Welcome back everybody to the CSU-Pueblo weekly beer review. My name is Eric, my major is mass communications, I drink lots of beer, and I’m here to tell you what’s new and what’s popular at the local liquor stores. No joke.

This week’s beer is Boddingtons Pub Ale. A lot of college students and older looking types have been roaming around the liquor store requesting this stuff recently. I’ve always wondered about British style ale since I saw that episode of Family Guy where the local bar gets replaced with a British Pub and since I didn’t have any clever stories or personal insights to share this week, I decided to give it a try.

Hailing from the Strangeways Brewery way over in Manchester, England, Boddingtons Pub Ale tries to deliver that English Pub flavor by including a special aerator in each 16.oz can which prevents carbonation and excess bubbling while pouring, leaving the body of the ale incredibly smooth while topping it off with a creamy head of foam.  It works incredibly well, even though it feels like you’re pouring your beer straight out of a bright yellow spray paint can.

Okay, so I poured it into my pint glass. Visually, it’s a very nice golden color with a dense head of pure white foam. It sits very still too. No bubbles rise from the bottom of the glass, and the head doesn’t even dissipate like regular beer foam. It just lays there like it’s a marshmallow or something, waiting for Easter…  Scent wise, Boddingtons has a very faint aroma that’s a little bit hops and a little bit kitchen faucet.

So how does it taste? Well, like nothing really. Bud Light has more flavor than this stuff. I guess it was like drinking a really smooth, creamy glass of water.  If you can’t stand the taste of beer normally, this might be a good ale for you to start on, but I personally like to taste my beer when I drink it.

I’m glad I picked up a single of Boddingtons instead of a four pack. While not offensive by any means, it just didn’t stand out in any way besides its aerator gimmick, and at $7.99 a four pack, its way too damn expensive to recommend to anyone surviving on a financial aid budget. I give Boddingtons a 2 out of 5. If you’re a homesick British exchange student, by all means go out and buy it for pride’s sake, otherwise avoid it.