Marston's Pedigree Amber Ale, 8 x 500 ml

Product Information

There was disbelief and scorn aplenty a few months ago when Marston’s announced a radical rebranding of their core range.

The aroma is slightly sugary, the taste crisp and minerally as a Burton Pale Ale ought to be, the finish dry and only slightly bitter. That’s a material change that might — let’s even say will probably — improve the quality of the product.I am also a historian or, as a friend put it, a ‘socio-geographer’ looking for the connections between people and place. As much as looking forwards and outwards, the craft beer movement has always been about looking backwards and trying to identify more closely with our national brewing history. But when the most interesting thing they can say in the press release is that a beer with the same name (I doubt it’s actually the same beer) went down with the Titanic, I only get a sinking feeling. Here in the US our Bass Ale appears to contain corn and rice, (and who knows what hops) as do many of AB-InBev products.

The history is brought to life so vividly through the lives of four key figures: Frank Wisner, Edward Lansdale, Michael Burke and Peter Sichel. Many of the bottles in the ale section of UK supermarkets today are pale ales; in the US no self-respecting bar would do without at least one great, often local (ish) Pale Ale on draft. It seems that breweries like Fuller’s and Adnams have embraced the changes brought by craft brewing while others have not (or, having misunderstood it, reacted weirdly to the changes). Or, if you enjoy a stronger beer with a more hoppy aroma, you’ve got their Old Empire IPA which is absolutely stunning.Every brewery merger would be investigated – for Bass, when the first major attempt failed (a UK joint venture with Allied – now Carlsberg), the writing was on the wall.

Yes, you may beg to differ; and of course, the beauty of taste is how idiosyncratic and individual it is, but sorry, over this there can be no doubt. He is a man anguished between doing his duty (pursuing Pyle's death and questioning Fowler) and doing what is best for the country (letting the matter be unsolved). Fermented in our unique Burton Union set of 24 oak barrels to give Pedigree its one-of-a-kind taste.The image accompanying the story about relaunching Bass in the UK clearly shows a bottle of Bass saying that it is ‘imported’.