Marstons Merrie Monk

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

Cask Handpump at the Penny Black, Northwich 01/06/2006 Sulphur aroma. Mid to dark brown coloured smooth on the palate and slightly fruity. Nutty with a very dry finish.

Cask handpull at The Pheasant, Ashford. Served with a sparkler. Clear chestnut colour with a thin lassting beige head. Some Marston house yeast on aorma. Bit of toffee too. Advertised as a mild. It’s alright, some character, bit of dryness on finish. It’s just a bit better than average.

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 in the counting house. Aroma is very sulphurus, not even in an appealing marston way as it can be at times, roasty choc malt shows signs but over powering with the sulphur. Taste is thinner choc and biscuity malt than expected, herbal hop and again sulphury. Im guessing this just isnt a great beer rather than neds better cellaring.

Cask, The Last Plantagenet, Leicester. Very dark brown with a dense cream head. Aromas are light roast malts with metal, oats and some chocolate. Flavours are thin chocolate malts with metal. Also has some addictive sulphur notes. An OK mild.

JDW, Rochester. "A mild". A fairly bland, well attenuated but moderately sweet, low hopped session pale ale with a copper tone and the infamous "Burton snatch". The brewer calls it a mild though there is a distinct hop finish, and the product is fairly dry, pale and of a strength more associated with an ordinary bitter. There’s none of the features normally associated with a mild. I suspect this has been revived in order to take advantage of CAMRA’s May is Mild Month marketing campaign.

Cask at The Penny Black, JDW, Bicester 09-05-08 Had this with my Farmhouse Breakfast; the breakfast was far superior it has to be said. Pours hazy brown with a white head, to be honest it looks distinctly unimpressive. Aroma caramel but little else. The taste sees this beer partially redeem itself but its a bit caramel heavy and other than some fruit you’re left wondering if there will be anything else. This used to be a damn good beer when I used to drink it regularly back in the early nineties at my local the Virgin Tavern, Worcester it was my beer of choice, but sadly today it seems a pale shadow of its former self.

Cask at Wellington Arms, Bedford. Pumpclip said ’Premium Mild’. I thought it was a bitter in all but name. Dark amber. Sulphurous aroma. Malt and fruit in the taste. Mid bitter finish. Decent bitter; dubious mild.