Welcome to Beers and Such, the only site you need to visit for craft beer reviews by a guy that's just learning about craft beers and telling you, the readers, what I think about them. My opinion is unqualified and unhindered by things like knowledge and other such nonsense, so sit back and enjoy.
Today I'm going off the beaten path and reviewing a non-craft beer; I hope you'll all forgive me. This beer is also an avatar of sorts, which I will explain as we go. I couldn't find the beer I wanted, so this is my stand in.
Today's beer is Boddingtons Pub Ale by InBev UK Limited in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. That's a mouthful. Boddingtons, often called Boddy's for short, is a classic pub beer historically pulled with those big tap handles that the bar keep has to pull over and over to fill the pint.
Out of the can, this creamy ale is canned with a nitro puck that recreated the super tiny bubbles that make up a soft creamy head. The bubbles "cascade" from the body of the beer up to the head slowly, and it's a beautiful thing to see. It's 4.6%, so it's friendly, and it's very very good beer.
In honour of my friend Stu that recently joined the beersandsuch Facebook page, I want to take you all on a bit of a trip down memory lane and explain how I came about appreciating these beers. It will help if you imagine your author, me, staring dramatically off into the middle distance as we fade to a pub in London, England 20 years ago.
It was the year 2000. The world had just bid a cautious farewell to the 1900's forever and the dreaded Y2K scare failed to materialize. Some of you may not know what Y2K was, and that makes me feel old, you pricks.
Anyway, I was living in England at the time and early in my stay overseas, I met Stu. I was a 20 something know-it-all certain in my belief that Canadian beer was far superior to British beer, and my opinion could not be swayed.
Fast forward a few months and I heard on the radio that Rage Against the Machine was coming to London, and tickets were purchased. I wasn't living in London, I was on the south coast in a place called Bournemouth, so a bus trip was in order.
A couple hours before the show we were all at a pub in London and pints were flowing. Stu bought me a pint of Caffery's Cream Ale, which the Boddingtons in this post is standing in for as I couldn't find a Caffery's anywhere. In my egotistically certain 20 something mindset, I naturally declared that this beer he brought me was crap compared to Labatt Blue!
SMH, as the cool kids say these days.
Not so easily deterred, Stu handed me the pint, pointed to a spot about a third of the way down the glass, and told me to drink that much and then tell him what I thought about this beer. I'm sure I said something sarcastic and ridiculous before proceeding to drink the prescribed amount of beer.
Well goddam if that wasn't the best beer I had ever tasted right about the spot where Stu told me to drink to. It was amazing. I had no idea what I was missing out on being a close minded douche-nozzle, but my eyes were opened that night.
From that point on for a very long time, I drank English cream ales almost exclusively. I didn't want to go back to be close minded, so I also tried best bitters (also awesome), and began a lifelong journey of beer experimentation.
After many samples of many different beers from all over, I eventually found my way to craft beers, and to starting a blog about my journey through the craft beer market. I love the discovery that comes with trying new beer, both the good and the bad, and it all started for me that night in London before a Rage Against the Machine concert.
It was a great night, and the lingering effects of that night are here in front of you right now. So a big thank you to Stu for forcing me to open my damn eyes and see what else is out there, and welcome to the group, my friend.
The concert was awesome, too. Rage was a pivotal band in my transition from childhood to manhood, and this was the one and only time I ever saw them live.
My rating: 10/10 easy. The memories are worth the price of the beer.
My lovely wife is my second sipper and she actually liked this beer, too, without the memories that go with it.
My wife's rating; 5.5/10
There you have it, friends. A walk down memory lane with the wrong beer, sure, but a good time all the same.
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