7 Talisman - Alechemy Brewing - A hazy pilsner style beer, plenty of flavour with a slight toffee sweetness.
No.8 Railway Porter - Five Points Brewing Co - A classic London style porter, smells of chocolate and coffee. Rich and flavoursome with a bitter sweet caramel edge.
No.9 Cwtch - Tiny Rebel Brewery - A traditional Welsh Red Ale, plenty of citrus flavour with a decent amount of hoppy bitterness.
No.10 Op & Top - Brouwerij De Molen - A cloudy English Bitter style ale. Caramel sweetness with citrus flavours followed by a floral hoppy bitterness.
No.11 Gentleman’s Wit - Camden Town Brewery - A Belgian style Witbier, has a distinct Earl Grey / bergamot orange flavour with a lemony sweetness.
No.12 Schiehallion - Harviestoun Brewery - A craft lager with a fruity, citrus smell. Tastes of grapefruit with a slight honey sweetness.
No.13 Dark Lager - Freedom Brewery - A craft lager reddish brown in colour, with a bitter sweet flavour like burnt toffee.

Advent Calendar - Part 4

Advent Calendar - Part 3

Advent Calendar - Part 2

Advent Calendar - Part 1

Hoppy Christmas - Part 1

It’s December, the Christmas count down has begun and that can only mean one thing… Advent Calendar! This year my lovely lady, has got me, possibly, the best Advent Calendar in the world ever! The Hoppy Christmas craft beer advent calendar by Ales By Mail (http://www.alesbymail.co.uk), 24 Christmas themed craft beers from every corner of the country. Over the next moth I will uploading weekly videos showing each beer as they come out of the box and posting a weekly blog post briefly describing and reviewing each beer.

No.1 Figgy Pudding - Hardknott Brewery - Dark, strong and very seasonal. It smells like Christmas, it tastes like Christmas, it’s basically everything you could ever want in Christmas beer.
No.2 Silures - The Celt Experience - A Pale unfiltered ale. Cloudy with a malty sweetness and a fruity, almost citrusy, edge.
No.3 Bledlows Silence - The Unseen University Boathouse Brewery - A Classic IPA. Smells of pine trees, earthy with a citrus edge. Tastes almost exactly as it smells with a gentle lingering bitterness.
No.4 Chocolate Lager - Hogs Back Brewery - Smells and tastes almost exactly as you’d expect it to, as soon as you open the bottle you’re hit by chocolate. The first mouthful tastes like a good lager, after that it gets progressively more chocolatey.
No.5 Sundown - Hawkshead Brewery - A Well hopped red beer. It smells almost citrusy with a slight sweetness to it. Tastes hoppy but with a fruity edge that curbs the bitterness.
No.6 Cwrw-istmas Beacons - Brecon Brewing - Pale chestnut coloured ale brewed with yuletide fruits and spices. It smells of Christmas, rich and warming with a hint of dried fruit. It has a deceptively hoppy taste with a bitter edge.

The videos of me unboxing the first 6 beers can be found on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/Grymourn/videos

Life, Family & Change

So Christmas is over and the new year is still a couple of days away, its a time of reflection and of anticipation.

A lot has changed for me over the last 12 months, largely for the better. I have a house I share with my partner, thanks to family, friends and charity shops it is fully furnished and a really great place to be. I have a job that enables me to pay my share, something very important to me. I have an extended family who are really great people and it makes me happy to be around them.

Life for me is currently in a good place, I have a lot to be thankful for and I am extremely grateful for the things I've got. But that doesn't mean I wont be looking to change things in the coming year, the only way to get what you want is to go out and work to get it.

Creeping Ever Closer

I'm blogging from my bed and I love it. It's getting towards the end of November, winter is starting to set in, the end of another year is creeping ever closer and Christmas is nearly upon us.
Believe it or not Christmas is my favourite time of the year, not because of the gifts and certainly not because of it's religious connotations, although in reality Christmas has little to do with Christianity and is infact a much earlier pagan festival which has merely been renamed. Christmas is my favourite time of the year because of the general feeling of togetherness it brings about, even my dysfunctional mess of relatives feels like a family over Christmas.