Boddington's Pub Ale

[grainbrew]

From the can, thought I'd try it. Have some friends who swear by it.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was quite...astonished by a sensation I had in my mouth. I know this sounds strange, but it was like it had "anti flavour". Quite dry and very little flavour from grains or hops.

Nice creamy head from nitrogen gas, with small amounts of malt character in the nose.

I assume this beer is better on tap?

[BrewDog]

How cold was it? Maybe it needed to warm up?

[Stodbrew]

I tend to agree with you. It is by no means, a bad beer, its just really unremarkable. It is really a very quaffable beer, just not a lot going on, IMO.

[grainbrew]

Actually, It had only been in the freezer for a few minutes, so it was barely cold at all as I like my beer room temp (unless a lager).

You're right, it's not a bad beer. But I find that there's a serious lack of character when it comes to its flavour. Over the week I tried a Fuller's London Pride and Bass Pale Ale, and they both felt very "loaded" compared to this one.

I did notice some lingering bitterness, but very subtle. As it warmed to room temp, the malt became a bit more evident, but very faint. There is a slight metallic finish to it as well.

I can see why my friends like this beer. They like Bud and bud light and some similar canadian products, so all in all, they like their beers to have as little flavour as possible.

J

[stronk]

As close to bud as it's possible to get whilst still pretending it's an ale. Terrible stuff.

The worst part is that they try to pass it off as an authentic British ale and part of our heritage. Give me almost any other beer in the world any day.

[grainbrew]

Well, Budweiser actually tastes bad. This just didn't aste at all. had a nice mouth feel, but was an empty feeling because there was no flavour to celebrate.

I have to be honest, I've been quite disapointed in the last three "english" beers I've tried. None of that had any significant hop character if any at all!!! I'm use to english ales with in your face hops. There is a local "english" brewery and they're just awesome beers. Their bitter is spectacular, the peculiar is also quite fascinating, both display some great hop characteristics, and good session beers.

So...why are all the ales imported from england so bland regarding hops?

J

[grainbrew]

I had a HobGoblin last night. I enjoyed it, but again, where are all the hops? I have yet to find a beer in the store that had any substancial hop character.

I guess I'll have to brew my own

[grainbrew]

Any of you find yourselves in the same situation? Any suggestions for decent english ales?

J

[steveh]

Originally posted by grainbrew
Any of you find yourselves in the same situation?

Didn't we already go around about this discussion here? (http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5476)

Any suggestions for decent english ales?

Look into some of the Hopback (http://www.hopback.co.uk/) beers from England, I've found them to be moving toward hoppier recipes.

S.

[grainbrew]

Not exactly the same discussion. I was reffering to the "pale ale" style in the previous discussion.

I'm now saying that after trying 5 different english ales, none of them had any significant hop character. I spoke to the master brewer at the local brewery yesterday and he said that yes, english ales should have considerable hop character, and thus he brews his "english" ales as such. I had always been under the impression that this was the case.

Having been told that the beers I tried boasted some nice hops on tap, I wonder if they change the recipe for their bottled version?

Are there any bottled beers (english) that display with pride their hops?

J

[steveh]

Originally posted by grainbrew
Not exactly the same discussion. I was reffering to the "pale ale" style in the previous discussion.

It's all part of the same evolution in English ales - Bitter, Best Bitter (Pale Ale in draught form according to many historians), Extra Special Bitter. Also look into the link to the pre-previous discussion again.

I spoke to the master brewer at the local brewery yesterday and he said that yes, english ales should have considerable hop character

Everyone can have their own definition of "considerable," that said - it's obvious that your local brewmaster hasn't been drinking a lot of imported English ales - or hasn't visited England to sample some of the beer. In theory, he's right - English ales have been known to have good hop character - especially IPAs. In practice, it just ain't so these days. That is not to say that they don't use hops, or they don't have a distinct character all their own - particularly bottle-conditioned brands.

Fullers, Youngs, Conniston, Adnams, Hook-Norton, even Samuel Smith are making great quality English ales imported into North America - they are all very representative of the ales they serve in the U.K. these days.

Having been told that the beers I tried boasted some nice hops on tap, I wonder if they change the recipe for their bottled version?

Who are we talking about here?

Are there any bottled beers (english) that display with pride their hops?

Once again, look into Hopback's offerings if they're available near you.

S.

[grainbrew]

I was told that the Bass Pale Ale was considerably better and hoppier on tap from a friend who spent 2 years in England.

The brewmaster did spend some time in england. He is mostly reffering to traditional english ales.

To be honest, I have yet to taste any ale from a bottle that had even medium hopping rates. I take it that this is a new trend...unfortunately.

The only bottled beers that showcased their hops were local bottled beer; Granite Brewery's Peculiar, all the Garrison Brewery ales, and also the Proppeller brewery English Bitter. These three are located in Halifax Nova Scotia.

All in all, I am just looking for an enjoyable bottled beer from england. In my case, this would mean some degree of hops evident in the nose. I guess I'll stick to the local stuff.

J

[steveh]

Originally posted by grainbrew
I was told that the Bass Pale Ale was considerably better and hoppier on tap from a friend who spent 2 years in England.

The brewmaster did spend some time in england. He is mostly reffering to traditional english ales.

To be honest, I have yet to taste any ale from a bottle that had even medium hopping rates. I take it that this is a new trend...unfortunately.

Better get their definitions on hoppy. I was in London and Salisbury for a week back in 1998, drinking traditional English ales (though never a Bass, because it wasn't available on cask and everyone told me it was little different from what we have here in the 'States), and never had one near as hoppy as any U.S. micro-brew. Any other opinions, Stronk? Richard?

All in all, I am just looking for an enjoyable bottled beer from england. In my case, this would mean some degree of hops evident in the nose.

Well, that being your particular definition of enjoyable, you may be best to stick with what fits the bill. I enjoy the diversity of different styles from all over the globe and can't bring myself to define my likes based on one characteristic alone. Today I'm looking forward to a nice malty Christmas bock from Mahr's Brewing in Bamberg, tomorrow it may be one of the "Bad Elf" winter ales from Oxfordshire I found in my local paint store (which I hear has a good overall hop character).

S.

[Fast_Eddy]

Something like Young's SLA is a highly hopped beer but the hop profile is strikingly different than American micro highly hopped. EKG is much more subtle, IMO. That may be what grainbrew is having trouble with.

[grainbrew]

It's not the "only" characteristic that I enjoy in beer. I enjoy many different types of beers, but have a soft spot for some hoppy ales. I don't like overabundant hops, but it's nice when they are evident.

The two all grains I've brewed turned out very impressive as far as hops go. My english bitter is just how I like them, so will keep tweaking my recipe a bit to bring out certain aspects.

It's too bad that you can't find traditional english ales in bottles anymore. Although I've yet to try Fuller's ESB, which I really am looking forward to.

J

[stronk]

Shepherd Neame (sp?). I was drinking their beers tonight, on tap. Even the beer that's supposed to be strong, dark and malty (Bishop's Finger) is significantly hopped.

[grainbrew]

I can understand the "brewing renaissance" now. It's impossible to get certain types of beers nowadays.

Hey, sounds like a good excuse to brew more.

J