Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy amber color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity malty dark fruit aroma. Fruity malty dark fruit flavor with hints of caramel. Has a fruity malty dark fruit finish.

Bottle from Waitrose, Northwood. A deep amber coloured pour with a medium white head. Aroma of dark fruit and toffee. Tastes of caramel, dark fruit, malty, slight bitterness. Not bad in the bottle but I used to adore this on cask many years ago.

Bottle: Amber coloured, a bit unclear, smaller persistent off-white creamy foam; moderate fruity nose with a distincitive spicy hoppiness; moderate bitter-sweet flavour, medium bodied and soft; lingering sweet-caramelly and spicy-hoppy finish. Good, good.....

(bottle) Hazy, amber colour with a medium-sized tanned foamy head. Sweet cara-malty and lemon-fruity aroma with floral and woody hops. Bitter flavour with a well-embedded malty sweetness, medium bodied with a moderate carbonation. Caramel-malty, delicately fruity taste; dry-ish bitter-sweet, slightly fruity and flowery hoppy finish. A tasty and well-rounded Ale. 14.III.10

Bottled@The 1st Vaasa CS/ES beer session (thanks JP). Amber colour, mediumsized off-white head. Aroma is caramel, herbs, wood, earth and some floral hops. Flavour is caramel, wood and spices along with some rather grassy/earthy notes. Balanced. Biting carbonation.

Bottle. Light tan pour with a white head. Aromas of toffee, roasted malts, caramel. Flavours of toffee, treacle, peaches, pears, quite fruity. Bitter mouthfeel. Bitter-sweet finish.

14C. Clear amber, tiny beige head. Nose has caramel, spices and grass. Slightly sweet, with sustained and very English bitterness. Not much in the way of fruitiness. The stronger malt flavour and alcohol compensate pretty effectively for the lack of aliveness of the beer. [3.9]

Bottle 50 cl. Apperance; Amber, hazy with a minimal head. Aroma; Hoppy, sweet, fruits and some malty sence. Flavor; more malty and some fruits, nice bitter ending.

[500ml bottle, gift from Maureen & Dave tasted 25/12/2014 - cheers!] I’d had this beer (I thought) many times in the past and remembered it as being rather good, despite the handicap of being pasteurised. However, this time round I was thoroughly disappointed. The flavours I remembered were still there to a certain extent - orange, caramel and sweet malts - but seemed very muted. The beer seemed to have lost all its richness and depth. I at first assumed that my palette had matured, but on logging into Ratebeer to re-rate it I discovered that instead it was due to a reduction in ABV from 5.6% to 5.1%. Yep, another classic UK brew has been screwed up in the name of costcutting. It’s still not bad, but it’s a mere shadow of the old beer. Shame on you Marstons for having killed this classic Ringwood brew.

Cloudy amber with a medium white head. Sweet aroma with malty and caramel notes. Flavour was malty with caramel and hoppy notes. Finished mild bitter.