Guinness West Indies and Dublin Porter.

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One thing that can distinguish a gentleman is his taste in alcohol, whether it be wine, beer, or spirits. 

On the subject of beer, I would always have a pint of stout or ale over brand lager. They have an exceptional quality taste to them, much more complex than cheap, mass produced beers. Obviously one of the oldest stouts is Guinness which has a strong dark distinctive taste. A man in liquid form if you like.

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Guinness is an old company, born in Ireland, that makes exceptional beer and has done for many years. Recently Guinness produce two new products. Porters, 'West Indies' and 'Dublin' I tried both to see whether they where a patch on craft beers(craft beers meaning ales and stouts) and I have to say I was very impressed. 

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Firstly is 'West Indies Porter'.

The back of the bottle describes it as 'complex yet mellow, hoppy with notes of toffee and chocolates.' First thing I noticed was the smell of it, a slight hint of Guinness and surprisingly toffee, taste wise it was light and not too bitter with an undertone of chocolate. 

It was guinness without the force. A wonderful, enjoyable beer.

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Now the 'Dublin Porter'.

Described as, 'sweet and smooth with malt and dark caramel notes.'

The smell was oaky and strong, hint of Guinness(I know that is obvious as it is Guinness, but it is substantially less strong than you would think, before anyone rips my head off about it...haha)it was fresh smell which worked with the oak.

Taste wise, firstly I drank this much colder than the 'West Indies' i'm not sure if that would have had an effect. It was, unfortunately not quite as 'flavoursome' as the 'West Indies'. It tasted refreshing and clean, kinda' like the stout version of a nice lager? (maybe budvar?)

This is a beer I would enjoy on a hot day rather than enjoying it like a stout or Guinness.

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Check out the Guinness website to look at their other stuff.

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- Happy Drinking -

- Louis -

7 Reasons You Should Have A Beard.

Having a beard seems to be very 'in fashion' now. Long gone are the days of bald baby faced men and the bearded, hairy, rustic men rule strong. 

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For those who are puzzled by why beardedness(that is a word my spell check didn't go off) is so popular here are some reasons why.

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1. Warmth. A beard is not a super heater. But, it does keep the wind off your face and keeps you warm during the winter.

2. Style. Beards just look good. Theres no argument against it beards are sexy. 

3. Testosterone. A beard is a sign of manliness. If you have a beard you are unquestionably a man. Some bald faced men need their cars to be an extension to their ego. Real men have beards.

4. Time. If you have a beard there is no need(unless its to sharpen up) to shave which, in turn, shaves time(see what I did there?).

5. Pride. A man, is very much like a lion. The strongest male lion is the one with the thickest biggest mane. This is the same with men. The better the beard the more magnificent the man.

6. The female gender. No matter what a woman says she will end up loving your beard. It attracts women just like with lions. My fiancé hated beards and said she'd never be able to handle being with me and a beard. Now she loves it and doesn't want me to get rid of it. The beard has power.

7. A brand new section of toiletries. Once you are in charge of a beard, you have loads of new things for the bathroom just for your beard! Beard oil, Beard shampoo, Beard brush. The list keeps going!

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So for those of you who don't have a beard I hope that this will convince you to grow one. And for those that do, show this and spread the word of the beard!

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- Grow a Great Beard -

- Louis -

The Audacious Beard Co. Beard Shampoo Bar.

It may seem like i'm obsessed with The Audacious Beard Co. but i'm not I just love their products!

So I just got a Beard Shampoo Bar from them and firstly, it was wrapped amazingly. It was a little tiny package and looked great!

When I opened it I could smell this hot peppery scent, which if it doesn't sound nice trust me it is, its a manly rustic smell and once you use it you'll appreciate it. An extra plus you get two Audacious Beard Co. stickers which is great I stuck them on my bow.

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In this great little bar you have, multiple essential oils including Tangerine and Tea Tree and it has Shea butter and Avocado oil too. 

But the real selling point I found was the charcoal thats inside it. Now we all know charcoal is great for getting rid of poison or something like that, but it is amazing for beards apparently! This is definitely a soap bar for the manly men. Not exaggerating it is the most rustic toiletry i've come across.

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So the initial reaction of opening it is confusing, it is grey blue and all bumpy. But lather this up in the shower and your beard will love you forever. The oils and charcoal massage all of the dirt and grime from the bristles and clean your skin. Once I was out of the shower i've straight away noticed how smooth and fresh my beard feels. I can't quite explain the feeling you just feel refreshed more than you normally do after a shower. Very strange experience, but I will be using this most days to give my fuzz a good clean and make it stronger and healthier. I finished up putting on some of their beard oil.

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- Happy Showering -

- Louis -

My New Bow.

I have wanted to own a bow for a very long period of time. As in, since I was about 6. I found a great bargain on www.merlinarchery.co.uk which is the Core Pulse Take Down Bow. 

This is a recurve bow. Recurve bows have limbs that curve away from the archer when unstrung and stores and delivers more energy and power than a straight limbed bow.

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Firstly this bow is huge...when I got it out of the box I was astounded. It is 66" when is pretty damn big and looks like a monster hone your holding it. The wood the riser (middle bit) is made from is beautiful, it's layered and smooth and fits into your hand perfectly.

The power this bow has is insane. I managed to break a perfect hole in a plant pot and it's accuracy is very impressive. I don't not the FPS or the power as these aren't listed on the website. But I do know that I would NOT want to be on the receiving end of an arrow from it.

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I chose a recurve over a compound (google it if you don't know the difference) because I felt this was far easier to use and much more fun. Because it is a take down bow, I can remove both the limbs and even though it is bloody massive I can still fit it in a rucksack. 

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If your looking for a new bow or want to start archery definitely go and look at the website they have very affordable things on there.

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- Happy Shooting -

- Louis -

Audacious Beard CO. Follow Up.

So it's been a bit longer than a week using the 

The Audacious Beard Co.'s beard oil and I have to say I'm impressed.

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I've noticed how my beard feels much softer than it used to even on days when I don't put it on. The smells of the oils are still just as strong and noticeable as they where when I first started using them.

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My beard looks a lot healthier, shinier, darker and fuller (not sure how it makes it look fuller, must just be the shine?)

I have found it wonderful using this beard oil and would recommend this to any man wanting to give his fuzz a bit of love.

I plan to buy the third scent they have which is call the Wood Chopper and for such a great price I don't feel scammed out of money.

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Go check out their website and have a look to see if theres anything you like http://theaudaciousbeardco.com.

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-Happy 'Oiling'-

-Louis-

How To Get Bigger Triceps.

Every man who works out wants to gain size on their arms. But some people aren't aware that to really increase the size of your arms you need to work on your triceps.

While the bicep is a very important muscle for size and functionality, it isn't actually very big, in comparison to the tricep. This means you can work biceps all you like but if you want to gain a noticeable significant size to your arms triceps should be focused on as much as or even more than biceps. 

As you can see from this drawing the bicep is far small in comparison to the tricep.

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The first thing I will say is everyones bodies are different and require different quantities of work to change and gain size.

The said my first tip would be to be making sure you are achieving around 15 reps, or until you start to feel sore/strained/tired, per set. This will get the maximum quantity of blood into your muscles causing a higher quantity of muscle repair. 

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-Exercises-

1&2. Single and double handed tricep extension. 

These exercises are good because it is a very easy position to slow your reps down making them much more effective.

3. Bent over Extension.

This exercise forces you to pull upwards which is much more difficult at this angle which is great for building size.

4. Dips.

This is my favourite exercise by far. Dips are great not only for getting the full range of motion on your triceps but also, because it is a body weight exercise you will be gaining 'Functional muscle'.

'Functional Muscle' is muscle that is typically gained through body weight exercises, this means that you will be able to support you own weight and it is functional in general everyday life. I like to use the example that if I fell off a cliff because I have functional muscle I would be bale to support my own weight and pull myself back up.

5. Diamond pushups. (Or close hand pushups)

Pushups in any sense are always good because of gaining functional muscle which is great at getting defined 'ripped' muscles. Diamond pushups closely concentrate on the triceps, isolating them and pumping blood through them. This is my favourite kind of pushup because of the insane pump you get afterward.

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My final tip on gaining any kind of muscle, would be that training your legs every work out even if its just a little bit helps to increase the muscles you have also trained because the leg muscle is so big.

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-Have a great workout-

-Louis-

How To Survive #1 - Basic Camp Fire and Oil Lamp.

It's getting to the right season for hiking and campfires. There are many different ways to make a camp fire but I have a basic way that produces lots of heat and can easily be cooked over.

First you need to dig out a slight pit. This means the fire gets a little bit of cover from the wind and also air can be pulled in underneath quite easily which lets the fire burn hotter.

Next, stack stones around the rim of the pit. These will keep the fire contained, prevent unwanted things blowing or falling next to the fire and also it will help you keep warm because the stones will heat up

Obviously this next bit is a hit and miss as to where you are and what you have with you, but, especially if it has rained a little, place a few sheets of paper or improvise with dry bark, stacked up pine branches just in the bottom of the pit. This will keep the fire off the ground providing ventilation and stopping the fire becoming damp. 

Collect up your 'Tinder' paper or dry grass works fine, paper will only work with an actual flame. Put a fair amount in the bottom of the pit loosely together, pack them too tightly and air won't get in.

Finally stack thin sticks or kindling in the small direction evenly over your base and then put two small logs on top this is a good supported structure that will hold the fire well.

Go around with your lighting method lighting at the base of your 'tinder'. If you light the top of the tinder it will just go out, fire travels up not down.

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Now you have a good fire keeping you warm as the sun goes down you might want an extra bit of light...

Fortunately you can make a oil lamp with very normal materials.

All you need is - 

A jar - a jam jar works fine, but you could use an empty coke can.

Any kind of oil - I used olive oil but you could use anything, like vegetable oil.

Some paper towel - You can use a rag or lots of tissues twisted together.

Fill up the jar about half way with oil.

Get the tissue, rag, or paper towel and soak it inside the jar leaving just the end normal.

Light the dry bit and the lamp will burn for a good hour or so.

-Louis-