A Year of Craft Beer, Vol. 57, Boddingtons Pub Ale

A description of an English Pale Ale as per Beer Advocate: "A mix of fruity, hoppy, earthy, buttery and malty aromas and flavors can be found."  That is what this beer aspires to be.  It also has this:

The cascading is just like that of Guinness.  This beer has a lot going for it in looks!

This beer I poured from a 40-ish degree can into an imperial pint.  You gotta pour it quick as it will overflow.  It poured a golden straw color that is very clear below the cascading bubbles and worked its way up as the cascading tapers off and the head decreases.  The head was a huge super creamy 3 finger head.  Boddingtons says that this effect from the nitro can is supposed to mimic the natural aeration of the classic English pub hand pump.  The head dies down to a 1 finger creamy head for the rest of the drink.

The first aroma that I got was banana.  Presumable from the hops, but half way through the beer that died away.  Now just the underlying aroma of light malt and some grassy or piney hops remain very light.  Not overly aromatic.  Almost like a lager.

The taste.  Hmmmm.  Retracing my steps, I get the banana somewhere at the end and before that some metallic or plain old dirt flavors of hops and mild malts.  Some people were describing it as metallic, but to me it tastes more like sliding into 3rd base on a dry hot day.  It's apparent, but not overly so.  If you can look past that its a good beer for having with Indian food.  Strong strong indian food.

The mouthfeel is light and watery and not overly pleasant.  There is carbonation that you can see visually, but it's not noticeable on the tongue at all.  The finish is dry from the hops, but not floral or citrus like in any way, just dry with some peppery notes.  Very Flat Mouthfeel.

In fact, I think the flavor and the mouthfeel are both flat.  There really aren't many redeeming qualities that I like about this beer.  I can session it and it's not horrible.  But I most likely given a choice would drink something else.  If someone gave them to me for free, I'd do a handstand and sing Gilligan's Island like I would for any free beer!

My overall score out of 5 for this beer will be a 3, which is average.  I may quibble on that if I get it on draught or something.

All in all, the experience was worth it because life is too short to drink crappy beer!

-Wiss