Boddingtons Bitter
| Type | Beer |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | AB InBev |
| Country of origin | Manchester, England |
| Introduced | 1971 |
| Alcohol by volume | 3.5% |
| Colour | straw/golden |
| Variants | Boddingtons Pub Ale |
Boddingtons Bitter (Boddies) is a straw-golden English bitter. Boddingtons Bitter was originally produced by Boddington & Co at their Strangeways Brewery in Manchester. It is now owned by AB-InBev and produced at their brewery in Samlesbury, Lancashire.
It is notable as one of the first beers to be packaged in cans containing a widget, giving it a creamy draught-style head. In the 1990s, the beer was heavily marketed as The Cream of Manchester in an advertising campaign credited with raising the city's profile. Adverts from 1996 to 1999 featured Melanie Sykes, who is set to return to the adverts in 2017 to mark 21 years since her first advert.
Whitbread acquired Boddingtons in 1989, and gave the bitter nationwide distribution and an increased marketing budget. Boddingtons Bitter achieved its peak market share in 1997 and at the time was exported to over forty countries. Interbrew (now AB-InBev) acquired the Whitbread Beer Company in 2000. Strangeways Brewery was closed in 2004 and production of pasteurised (keg and can) Boddingtons was moved to Samlesbury. Production of the cask conditioned beer moved to Hydes Brewery in Moss Side, Manchester until it was discontinued in 2012.
Boddingtons Bitter in its current form was introduced in 1971, and it was brewed at Boddingtons' Strangeways Brewery. The product's increasing popularity drove the growth of the company throughout the 1970s.The Observer commented in 1974 that the product's low price and distinctive flavour afforded it an unusually loyal following. In 1981 the same newspaper commented,
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