BODDINGTON
There is beer and then there is Boddington Pub Ale! This is the jewel of Manchester England. The Boddington Brewery might know a thing or two about beer, they have been brewing since 1778. This is a one of a kind beer. The amber look would fool you as the beer is super clean and light but with a lot of taste and of course the famous cream that rises to the top.
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| Land Mark Brought Down 2007 |
The company started out as the Strangeways Brewery in 1778. Henry Boddington went to work for them in 1832 and partnered in 1848. Henery saved and bought the company in 1853. The company became the largest in Manchester and the largest in the North of England.
The company had overcome many obstacles like the deaths of family members and the depression of the 1930's when stock had gone down to 40 percent. The company even had their brewery bombed during the Manchester Blitz but rebuilt with new modern equipment for the future. Boddington was the first to use stainless steel vats in Europe.
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| Funny Ad |
The Whitbread brewer tried a hostile take over of the company in 1969 but the company and its stock owners held ground and the company continued on. The company fought again in 1971 with the family only holding 10% of the stocks.
That same year Guinness Draught Stout and Heineken were brought into the estate. This made the brewery a powerhouse. Boddington was written up as a cult beer with a huge following. In 1982 the brewery owned 272 public houses and the beer followers grew.
In 1989 the family finally sold the Boddington brand and the Strangeways brewery to Whitbread for a huge sum of $50.7 Million Euro.
Whitbread knowing the following of the Boddington brand increased the barrel production from 200,000 to 850,000 barrels a year pushing the brand to the front. In 1993 the brand was now exported to Canada and around the globe. In the year 2000 the Belgian brewer Interbrew which owned Stella Artois bought Whitbread. In 2003 the brewery Strangeways closed and Inbev took over the property.
In 2004 Inbev moved the brewery back to Manchester. In 2007 Inbev closed the brewery sold the property and the great landmark Boddington brewery was demolished.
In 2010 Inbev still the owner of the Boddington brand (now owned by Anheuser-Busch) tried to sell the brand to Bass ale and failed.
Anheuser-Busch say they still believe in the brand.
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| Award Ad for Boddington |
In 2010 Boddington was still the 6th largest selling bitter in the UK.
In 2011 president of AB said they had reaped the benefits from previous advertising and had not done any ads for 5 years on Boddington.
Contracts in UK to produce Boddington had ended in 2012. The beer is now produced for AB in Preston England. It is hard to say what will come of this historic beer but it would be a shame if a product this good disappeared.
