Another all-time popular English real ale. This mid-golden beer is distinctively, no-frills, English. The taste begins hoppy, but wanes bitter in the finish. Its head of froth seems decent enough on pouring, but soon dissipates. The dry mouthfeel is complemented by a hoppy, bitter, though mild scent. Overall, a dry, well-hopped beer. Well done to Marston's for this beer, which plays a hand at keeping the real-ale industry in Britiain alive.

Sweet Chariot, although a pleasing beer, does not live up to its name (it is neither sweet and, well, is not a chariot). The taste is slightly nutty, leaving a bitter taste of hops. A dark golden beer, with a head that seems promising on pouring, but dissipates. The aroma is of hops and the moutfeel sports pleasing flowery overtones, though also sharp on the palate. Overall, this is a sharp, bitterish beer with a lovely taste, though I suspect it might lose some of its magic on draught.

Another widely available, copper-coloured beer from Marston's. It has a hoppy flavour, which carried into the aftertaste, albeit mainly at the sides of the mouth, also becoming a tad bitter. The bitter maniftests as a sharpness near the throat, although there is a pleasing fizziness on the lips. Hops are also evident in the aroma, together with toasted malt - an aroma which quickly fills the whole room. The head of froth bears a resemblence to whipped cream, but sadly doesn't retain very well. All in all, Marston's Strong Pale Ale contains a lot of potential bitterness, which just fails to become overdominant, thanks to the hop content and its mild tones of fruitiness. Another masterfully balanced beer by this brewery.

Okay, so it’s not Marston’s best beer, but as always, it’s well worth a try, so you can draw your own conclusions. Overall, it has tones of bitterness prevailing throughout. It’s a full-bodied beer, but dry, and has high levels of carbonation. It has a bubbly, thin head of froth, though pleasingly smooth. It tastes sharp, with a short, sharp “pang” in the mouth upon first contact, and has a long, bitter aftertaste, containing malts. The carbonation is evident in the texture, accompanied by citrus, sharp overtones. The scent is of straw, caramel and malt. It is unfortunate that the overall taste of the beer doesn’t meet the expectations of the aroma.

Oyster Stout seems to get better and better each time I have it. Don’t worry; it doesn’t taste like oysters, but it’s undeniably a stout, with its black, almost but not totally opaque, hue. The taste mostly lacks any distinctive flavours, but in a pleasant way, due to its extreme smoothness. However, you might just sense a hint of oranges in there somewhere. The aftertaste explodes with flavour, with burnt chocolate, earthy, somewhat grapey flavours, as well as being a bit gassy.

A smooth juicy texture accompanies these flavours in the mouthfeel, with an aroma that is mostly charcoal-like, but also with traces of chocolate and oranges. The head is smooth at first, but degrades to a patchiness, and eventually to a ring of bubbles. This rich dark stout is certainly full-bodied, with a medium degree of sweetness. Each time I have it, it seems to become easier to go down. One of the best English stouts around, unquestionably superior to Guinness.

Absolutely amazing! By far and above, this is Marston’s number one best beer, and one of the all time superb English brews! Vanilla dominates the flavour, malt also, and just enough bitterness to give it its “beery” texture. It finishes with almond, and becomes sharper in the aftertaste. A malty, creamy, sharpish texture is accompanied by a malty, vanilla aroma. From the smell, you can sense the alcohol content of the beer. It has a smooth, persistent head of froth, with fluffy lacing. Firestoker is full-bodied, medium-sweet to medium-dry, with pleasingly moderate levels of carbonation. My only hope is that this brew continues to be sold well into the future.