You kids sure have strange ideas about drinking alcohol

[mountmccabe]

Boddingtons is delicious. It is like a warm weather version of Guinness.

[coldforge]

Quiet, Arizona, haters are talking

[davy]

I think Fat Tire is fine. I went to a minor league baseball game last year that served the standard awful beers and Fat Tire, and I was god damned overjoyed to pay the extra dollar for it. It's not exceptional, really, just dependable and drinkable and available, now that they've decided to go all-in on their east-of-the-mississippi distribution.

I really like New Belgium's 1554.

Also, Newcastle is one of the very few beers that I'll go out of my way to avoid. I find it unpleasant to drink and would (almost) prefer to drink nothing at all.

[elpollodiablo]

Just drank two liters of Paulaner Salvator. Glad I don't have to be up until ten tomorrow.

[jess]

Yeah, I agree that Fat Tire is fine (and it was totally my gateway into craft beers, back when I was in school on the west coast). In that same scenario, I'd be very happy to have one too (just like I am to get a Harpoon Ale at Fenway for the extra buck), but there's a lot of people who LOVE it, which to me it's not worthy of.

[fishjim]

I started on Boddington's in '93 during my year in Nick Ink's Kingdom. It was my favorite bitter - or at least I thought it was until I was told a few years ago it's not actually a bitter. Care to rule, Nick?

Anyway, good chance I took to it because of the ad campaign. The one I remember (but can't find online) began like those old commercials for dandruff shampoos, where a guy's in the shower with half his scalp lathered with one product, the other half with another.

In this ad, the winning foam was from his pint, which he was drinking in the shower.

[FreddyKnuckles]

Boddington's is a cream ale.  And a pretty par to below par one at that.  Nothing bitter about it.

[Antero]

It is neither bitter nor a bitter.

[fishjim]

 

Well, this explains why I never found another bitter I liked.

[Ignatius]

Re: New Belgium-- Fat Tire is one of the most overhyped beers this side of Chicago, purely (I'm convinced) due to its unavailability. It's fine, for what it is, but I certainly would never go out of my way for it. Here, just about 15 min from the Indiana border, people actually drive across state lines for it.

Funny. We used to cross into Ohio for private-label malt liquor on Sundays.

[mountmccabe]

Y'all're saying that Boddingtons Bitter is not a bitter?

I think Nick should actually rule since we're talking about an English beer and using English terminology and as such it is correct to call Boddingtons a bitter.

But they know most Americans don't know what the hell that means and/or have other meanings for such words which is why Boddingtons in the US is labeled "Pub Ale."

Also it is not a Cream Ale.

[Antero]

The Boddington's Pub Ale common in the United States is, according to BeerAdvocate, an English Pale Ale rather than a bitter.  These are obviously broad categories, but it really doesn't taste like a bitter.

It also isn't called Boddington's Bitter over here because it's actually a different beer - I don't know precisely how the recipe varies but the abv is 1% higher apparently.

[fishjim]

Sounds right, Antero. I actually enjoyed Budweiser in England, since it's export strength and an entirely different beer. The Boddingtons here doesn't have the bite of the bitters I remember. But what do I know. Put a pint in front of me, I drink it.

[elpollodiablo]

Boddington's is a bitter, but not an ESB nor technically an "English Pale," though it does fall under the rubric of English Pale Ales, according to the BJCP. The style is actually classed as an Ordinary Bitter.

From the BJCP:

8A. Standard/Ordinary Bitter

Aroma: The best examples have some malt aroma, often (but not always) with a caramel quality. Mild to moderate fruitiness is common. Hop aroma can range from moderate to none (UK varieties typically, although US varieties may be used). Generally no diacetyl, although very low levels are allowed.

Appearance: Light yellow to light copper. Good to brilliant clarity. Low to moderate white to off-white head. May have very little head due to low carbonation.

Flavor: Medium to high bitterness. Most have moderately low to moderately high fruity esters. Moderate to low hop flavor (earthy, resiny, and/or floral UK varieties typically, although US varieties may be used). Low to medium maltiness with a dry finish. Caramel flavors are common but not required. Balance is often decidedly bitter, although the bitterness should not completely overpower the malt flavor, esters and hop flavor. Generally no diacetyl, although very low levels are allowed.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium-light body. Carbonation low, although bottled and canned examples can have moderate carbonation.

Overall Impression: Low gravity, low alcohol levels and low carbonation make this an easy-drinking beer. Some examples can be more malt balanced, but this should not override the overall bitter impression. Drinkability is a critical component of the style; emphasis is still on the bittering hop addition as opposed to the aggressive middle and late hopping seen in American ales.

Comments: The lightest of the bitters. Also known as just “bitter.” Some modern variants are brewed exclusively with pale malt and are known as golden or summer bitters. Most bottled or kegged versions of UK-produced bitters are higher-alcohol versions of their cask (draught) products produced specifically for export. The IBU levels are often not adjusted, so the versions available in the US often do not directly correspond to their style subcategories in Britain. This style guideline reflects the “real ale” version of the style, not the export formulations of commercial products.

History: Originally a draught ale served very fresh under no pressure (gravity or hand pump only) at cellar temperatures (i.e., “real ale”). Bitter was created as a draught alternative (i.e., running beer) to country-brewed pale ale around the start of the 20th century and became widespread once brewers understood how to “Burtonize” their water to successfully brew pale beers and to use crystal malts to add a fullness and roundness of palate.

Ingredients: Pale ale, amber, and/or crystal malts, may use a touch of black malt for color adjustment. May use sugar adjuncts, corn or wheat. English hops most typical, although American and European varieties are becoming more common (particularly in the paler examples). Characterful English yeast. Often medium sulfate water is used.

Vital Statistics:    OG: 1.032 – 1.040
IBUs: 25 – 35    FG: 1.007 – 1.011
SRM: 4 – 14    ABV: 3.2 – 3.8%
Commercial Examples: Fuller's Chiswick Bitter, Adnams Bitter, Young's Bitter, Greene King IPA, Oakham Jeffrey Hudson Bitter (JHB), Brains Bitter, Tetley’s Original Bitter, Brakspear Bitter, Boddington's Pub Draught

The bolded bit is probably why we Americans wouldn't think of it as bitter/a bitter. Late-boil hop additions are what give beers like Two-Hearted, Stone, Racer 5, etc., their bigass bitter kick--but this is a different style entirely, of course. It emphasizes bittering hops (or boiling hops), which add bitterness, but not flavor.

The BJCP categories related to English Pales, it's worth noting, are in part a function of wanting some distinction in competitions. These styles (Standard/Special/Extra Special Bitters) are all very much interrelated, and the differences all lie in gravity points, IBUs and ABV. The ingredients all tend to be the same. InBev UK lists the ABV for Boddington's at between 3.8% and 4.1%, putting it at the high end for this style.

[FreddyKnuckles]

Shut the fuck up.

[Thermofusion]

Fat Tire tastes like a medium-bodied amber ale with an undercurrent of burnt food.

Spot-on.

[YojimboMonkey]

I am probably going to be drinking a bunch of Fat Tire tonight as it is the only craft brew option at my home bar for dart league and we're throwing a home game tonight.  Still, $6 for a bomber, you can't complain too much, especially when you'd be paying $3 for a 12oz bottle of Miller Lite.  If it was $2 or less for High Life I'd probably get that instead.

Also I talk to one of the dudes on the team we're throwing against tonight all the time about homebrewing, he's got a nephew that brews, and so I'm bringing a bomber of my brown ale for the guy to take home.  'cause I guess they probably won't let me drink it at the bar.  oh well.

[FreddyKnuckles]

One time at a microbrewery  I ordered a couple pints, then I ordered a growler and went and drank it in the corner.  When I came back for a second one they were not pleased.

[Antero]

Sierra Nevada Kellerweis is delicious and in my mouth.

Fat Tire tastes like a medium-bodied amber ale with an undercurrent of burnt food.

Spot-on.

Credit for that observation has to go to my homegirl.  She's got a very fine-tuned palate.

[fishjim]

In the beer aisle today, I walked right past the Boddingtons and left with Boont Amber.

[FreddyKnuckles]

I had a pint of boddingtons last Saturday which I guess I was hatin'. It's a pretty decent beer, probably, it's just that every time I get it i am stoked and then I take a drink and it's like oh yeah that's right this beer is really boring and not that tasty.

[fishjim]

Yeah, it's more like a milkshake than a beer.

[alex]

We won a bottle of protestant whiskey at quiz night the other day. I think I'm with McNulty in preferring Jameson, though.

[elpollodiablo]

I prefer Bushmills in my coffee, though.

[fishjim]

When I lived by myself in SF, there was a bad-energy dude with Robert Plant hair and a Meatloaf body who was selling crank or crack or smack, never figured out which. One morning I stopped by the corner store for gum or something while waiting for the bus. Guy was there in a disintegrating T, dirty shorts, barefoot, with a Marlboro Red burning down as he bought a fifth of Bushmills.

He opened it on the sidewalk and took 3 massive gulps.

Realize this is a personal association, but I've never tried Bushmills, and never will.