Marstons Double Drop

Brewed by Marstons (Marstons plc)
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Burton-on-Trent, England

Raving about a process of racking beer into a second vessel, which for most home-brewers is just part of the norm, doesn’t seem to help this one. In fact, it just seems a waste of infrastructure having two fermenters to do the job of one in the first place. Poured from the clear bottle into an English pint glass, a short, white soapy head formed atop a hazy gold body (had a lot of floaties darting about, but may have just been my sample) and produced reasonable lace. Quite a fresh honey malt and grassy hop aroma with a little lemon. Initially balanced and lively in the mouth, with zesty lemon and leafy citric hops, sweet malt and a lightly bitter back, but it all went pear-shaped half way through the pint. The malt became cloyingly sweet and the finish had a grape skin astringency to it that singled out all other flavours. A little bit of a disappointment from this otherwise decent brewery. Mediocre!!!

Head was small and lasted quite well, though lacing was minimal. Faint hoppy aroma. Plenty of malt and dryness to follow. Unassuming, unpretentious beer, a bit like the part of England it hails from.

Hoppy English premium bitter. Poured a marmalade colour with scant head. Some typical Marstons green apple notes in the light and grassy nose. Fairly thin bodied for its abv and rrefreshing but with a solid bitter backbone. Some honey in there and a hint of Darjeeling. Hops become a little tart by mid-bottle. Lacks the balance of some of the brewer’s other brews. (Bottle)

Very hoppy malt aroma. Clear amber colour with fair head and lacing. Burnt malt flavour with a hint of sweet floral. Fizzy palate.

Bottle. Pale orange with a slim off-white head. Light hoppy and metallic aroma. Same for the taste, with a unpleasant staleish yeast finish. Thin bodied. I’m going to stop trying these pasteurised beers, they darken the soul.

From a Bottle.Light orange in colour,no head,light hoppy aroma,malty,toffee taste,average bitter.

Bottled. Filtered and Pasteurised. 5.0%
Nov, 2003: Bottled corpse. Metallic nose. Fizz. Sweet metal. Sweet fizzy metal. Lingering chemical tin aftertaste. Not nice. [1.6]
Dec, 2004: A triple Marston line up: Late Hopped, Single Malt and this. They look the same (watery light amber glow); smell and taste about the same (flat Tizer, pepper, metal, cardboard, cheap caramel, something old and not quite right), with minor differences in character, sweetness and mouthfeel that are hardy worth fussing about. Perhaps a touch more caramel or butterscotch in the aroma than the others; and sweeter. Not a great beer, but drinkable. [ 2.2]

Mid gold, coarse carbonation, with a thin, tight white head. Big hoppy aroma with hints of spice, fruit and pepper. Nice hoppy flavour, but with a nice full malty body.