Boddingtons Brewery

Boddingtons Brewery

Boddingtons was a regional brewery based in Manchester, England which owned pubs throughout the North West. Boddingtons was famous for "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. 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.

After Whitbread bought Boddingtons Brewery in 1989 the marketing budget was increased and distribution of the beer extended nationwide. Boddingtons achieved its peak market share in 1997 and was exported to over forty countries around the world. 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 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 March 2012, ending the beer's association with the city.