Brian Perkins, president of AB InBev in Western Europe, added: “We are excited to relaunch Boddingtons Cask Ale in partnership with JW Lees, combining one of the UK’s most iconic beer brands with one of its most respected brewers. We see real growth potential for Boddingtons in the UK on-trade, and this is a great example of how strategic partnerships can unlock value for both businesses and beer lovers alike.”Following on from their recent investment in Draught Bass, another brand owned by BBG, this represents a significant vote of confidence in the cask ale sector from the major international brewers. However, any revival of a historic brand is very much dependent on people’s memories of the original, and in the case of Boddingtons this falls into two distinct strands.
In 1969, the original Boddingtons company successfully fought off a high-profile hostile takeover bid from Allied Breweries. In retrospect, this can be seen as a precursor to the rejection of the “big is beautiful” approach to brewing that manifested itself in the 1970s, spearheaded by CAMRA. Boddingtons were one of the poster boys of the original real ale movement. They had 270 pubs spread across the North-West, so it wasn’t particularly hard to find, and they had the badge of honour of every one selling real ale. Their Bitter, described in the 1978 Good Beer Guide as “straw-coloured and exceptionally bitter”, gained legendary status. Even though it had a modest Original Gravity of 1035, it was very thoroughly attenuated, which was believed to result in an alcohol content of about 3.9% ABV, giving it a bit of extra kick and contributing towards its distinctively dry character.
However, around the turn of the decade, something seemed to happen to it. Opinions vary as to whether it was a yeast infection, or a change in the hop supply, or whatever, but Boddingtons Bitter somehow lost its distinctive character. The brewery insisted that nothing had chanhed, but it just wasn’t the same. Growing up in North Cheshire, it was a beer I rarely came across, but when I moved to Stockport in 1985 I found myself wondering what all the fuss was about. It was still a decent beer, but it certainly wasn’t outstanding in comparison to its local competitors, and neither did it qualify as being exceptionally bitter. Anyone who remembers it from how it was in the glory days of the 1970s will now be of pensionable age.
I don’t propose to go in to detail on the convoluted history of the Boddingtons company, but in 1989 the Strangeways brewery and associated brands were sold to Whitbread, leaving it as a pure pubco, which eventually fell into the questionable hands of Greenalls. At first, Whitbread were primarily interested in the cask brand, which gained national distribution and high-prfile advertising using the “Cream of Manchester” slogan. There were some memorable TV ads featuring first Anna Chancellor and then Melanie Sykes.
However, in the 1990s attention increasingly shifted to the then innovative nitrokeg smooth version and the “widget” canned beer, with cask taking a back seat. As Whitbread exited pub retailing, and the wave of enthusiasm for nitrokeg dissipated, the Strangeways brewery was closed and Boddingtons faded as a brand. Production of the cask version eventually ended up with Hydes in Moss Side, and the alcoholic strength was upped to 4.1%, which took it into a different strength category and alienated many long-standing drinkers. My memory of it in this era was was it was a sweetish, rather gloopy beer that bore little resemblance to the original.
Eventually it was put out of its misery in 2012, although the nitrokeg version, brewed at Magor in South Wales lingered on. Along with the other leading smooth bitters, it has now been reduced to 3.4% to take advantage of duty savings, and has been reduced to the status of something of a “zombie brand” that crops up in downmarket keg pubs and social clubs and appeals to a dwindling group of older drinkers.
As I said above, the decision to relaunch Boddingtons Cask represents a major investment in the cask sector by BBG. Broadly speaking, this is welcome news, although no doubt it will cause some conflict amongst those who at the same bewail the decline in cask’s market share but denigrate any attempt by the international brewers to involve themselves in it. To succeed, cask needs strong, recognisable brands.
I will certainly be keen to try it when it appears in December, and if done well it’s likely to be the kind of beer I like. However, it will need to be a good product in its own right rather than depending on fading memories of former glories.
The press release also suggests that Lees are to some extent getting into bed with BBG rather than simply acting as a contract brewer. As William Lees-Jones says in the press release, “We also look forward to working with Budweiser Brewing Group with their portfolio of market-leading lagers and premium packaged beers in our pubs.” Lees’ own cask beers, while I like them, are often seen as something of an acquired taste, and you have to wonder whether this will lead to Boddingtons become the leading bitter in their own pubs. And where will it leave their own MPA (“Manchester Pale Ale”), which was deliberately created to be reminiscent of classic Boddingtons?
A few weeks ago I drove passed a pub that still had an old Boddies sign outside. And I wondered if they had it on sale - even in its current incarnation. There's more than a few.
ReplyDeleteRon Pattinson has got multiple recipes based on brewing records on the Shut Up About Barclay Perkins blog. And if you look at them, there's changes that should - in many ways - be for the better - in the 70s and 80s. There's no obvious reason in the recipes they brewed to suggest the decline. But in one from 1987 he notes they were using very old hops, which he suggests could have impacted the flavour.
All this was before my time. It was in the 90s when I first started drinking, when Boddies was everywhere on keg. I was never that fussed about it, but I'm a homebrewer and recently decided to brew some Boddies using an old recipe from Ron's site. It's a fantastic beer, and would fit in well with a lot of the golden and pale ales on the bar. If Lees can evoke its history in what they brew - and I'm sure they'll do a great job - it may well stand a chance.
I remember trying some Boddingtons in the early 1980s - mainly because it was famous and it was the only cask beer in the pub. I wasn't impressed - probably because it was pretty weak and bland compared to my usual Young's Special. I doubt if I'll try the new version. Still a bit too weak for my taste.
ReplyDeleteNow bring back Theakston's Cool Cask.
ReplyDeleteNot had a cask beer since the spoons january sale.
ReplyDeleteWill try one when it comes back and if decent, drink the stuff.
the keg and cans have become utter filth, tbh, barely even beer.
hope its decent enough to deserve the brand name
This can only be good news and I look forward to trying it! I grew up surrounded by Boddies and Robbies houses, as they were often referred to, and so those two beers are as good as being in my DNA; they are the definition of beer as far as I'm concerned. They were not strongly flavoured or strong in alcohol, both were simply good, refreshing pints to look forward to at the end of the day, in well-run, traditional pubs. I never noticed, or have heard of, the change in Boddies that you mention, although Robinsons' bitter has definitely changed over the years.
ReplyDeleteI remembered an extract from an AB InBev website of a few years ago.
ReplyDelete“The UK has a strong portfolio of AB InBev brands. This includes, global brands, Stella Artois and Budweiser, international brands, Beck’s, Leffe and Hoegaarden, as well as local brands, including Boddingtons and Bass.”
As I said at the time, Boddies and Draught Bass…the awkward clever kids in the class for AB InBev.
At last, some decent bitter.
ReplyDeleteNo more of that filthy horrible microbrew muck that the CAMRAs like to sniff. Proper bitter for normal people.