Ridgeway Brewing 'Ivanhoe' Pale Ale

Apparently made to have a balance between the malt and the hops. Fair enough.

It's a really refreshing beer considering the 5.2% abv - enough of an orange-pithy hoppiness to keep things interesting and malty enough to give it some body. Rather moreish though, possibly rather dangerous for such a strong beer - not that I'm complaining!

It's not as good as the 'Bad King John,' lacking a little bit of character to be at that sort of level, but better than some of the other, rather dull offerings in the hunt.

£1.99 from Sainsbury's

Ridgeway Brewing 'Bad King John' Black Ale

A black ale - the name's a giveaway I suppose.

Lots of coffee and dark chocolate on the nose. Coffee and chocolate continue through on the mid-palate, with a robust earthiness. Smack of hops stops the beer being cloying, keeps a refreshing dryness. Lingering burnt malt finish that goes on and on.

Another excellent beer, real multi-layered complexity. Picking winners out of this lot is going to be tricky! Label could probably have done with some serving temperature information - I drank it at cellar temperature but only through guesswork - although it was great.

6.0% abv. £2.09 (50cl) at Sainsbury's.