Boddington's Draught Bitter: The cream of Manchester?
Written: Apr 19 '01 (Updated Jun 23 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good reproduction of draught flow in a can. Decent and easy drinking.
Cons: Unchallenging flavor, needs more bitterness. USA drinkers will be disappointed by lack of carbonation.
The Bottom Line: A beer I drink and share regularly with friends in England. Worth a try but not too challenging on the tatsebuds.
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| andaryl's Full Review: Boddington's Draught Bitter |
For many years in England, thanks to the company’s marketing, Boddington’s has become well known as the cream of Manchester. This is great news for me as a Leeds United fan, as the local Leeds brew Tetley’s is much better. It’s also great news when you consider that other great breweries such as Samuel Smith, Theakston, Black Sheep and Timothy Taylor are also based in Yorkshire, further adding ammunition to the modern day war of the roses (that’s Yorkshire vs Lancashire to you non-historians).
OK I didn’t want to start off my review on a war of words, as I have enjoyed many a Boddington’s and still do on occasion. In this instance my brother-in-law from England brought me a mixed pack and I decided to kick back and enjoy one last night.
I was drinking from the can, which contains one of those draught flow system widgets, which Boddington’s was one of the first to come up with in the early 90’s. The draught flow is probably what brought this beer to fame. I remember my fascination at how my first ever can of Boddington’s poured.
I opened the can and was greeted with a sharp fizz followed by a couple of glugs as the widget went to work. The pour is very foamy and creamy, and I needed to be careful to get the full 440 ml into the glass. The milkiness slowly gives way to a pale golden, ginger ale like color with a creamy white foam. There’s no sign of bubbles, something which I have heard complaints about, but also something which is typical of an English draft ale.
On the nose this beer gives very little away. There’s a little hop for sure but mostly a sweet maltiness. On the palate it’s very smooth and creamy, but fairly light, I’d have to use the word milky again. Initially the flavor is a chocolate maltiness, which kind of lingers around the mouth. There’s a little dryness in the aftertatse, with a brief hint of bitterness. As English bitters go, this is not bitter at all.
Would I recommend it? Yes and no. I’d put this on one of my every day beers list. It’s a pleasant easy drinker, and nicely satisfying. However the beer does nothing to challenge my tatsebuds. It’s the sort of beer I could drink in quantity on a night at the local. It’s also a nice thirst quencher and works well chilled on a summer’s afternoon or straight out of the garage.
You could call this a UK domestic and I’d recommend it far above the USA domestics. domestic refers only to Bud, Coors and Miller, most bars class everything else as import. . However drinkers in the USA will find this overpriced. If you’ve got a few extra dollars to spend on English beer try Sam Smith’s, Newcastle, Bass, Young’s or Theakston.
Sorry Lancashire, but I would recommend Thwaite’s and Holt and Robinson’s breweries as well as Lees Harvest Ale and Lancaster Bomber as some of my favorite west of the Pennine beers.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
andaryl
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Member: Andrew Smith
Location: California via Yorkshire
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