Boddingtons on a hum-drum Mont Onontio

Some of Manchester's finest once sang "The rain falls hard on a hum-drum town," and for a Mancunian beer such as Boddingtons it seemed appropriate to take it out on a walk through the woods in drizzling conditions. Sadly, I have to admit that this post should have been done sometime before the 1980s when Boddingtons was still an independent brewery, simply to give my stage presentation more honesty. Facing the competitive and political pressures from other brewing interests means today that Boddington may still be called the "Cream of Manchester" but it certainly is not brewed there anymore at the old Strangeways Brewery. Indeed, as so many that have felt the pressure of globalization, Boddingtons has now become an AB-InBev brand. On the bright side, I was not so much concerned about the temperature, as a British ale will always respond well to lower temperature serving conditions. I am a little embarrassed and ambivalent about the container with the "widget", appalling to the purist in me, yet its copy creation of a a draft beer is reassuring that even on the peak of a small mountain, with no amenities other than an ample supply of old shoe parts, a draft beer can be enjoyed without a care in the world. Boddingtons is technically well made. The sweet malt of caramel and toast on the front palate finishes in a nice dark crystal malt acidity, and both malt characters are well accompanied by a mellow lingering bitterness. All this, of course, typical for British ales. The widget's magic also meant that the mouthfeel of this beer was indeed creamy and characteristically low in carbonation. Ah, a draft beer with a view!

See how the widget creates three layers of beer when you pour it, including the in-between head and liquid stage seen in  the picture below, which friends who do serious research in beer brewing tell me is a serious topic of study.

One has to like the copper appearance - smooth and creamy, as it says on the can.