Marston's Wainwright Golden Beer Review

I'm sure this used to be a Thwaites beer but I guess Marston bought them out, but anyway Wainwright by Marston's brewery is one of those beers I've seen knocking around for ages but have only just got round to buying a bottle of to review. Marston, who are currently brewing Wainwright are a 180 year old British brewery who it seems own lots of beers I had no idea they had anything to do with. Their site says they own Wychwood (think Hobgoblin), Jennings (think Sneck Lifter and Cumberland), Ringwood, and Brakspear. Clearly Marston are doing even better than I realised.

Or at least I thought they were until it turned out Marston are owned by Carlsberg. This is all a little confusing now. I'm going to choose not to dwell on any of this, mainly because I'm not a big fan of huge companies taking over nice breweries, but sadly this seems to be the way things are going, and maybe more beer is getting produced as a result. Who knows. Anyway Wainwright is yet another of my mid lockdown covid winter beers. I do miss been allowed to do stuff, but at least alcohol is cheaper at home.

Wainwright comes in a fairly nice 500ml bottle and describes itself as a 'refreshingly rewarding crafted golden beer.' So it sounds alright, not exactly exciting, but alright. A 4.1% alcohol content further enhances the it sounds alright, but not exciting vibe. On opening the bottle there's an aroma of yeast, some floral scents, and no small dollop of malts. It's not a bad smelling beer at all, but I don't think there's anything in there you wouldn't be expecting, or that would get you overly excited. Similarly the look is a fairly light, very clear gold, almost like an IPA. There's a decent head, which lasts fairly well. All in all I'd say this smells and looks like a fairly ordinary British ale.

The beers texture is reasonably smooth, and the taste is well balanced, by which I mean nothing massively stands out. There's a biscuity flavour, with hops, malts, maybe a little grainy. Wainwright is certainly a pleasant beer, but it's also a pretty dull beer. None of the tastes really dominate or excite, so it just doesn't stand out as anything to write home about. If you want a nice smooth, fairly refreshing golden beer to start your night this is a perfectly valid choice, but you'll want something more memorable to end the night on later. I'll give Wainwright by Marston Brewery 6 out of 10, it's a good beer, but it's not a very good beer.