“Tetley Bitter is now brewed in Burton too, by Marstons I think, and is not the same or as moreish as the lovely liquor brewed at the now-demolished Hunslet brewery in Leeds.”
This raises a much discussed question on the CAMRA forums: should a beer which is now brewed away from its roots and with different ingredients be allowed to use the same name when it clearly isn’t the same beer? A good example that has emerged recently is the revival of Boddingtons.
I recall the original beer, brewed in the Strangeways Brewery. It was a very pale and very bitter, unusually so for a northern beer.
During the late 80s/early 90s, it acquired a cool image via a clever television advertising campaign under the tag line “The Cream of Manchester”. It was even name checked in an episode of “Friends”, which presumably AB InBev must have paid top dollar for, given it was about the biggest show on television at that time.
The Strangeways Brewery closed some time in the mid to late 90s (I think) and the beer was contract brewed by Hydes. However, the contract was not renewed when Hydes moved to a new site and downsized, meaning cask Boddingtons disappeared.
It has recently been revived under the care of Manchester brewer JW Lee’s. I had a pint of it in Preston a few weeks ago. To be fair, it is very well brewed and I enjoyed it a lot. However, it is of a noticeably darker hue than the Strangeways beer and though it still has a pleasant bitter aftertaste, it is not quite as bitter as I recall.
It is genuinely pleasing to see such a famous name back on the bar. But is it really Boddingtons? Maybe it won’t matter to younger drinkers and I suppose the issue will be irrelevant as us older brigade take our leave!