Oyster Stout - Marston, Thompson & Evershed, Plc.

Parrotshake

Australia

3.28/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.5

Who are these people rating this beer poorly because there's "not enough oyster"? Really quite a nice sweet stout. Pours dark brown with a big creamy head. Nice roasty chocolate nose with hints of fruitcake, a bit weak. Subdued taste of bittersweet chocolate and dark fruit, slight mineral taste in the finish. Unfortunately quite watery. Very watery, even. It's a shame.

Not too sweet, very sessionable and soothing. A bit bigger in terms of flavor and feel and this would be wonderful. A very likeable beer nonetheless.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2012 16:49:56 | More by Parrotshake

SmashPants

Australia

2.43/5  rDev -27%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75

Bottle: unique and chunky 500mL brown bottle, decent old-school label as well.

Appearance: body is heavy, unmoving black with a good thick and creamy head. Lovely.

Aroma: very light on the nose, almost unnoticeable. Sweet malts and dark fruits are there though.

Taste: very, very light, once again - almost unnoticeable again. Honestly, what's the point? Tiny amount of malts & stonefruits.

Aftertaste: disappears quickly - really not much flavour behind this beer.

Mouth feel: mid-range body with a very low carbonation. Somewhat buttery in feel too. I really think it could have used a bit more life from some more carbonation.

Overall: a truly disappointing beer - too light on flavour with a truly horrendous price tag equivalent to AU$110 for 24 x 330mL.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2013 10:09:06 | More by SmashPants

TheBeeraholic

Ontario (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev -2.4%

06-16-2013 15:00:05 | More by TheBeeraholic

DavoleBomb

Ohio

3.13/5  rDev -6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Poured into a perfect pint.

3.25 A: Black color. One and a half fingers of frothy light brown head. Retention is below average and a short ring of lacing is left.

2.75 S: Not a lot going on here, which is really disappointing. What's worse is there isn't a lot of "oyster" in this. Light roastiness, a touch of mineral, and that's about it.

3.25 T: Taste is also pretty underwhelming, but it's way better than the nose. Mild roastiness with an almost fruity earthiness going on. It's hard to put into words, but it is enjoyable. I can only assume it's partially the oyster shells. A bit buttery as well. It's not bad, but not what I wanted either.

3.5 M: Medium body. Good moderate carbonation. Slippery mouthfeel.

3.0 D: It's okay, but nothing to write home about and not much of what you'd want in an oyster stout.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2013 01:44:34 | More by DavoleBomb

SpruceMoose

Australia

2.44/5  rDev -26.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.75

Stout o'clock once more. I'd seen this stout on the bottle shop shelves for quite a while now, but always brushed it off despite having a love for good stout. I'll try it later. I'm hungover. I don't have enough money. I can't be fucked. The list goes on and on. Finally, I decided to buy and try it and put to bed those constant voices reminding me of the stout I had never tried.

Serving Type: 500ml bottle poured into a Duvel tulip glass.

Appearance: Black and opaque. Almost no light can be seen through it. The head is almost completely white. How intriguing!

Smell: Subtle chocolate, coffee and malt. It's surprising how light and inoffensive the smell is given the extreme darkness of the body. Rather disappointing actually.

Taste: Starts off with roasted malt, chocolate, thyme and some very gentle spiciness, but dies very quickly. I know it's a milk stout, but milk stouts should be more flavoursome than this.

Mouthfeel: Water water everywhere, but I want to drink a stout. It's watery. The only thing that enables this beer to survive utmost crucifixion is the creaminess of the head. But the body? A let down.

Overall: A very uneventful stout. Marston's Oyster Stout looks gorgeous, but fails to match the appearance in the drinking faculty. I wanted to love it, but it just wouldn't let me. Perhaps Simon and Garfunkel would've sung this if they were alcoholics; Marston's, you're breaking my heart, you're shaking my confidence in stout...

Serving type: bottle

05-26-2013 14:09:55 | More by SpruceMoose

Ciocanelu

Romania

3.5/5  rDev +5.1%

05-22-2013 18:38:25 | More by Ciocanelu

magpieken

Australia

3.5/5  rDev +5.1%

05-17-2013 06:50:51 | More by magpieken

PancakeMcWaffles

Germany

3/5  rDev -9.9%

05-16-2013 19:29:23 | More by PancakeMcWaffles

mattparsons

New Hampshire

3.5/5  rDev +5.1%

05-13-2013 23:44:25 | More by mattparsons

Treyliff

West Virginia

2.75/5  rDev -17.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.75

A- pours dark brown/black with a small light tan foamy head with shirt retention

S- light fruity notes with just a touch of chocolate malt, sweet sugar

T- light and sweet malty notes with just a touch of roasted notes, fruity sweetness with a slightly salty finish, the finish is dry with a touch of mineral flavor

M- medium body, medium-high carbonation, foamy mouthfeel, smooth finish

O- I didn't dislike this beer, but it tasted nothing like a stout, so grading by the style I had to give it a low rating.

Serving type: bottle

04-20-2013 03:35:42 | More by Treyliff

emerge077

Illinois

3.49/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

It's always funny to me when there's mention of "salty/briny" flavors in an Oyster Stout. This is brewed with shells, and there is no salt present at all. It's meant to be paired with oysters, but doesn't taste like them... all the power of suggestion.

Black body, thin cap of tan foam on top. Creamy surface texture.

Roasty aroma, some carob and mild coffee.

Flavors of roast malt, light bitterness, mild coffee again, not really chocolatey, maybe some dry unsweetened cocoa. Dry roasty aftertaste lingers. Light bodied, ample carbonation but it comes off a little watery in the finish. Overall it's alright but not something that's especially unique on it's own.

Serving type: bottle

03-31-2013 21:35:44 | More by emerge077

Nick_Foltz

Kentucky

4/5  rDev +20.1%

03-12-2013 09:28:05 | More by Nick_Foltz

spycow

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev +5.1%

03-10-2013 20:01:55 | More by spycow

zenithberwyn

California

3/5  rDev -9.9%

03-06-2013 05:35:07 | More by zenithberwyn

BILF

Israel

3.75/5  rDev +12.6%

01-14-2013 19:11:33 | More by BILF

barczar

Kentucky

3.68/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours am opaque deep brown with garnet highlights and a frothy, tan, one inch head that slowly dissipates, leaving thick sheets of lacing.

Roast malt, iron, a light fruity note, and a hint of floral hops form the aroma.

Tinny roast malt, coffee, and minerals form the initial flavor, with lightly charred breadcrust, nutty caramel malt, and dark cherries rounding out the profile. Floral hops and chocolate become pronounced as it warms.

Body is a tad light and somewhat creamy, with low carbonation.

Not a bad stout, albeit a little light on roast character. Minerally, which I believe will pair well with shellfish.

Serving type: bottle

01-05-2013 12:53:50 | More by barczar

Hanglow

United Kingdom (Scotland)

3.75/5  rDev +12.6%

12-24-2012 23:48:08 | More by Hanglow

DoubleJ

California

3.53/5  rDev +6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

I'm sure that fired oysters would go well with this beer, but I chose to drink this on its own. Coming out of a 500 ml bottle, on to the beer:

This is black with a red hue. An inch thick head forms initially, dropping to a thin lace and leaving a few spots around the glass. The aromas offer the nose bits of bitter chocolate, oyster flesh, and a big note of molasses. Not particularly sweet, which is especially true of the taste. Some stouts offer a little sweetness to compliment their roasty flavors, but Marston's Oyster Stout stays roasty and astringent all the way through. It takes getting used to, and it works in the end. Meanwhile, notes of unsweetened chocolate, fried oyster shells, vague roastiness, and a faint banana aspect round out the taste. The aftertaste leaves a salty and roasty flavor lingering. It's lighter-medium bodied with low and gentle carbonation.

I did hope for a little more, but this is acceptable. It must have been from my great experience with Porterhouse's Oyster Stout.

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2012 03:29:13 | More by DoubleJ

cfalovo97

Ontario (Canada)

3/5  rDev -9.9%

11-15-2012 02:09:44 | More by cfalovo97

Bellonc

Spain

2.5/5  rDev -24.9%

11-01-2012 22:44:19 | More by Bellonc

t0rin0

California

2.75/5  rDev -17.4%

10-25-2012 02:31:48 | More by t0rin0

mltobin

Connecticut

3.55/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Picked up a bottle of this at a small package store in New York state.

The appearance is black with very thin head to it.
Its` nose has moderate malts, bitter coffee, a bit of chocolate, kinda off balance though. Sipping on it, out of a pint glass and I taste cocoa, roasted malts, sugar. Mouthfeel is medium, drinks fairly easily. This is a decent stout, but not great one by any stretch. OK to give it a shot at least once.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2012 00:53:08 | More by mltobin

Offa

California

4.08/5  rDev +22.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This is a good, solid dry stout with nice well-rounded character. It is not a “sweet” stout and from everything I have read, including the Marston’s website, is not one of those that has oysters in it but is simply of a character that is supposed to go well with oysters, and it does. It is very drinkable, a good session stout, yet has plenty of well-rounded, if fairly subtle, character.

Almost black, it has a smallish dark tan head slowly shrinking to a foamy ring.
Aroma is rich candied coffee, figs, metal, hint of cheese and dark toffee.
Taste is woody bitterness, dark fruity sweetness, rich dark toast but overall rather dry, neither sweet nor bitter although it has elements of both. There is a briny/salty/gamey hint despite the supposed lack of oysters. It is very drinkable and enjoyable, slightly different, if not outstanding.

Serving type: bottle

09-26-2012 23:13:48 | More by Offa

pin

Australia

3.5/5  rDev +5.1%

09-25-2012 03:48:15 | More by pin

TheRealBigC

Nevada

2.98/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Looks like a stout, feels like a stout. Nose is very vague and boring. I guess some English hops and the mildest cocoa in the world. Taste follows suit, very boring and vague. I'm not really sure how this can be called a milk/sweet stout. Seems more like a standard English Stout. There's nothing particularly sweet about it. I'm doubly annoyed because the bar I was at swapped out Young's Double Chocolate Stout for this Double Boring Stout. Never tried eating oysters with a stout before. Maybe there's some magic with this beer in such a case, but I would never try this again alone.

Serving type: on-tap

09-01-2012 19:32:23 | More by TheRealBigC