The Pale Journey #1 - Marston's Old Empire

From my stash of pale ale, today's choice was Marston''s Old Empire

I have chosen this one as it is already a favourite of mine.

I thought I would go for a bit of a structured way of reviewing the beers.

First things first, I am not part of CAMRA, have no brewing experience or any in depth knowledge or inclination to know how beer is made.  So these reviews are going to be my own opinion.  At the end of day, everyones taste buds are different and we each appreciate different flavours.

Information on the bottle.

Marston's Old Empire is a true India Pale Ale - golden in colour and bursting with thirst quenching malt, hop and fruit character.
Brewed in accordance with the tradition for which Burton became famous - brewing the best beer for export to India in the 19th Century - Old Empire is a wonderfully refreshing beer with a tangy, clean bitterness as benefitting the finest beers in this style.

Volume
5.7%

First appearances
A beautifully golden colour, like deep straw.  What you'd expect from a pale ale.

First taste
As it says on the bottle, it is tangy.  For me, it had a slightly iron or copper taste at first, with a sweeter taste as the beer touches all the taste bud.  The taste is a surprise as you would expect, from the appearance, for it to taste sweeter - or more golden.

The rest of the pint
Once your taste buds are used to the taste, it gets better.  The beer becomes smooth and the golden texture and taste starts to come through.  There is no after taste or rather any unpleasant after taste and I have enjoyed a (ahem) couple of these in a single evening.  It's a very drinkable beer and works as a social beer or a food one.  I like simple food but good quality and this beer goes well with strong natural flavours (steak, pork for example) but without admonishments.