Vale of Glamorgan Marathon Man

Welsh brewers Vale of Glamorgan brought out this beer as a seasonal in time for the olympics as reported by Brew Wales here.

However it only appeared in my local Spar shop a few weeks ago which surprised me a little as it was limited to a 1000 bottles only, and its still there now, so perhaps they extended the run on it.

Marathan Man is a bitter, 4.4% abv, £2.09 (I think), and the label describes it as a "Tawny best bitter with a kick of gooseberries and blackcurrant from a medley of late hops".

The bottle I drank for the picture was strange, it was almost like a fizzy cordial drink, with those gooseberries and sharp currants in evidence. But it seemed to have no backbone, no malt body that you would expect in any beer.

Thus I decided to give it another chance a week later and got another bottle, This was much better, it had body to it, still quite light in the mouth though, there was that sharpness from the fruit, and a strong, to me, woody quality.

Not one I think I'll seek out again, (either variations!).