Marstons Merrie Monk

Brewed by Marstons (Marstons plc)
Style: Mild Ale
Burton-on-Trent, England

Serve in English pint

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12th May 2012 saw me on a pub crawl of Shrewsbury: second pub being ‘The Loggerheads’ and a hand pulled pint of this. Being ‘Mild in May’ month I thought this would tick all the boxes and it almost did. Medium to semi-dark brown; with an off-white head of deep foam. Aroma was thin and weak: some malty molasses and fruit cake, but not much of anything really. The taste was better: Malt loaf with candid fruit bits hanging around. Medium bodied for a Mild and hid the 4.5% ABV fairly well: an OK beer more than a ‘must try again’ brew.

First tasted this in the Bon Accord, Glasgow in December 1982. Cask, handpump dispense. Clear pale mahogany in colour with a thin creamy white head. Slightly sulphurous boiled egg note in the short aroma. Thin and weak mouthfeel and good lacing. Pale malts give a digestive biscuit note with tart redcurant fruit evident. Strong metallic tang of the hop resins gives a tartness to the aftertaste. Metallic notes prevades into the weak malty finish and tastes much weaker than ABV would suggest. Is this really a mild though? Not one of my favourites from the Marstons portfolio.

Cask at the Bridge, Kingswinford. Pours a dark ruby brown with a medium head. Aroma is slightly sour dark fruit malt. Taste is a bit watery to start. Has some of the dark fruit malt on the finish.

Cask at Market Porter, London. Amber beer, small head. Fruity aroma, some roasted notes, some hops. Hoppy fruity flavor. A bit dull.

Cask conditioned handpump Malt Shovel Northampton. A chestnut coloured beer with an off-white ring of head. A very ordinary beer with a faint fruity nose. Weird bitterness in the mouth with a touch of caramel. Really unbalanced and quite poor.

Cask conditioned at a Wetherspoons. Brown with white soapy head. Smooth malty beer with an underlying sweetness. Not much character. A little uninteresting.

Cask in the Waters Green Tavern, Macclesfield. Medium brown with thick off white / pale brown head, good lace. Not much aroma at all, little fruit packed in a carrier bag with a pair of those crap black pumps they used to wear in the 80’s at school. Probably still do. Bit of caramel, bitter finish. Not great.

A Mes rate. Cask handpull at Baker Street ‘Sporks.
Mid brown colour with a thin light beige head. Faintly eggy aroma with very little else happening. The flavour is all apple and bread with a hit of caramel malt. Who woulda thunk it? Substandard? Marstons? Never.

Cask-conditioned at the Crosse Keys (JDW), London 09/06/09. Slightly hazy amber in colour with a moderate, off-white head. Burnt toffee dominated this one, at the exclusion of all else except some dodgy sulphur and a hint of spicy hops in the finish. The first pint in a long time that I couldn’t finish. Poor.

Cask at the Monks Retreat (JDW), Reading. Amber gold with a thin cream head; fruity aroma; fruity flavours - plum, cherry, raspberry - but rather thin; dry fruity finish, rather lacking in bitterness.