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I have been looking at this Belgian lager sitting in my fridge for about three months now and I finally decided to give it a shot. Etoile d’Or is a Belgian lager which I believe is made specifically for Marks & Spencers stores.

I think the main reason I have been passing this beer up every time I opened the fridge door is because it was in an aluminum can. Something about pouring my beer from a bottle rather than a can made me pass this beer up numerous times.

I felt that this beer was alright but not quite what I generally like but I am sure that many people would really enjoy this a lot.

Serving Type: 500 ml Can

ABV  (Alcohol By Volume): 5.0%

I noticed a couple different offerings from Wychwood Brewery at my local Tescos and thought that I would give this English pale ale a try. So I picked up a 500 ml bottle and headed back to the house to give it a taste test.

As first glance the Wychcraft Blonde beer pours a clear golden amber color and has an apricot and biscuity aroma. The taste was a smooth medium body that tasted much like what it smelled like. The finish was a fruity apricot sweetness and hop flavor with earthy undertones.

Overall I thought this was a beer I could see drinking three or four and not thinking twice. Because of its availability I would recommend this to people in the Oxfordshire area.

This is my fifth or sixth review and I have decided to start incorporating alcohol percentages in the information in my reviews for future reference. I suppose this that I will start with this beer first.

Serving Type: 500 ml bottle

ABV  (Alcohol By Volume): 4.5%

Right off the bat I will say that this is a beer that I really enjoyed. I am beginning to think that I have no taste for beer and that I enjoy almost anything. This is one of my first attempts at trying a hefeweizen and so far I really like this style of beer.

Franziskaner appeared to pour a hazy brownish and amber color with an initial fruity and flowery smell of cloves and bananas. The first mouthful was surprisingly spicy with a slight taste of bananas. The aftertaste was a wonderful taste of spice and cloves which I really enjoyed.

I will definitely put this at the top of my “beers to drink again” list. Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse was refreshing and delicious and set the bar high for my future tastings of this style German beer.

Ken Block was on my favorite automotive show Top Gear recently with his friend Ricky Carmichael and they had a chance to take James May for a little joyride.

Just in case you haven’t seen his previous videos I posted, you can check them out here and here.

Shock Top Belgian White is a Belgian style wheat ale produced by the Michelob Brewing Company. Recently I have been tasting quite a few Belgian style wheat ales and I must say that for not knowing much about beer,  I am really enjoying this style of beer. So, when I saw this beer the other day I thought that I would give it a taste.

The initial pour was bright golden but soon went to a hazy yellow color. There is an obvious citrus aroma with hints of spice and coriander. The obvious citrus smell is due to Shock Top being brewed with orange, lemon and lime peels. I thought that immediately I tasted citrus with a dominant orange and lemon taste. I found that the spice was hard to detect but overall it was light and went down very smooth.

I think during the spring and summer seasons I could put back a couple of these for sure. It is drinkable, but overall the  excitement of the initial aroma faded with a slightly watered down taste.

The new year is only a couple of hours away and that made me think about the type of year 2009 was. As far as photography goes, 2009 was a year in which I developed the skills I learned in 2008. We were fortunate enough to travel to fun and exciting locations around the world which resulted in several truly fascinating photographic opportunities.

My biggest photography resolution for 2010 is to try new things and push my creative limits to the max. In addition, I want to really develop new techniques in 2010 and grow as a photographer and learn.

Below are some of my favorites pictures from 2009…enjoy!

Click to enlarge