Boddingtons Bitter clone

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Joined
Apr 29, 2012
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Location
South Manchester
This is for 25l the 23l version is in brackets

O.G. 1035
ABV 3.7%
Racking gravity 1007
IBU 37
EBC 14
Mash time 90 minutes @66c
Boil time 90 minutes


Pale ale malt 3510gm (3230)
Crystal malt 190gm (175)
White sugar 125gm (115)

Start of boil

WGV hops 77gm (70)

Last 15 minutes of boil
Golding hops 10gm (10)
Fuggle hops 5gm (5)
Irish moss 10gm (10)
 
Yes, it tasted really like it! :)

I used muntons premium gold on this one. I put it in the brown ale category as I didn't think it was a special bitter. As I am learning all the time I have since read it should be really in the pale ale category as it uses pale ale malt.
 
Well the name kind of gives away what it is, so I wouldn't worry too much about categories.
 
Clibit, any idea what yeast the Hyde brewery used in boddies?
 
I have no idea sorry, but i bet it was their own Hydes yeast. I live just round the corner from the old Hydes brewery, and even picked up some of their yeast once, but never used it! :doh:

I believe the Holts yeast is really excellent. Might have to go begging up there in North Manchester.
 
I have no idea sorry, but i bet it was their own Hydes yeast. I live just round the corner from the old Hydes brewery, and even picked up some of their yeast once, but never used it! :doh:

I believe the Holts yeast is really excellent. Might have to go begging up there in North Manchester.

Holts! That takes me back to when I lived in Longsight. The sidings pub was a Joseph holts, literally a stone's throw from my house. This was in 2000, but you could get 3 pints, several games of pool and if they were playing darts, a cheese sandwich and still have change from a fiver. I think the bitter was £1.05 and the mild 98p a pint!

Happy days.
 
Slightly off topic but Boddington's is one bitter I can never suss out, occasionally it tastes really special, sometimes it is just a bit boring and sometimes like a wannabe lager served too warm and I don't know why. I've never done a clone but might have to, to try to work it out. Any ideas as to why this discrepancy in my mind, is it perhaps my upbringing on slightly rougher sweeter Yorkshire brews with a little more hop to balance them out (Tet's, John's, Sam's and Theako's). I have never quite "got" Boddy's which does not bother me, the issue is I can't quite say why.
 
If you never had Boddies before the 90s then you can have no idea what the fuss was about. Boddies now is not worth drinking. Originally it was a great beer, and allegedly gave rise to CAMRA, which was started in Manchester in the 70s by blokes who liked Boddies, according to legend, and were not happy that so few other beers were worth drinking at the time, and the fact that independent breweries were all being bought out and ruined by the big breweries. As Boddingtons was itself, by Whitbreads, who ruined it and then InBev, who now own the brand, and made it even worse.

We are now seeing some of the craft breweries of the recent craft wave being bought out by big brewers.
 
Old thread but luckily I'm still about!

The sugar dries the beer out slightly. If you read wheelers book he describes it as flinty dryness. The small amount of sugar will ferment out completely and leave. Slightly dry finish.

I followed the wheeler recipe pretty much to the letter and it tuned out very much like boddingtons (though the boddies I recall from the 90s, rather than the original)
 
I did the wheeler boddingtons today, based purely on the fact that I had Golding and Fuggles in the freezer.
Opened up the cupboard to find that we had no white sugaer.
Being a lazy sod, I substituted it with cane sugar, lets see what happens :-)
 
If you never had Boddies before the 90s then you can have no idea what the fuss was about. Boddies now is not worth drinking. Originally it was a great beer, and allegedly gave rise to CAMRA, which was started in Manchester in the 70s by blokes who liked Boddies, according to legend, and were not happy that so few other beers were worth drinking at the time, and the fact that independent breweries were all being bought out and ruined by the big breweries. As Boddingtons was itself, by Whitbreads, who ruined it and then InBev, who now own the brand, and made it even worse.

ah this explains a lot.....couldn't understand why people were bothering to clone this as it now tastes like utter ****....might have a bash at brewing the original then if it used to be decent
 
Reviving an old thread....I remember Boddingtons before it was ruined...my mate is an avid Boddies swiller...but only the pish you get in tins nowadays.
I’m thinking of trying to brew something to mimic what it used to be like...any decent recipes please?
 
Holts! That takes me back to when I lived in Longsight. The sidings pub was a Joseph holts, literally a stone's throw from my house. This was in 2000, but you could get 3 pints, several games of pool and if they were playing darts, a cheese sandwich and still have change from a fiver. I think the bitter was £1.05 and the mild 98p a pint!

Happy days.
I know it well, I lived on Dickinson road in longsight for 2 years, 96-97, and had a whale of a time.
 

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