Boddington's in central Liverpool?

I can't personally recommend anywhere, but this site has some info that might be of use (says it's regularly updated, but see below)

the handpump sign seems to be shown next to Boddies in a couple of at least - The Liffey, Renshaw Street next door to Grand Central (last visited

Had a nice night in Ship & Mitre Saturday, despite local rumours of standards slipping, I saw no evidence, - just a busy pub with a big range including some sublime cask beer - the Foxfield WhiteMax was excellent, by far one of the best English-brewed WeißeBier's I've ever had. (only lacking the fizz of a good German version). The range in the Lion Tavern was a bit lacking (& the board not updated) plus the beers were only,OK - Deuchars especially was a bit dull.

Good luck in your hunt for the Boddie! Cheers, MikeMcG, Wirral.

Thanks, Mike, for the trouble. I can't follow the link from my workplace, I'll take a look later. Bods seems to be an elusive brew compared to a few years ago. Has output decreased since Hydes took it over? Is it no longer the flagship brew it once was?

Believe me, this is an altruistic gesture on my part! Can't see myself in Yates's somehow. But I'll have a taste when I track it down, of course. Unlike my pal, I don't envisage more than one sample, but we'll see...

In message , Chris Palmer writes

IMHO Bods has not been a flagship beer since b4 the family sold out.

On a recent trip to Hydes it was almost the best beer of the night surprisingly. Think we caught the tail end of two Hyde's cask s though.

They in effect have a separate brewery in the yard for Boddies. Quite interesting. They said how much cask Boddies they brew, but shame on me, I can't remember how much. But it was a gobsmackingly high figure.

Peter

I'm not going to argue with that, my local being a Boddies tied house in those days, which was great: an oasis in a desert of Greenall Whitley tank beer.

It was really more of a cult beer then - you could find it in a handful of places in free houses outside the North West, but when Whitbreads took them over, Bods was one of *their* flagship brews, and it seemed to be everywhere, especially the former Greenalls estate, ironically. Now, as was previously mentioned, you don't see the ads any more and I don't know, however huge Hydes output may be, whether they have the same capacity that Strangeways had. Did the men in suits decide that it had had its day?

My mate never let go of his affection for Bods, whereas I moved on. He's now trying to convince me that it really is just like the Good Old Days again!

Indeed Boddies lost its character (the bitter anyway - the mild was IME always superior) long before Boddies sold their soul to Whitbread.

I'm sure that the Hydes version is superior to the last version brewed at the late lamented Strangeways brewery, but Hydes are under contract to replicate the former brew, not turn it into something worth crossing the road for. And to their credit, they seem to be doing an excellent job.

As for Whitbread, sorry InBev or whatever the name of the month is, they couldn't give a damn about cask Boddies, otherwise they wouldn't have hived it off in the first place. They can make far more money out of the fizz version or chemical lagerades.

I don't think they needed the same capacity as Boddies, as, AFAIK, Hydes are only contracted to brew the cask version. Presumably the can & keg versions are actually now the cream of Salmesbury (Lancs) or Magor (South Wales). Though, because of Hydes involvement InBev seem to feel it's they're OK to say that its - "Brewed in Manchester since

It's an odd one as it was such a big brand & well advertised. Maybe as Boddies became Whitbread became Interbrew became InBev, in the bigger world of brewing it's getting ignored by the international be-suited ones? (they also own Bass, a bigger name in the world, perhaps?)

Buy him one of those Vesta curries too :~) cheers MikeMcG

I can't begin to get my head around the idea of keg Boddies! I think they slipped that one in while I wasn't paying attention, but I get the drift that the cask product is now far lower in output volume, and the ads make no reference to the distinction.

He'd be appalled at the idea of eating a curry! Hard to believe it, but there are some people in their forties so set in their ways...

Thanks to all concerned for their input on this.