Boddingtons Brewery
Boddingtons Brewery was a regional brewery in Manchester, England, which owned pubs throughout the North West. Boddingtons was best known for Boddingtons Bitter (Boddies), a straw-golden, hoppy bitter which was one of the first beers to be packaged in cans containing a widget, giving it a creamy draught-style head.
| Company type | Brewery |
|---|---|
| Industry | Brewing |
| Predecessor | Hole, Potter and Harrison |
| Founded | 1778 |
| Founder | Henry Boddington |
| Defunct | 2005 (brewery closure) |
| Headquarters | Manchester , |
| Products | Beer |
Production output | 250,000 Hectolitres / 6,604,301 Gallons (2012) |
| Owner | AB InBev |
In the 1990s, the beer was promoted as The Cream of Manchester in a popular advertising campaign credited with raising Manchester's profile. Boddingtons became one of the city's most famous products after Manchester United and Coronation Street.
Whitbread bought Boddingtons Brewery in 1989 and Boddingtons Bitter received an increased marketing budget and nationwide distribution. Boddingtons achieved its peak market share in 1997 and at the time was exported to over forty countries.
Boddingtons beer brands are now owned by the global brewer Anheuser–Busch InBev, which acquired the Whitbread Beer Company in 2000. Strangeways Brewery closed in 2004 and production of pasteurised (keg and can) Boddingtons was moved to Samlesbury in Lancashire. Production of the cask-conditioned beer moved to Hydes Brewery in Moss Side, Manchester, until it was discontinued in 2012, ending the beer's association with the city.