Tasting Notes: Marston's Owd Rodger, Marston's Firestoker

Brewery: Marston’s
Location: Burton upon Trent, England
ABV: 7.6% (Owd Rodger) / 5% (Firestoker)
Version: Bottled
Source: Somewhere in York (Owd Rodger) / Tesco (Firestoker)

I mentioned in an earlier post that I’ve had good and bad experiences with strong ales and I’m afraid I have to say that Owd Rodger was definitely one of the worst.

It poured a thick, treacly black-brown with an effervescent head (actually, it was positively fizzy), which quickly went flat. One sip and my teeth were screaming for mercy: this stuff was incredibly sweet. Nauseatingly so, in fact; a bit like cough mixture laced with golden syrup. In fact, it turned out to be undrinkably sweet… another mouthful went down me, just to check (yep, still quite revolting) and then the rest went down the sink…

Oddly, this is the second beer that I’ve ended up tipping rather than tippling in the past couple of months. The other was also a Marston’s brew: Firestoker.

This one poured a pleasing, golden amber colour and the taste was okay to start with, but quickly developed into a weird, chemical tang that, once again, was massively sweet. It reminded me of cheap, nasty toffee, or those sugar-foam sweets in the shape of prawns (of all things) that we used to get when we were kids. The label claims a ‘light vanilla’ character, but I reckon someone must have jogged the brewer’s elbow when he was tipping in the essence.

I’ll not be dropping in on either of these two again while my memory holds up, that I can promise you.

  • http://www.edash.wordpress.com Ed Ashby

    They must be bad. I’ve been lucky in not having had a beer yet that I haven’t been able to stick with, even if I haven’t really been enjoying it. Sometimes they improve so I tend to hang on in, just in case.

  • http://www.darrenturpin.me.uk Darren Turpin

    Well, these two were just too unpalatably sweet for my taste, rather than undrinkable, full-stop. And neither was actually as bad as the pint of Greene King Fireside I tried to drink in London a couple of weeks ago, which was rank. I managed three sips of that before my stomach threatened to revolt on me… must have been a bad one, but someone else at my table was drinking it and seemed to think it was fine. Maybe my glass had washing-up liquid in it or something…

  • http://boakandbailey.com Bailey

    I tip beers quite frequently if I’m really not enjoying them. If I’m only supposed to consume 4 units a day, I’ll be damned if I’m going to waste them on terrible beer. We’ve got some Owd Roger in but haven’t cracked it open yet. Looking forward to it now…

  • http://www.darrenturpin.me.uk Darren Turpin

    Well, I honestly hope you can prove me wrong and find it a thoroughly enjoyable drop… :)

  • Peter

    I poured a bottle of Firestoker down the sink last night. It was undrinkable.

    It had a strangely overpowering chemical vanilla taste mixed with sugary/marshmallow.

    A bit like Coca Cola Vanilla. Not nice.

  • TimD

    Firestoker is truly disgusting, I agree. It tastes like washing up liquid, not that I drink washing up liquid regularly! I’m not sure why Marstons think something like this will sell.

    Owd Roger definitely did start at the Royal Standard of England, I remember this being there about 15-20 years ago and I’m sure the strength was stronger (9%?). I forget who the brewer was thou, I suspect not Marstons. Personally, I actually like Owd Roger, it’s very bittery sweet sort of favour, a little like barley wine, but it’s not one to have more than two of.

  • Grant

    You’re wrong by miles. Owd Rodger’s sweetness is a treasure trove for the palate! “Cough mixture laced with golden syrup”? Highly inaccurate! The sweetness is just right for the potency, just as mead’s sweetness is a coy disguise for its potency. The point of drinking Owd Rodger is to get drunk and enjoy doing so, and for me, that’s mission accomplished!

    Your review of Owd Rodger, in so many words, is rubbish.

  • http://www.darrenturpin.me.uk Darren Turpin

    Hi Grant – Not rubbish, mate, just an honest reaction to the beer as I found it at the time. Each to their own, every man entitled to his opinion, etc. etc. eh?

    Tell you what though, I reckon my beer-palate has changed a lot in the last 18 months and I seem to be enjoying sweeter beers a lot more than I used to, so if I find another bottle of Owd Rodger, I’ll give it another go and see if I like it any better second time around.

  • Andy McNeilage

    Darren, I think you must have been unlucky with this pair, maybe a ‘bad couple of pints’, as I have always found them good quaffing beers.
    Firestoker is one of very few beers that I cool in the fridge before drinking, which accentuates the vanilla, oakiness and subtle cherry in the aroma, which translates into the taste, more like an interesting and tasty lager than a bitter, very refreshing in the summer months with a light fizz but good mouthfeel.
    Just cracked open a bottle of Owd Rodger (drink by 31/01/2010 – whoops must check the others) to reconfirm my memory.
    Sweet fruity aroma on opening, good head when poured with maltiness which disappeared after only 2 minutes (the head not the maltiness), sweet taste initially giving way to maltiness, a hint of fruit and a long dry finish. Not as sweet as I remember (not overwhelming as you found it) and a drier finish without the usual fruitiness…..maybe you should keep the bottle past its sell by date so it doesn’t have that ‘incredible sweetness’, really enjoying this Owd Rodger ‘style variation ‘, but then I enjoy the normal sweeter version too.
    Give them another go Darren, taking note of above and I trust, like me, you will have a better experience with these 2 beers. Cheers.

  • http://www.darrenturpin.me.uk Darren Turpin

    Cheers Andy – good advice there on both counts! I’d definitely be happy to give Owd Rodger another go and chilling the Firestoker might be worth a try as well. I’ll keep my eye out for bottles of either one – they don’t often show up in my neck of the woods, but maybe next time I’m down in the Midlands.

  • edward fitzdobson

    owd roger hits the spot for me what good brew the thought of an age gone by when men were men and needed a good drink to survive the next day i love this splendid brew

  • BOB LOMAS

    As I am very old I can remember good beer, before Watneys Red Barrel and its high power advertising ruined the pallets of young beer drinkers. In those good old beer drinking days mild and mild and bitter were the men’s favourites as unlike today they had to work hard and needed the sugar for enegy. All very different to todays gnats P lagers. Today mild is almost unobtainable so I was very pleased to find ‘Owd Roger’ not as sweet as suggested above, very smooth and with good body. People who chill good beer suggests they have a limited pallet, for one thing it kills the ‘nose’. Good beer should be treated like a good red wine and drank at room temperature.

  • http://www.folkale.com Darren Turpin

    Hi Bob – If you’re missing the mild then you need to keep an eye out for CAMRA’s Mild Month, which they’ve run each May for the past couple of years and hopefully they’ll do the same in 2012 as well. Find a list of your local participating pubs and you’ll probably find a couple of dozen different milds on offer from breweries all over the place. Mild’s not as unobtainable as it used to be, I promise you.

  • RUE

    ODE ROGER FANTASTIC !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

  • Sub Rosa

    having some now the sweetness tempers the strength as it should do – superb!

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