John Smiths Extra Smooth

This was the other beer I picked up for 'British night' and again its a cheap bitter that comes in a nitro widgit can. Its a nice looking beer. It's got that nice golden colour that the great bitters have. The head cascades nicely, clinging to the sides of the glass all the way down. Just enough for me to get my hopes up. It was good. It goes down incredibly smooth. You could drink this fast and you could definitely drink plenty in one sitting. And you might as well drink it quickly because there isn't anything tastewise to keep it from being boring. Slightly bitter, not malty enough. It doesn't suck, but I expected more when I saw it in the glass. The beer falls into the 'Yorkshire' bitter category and is remarkably similar to the Finchley Bitter pilot brew I reviewed not long ago. The brewery is owned by UK giant Scottish and Newcastle. What is interesting and often overlooked trivia is that John Smith was actually Sam Smith's brother and they were once the same brewery until a family fued saw them demutualise and resulting in two breweries in Tadcaster (there may have been more). While Sam Smith's has gone onto bigger things and into the Pub landlord game, John Smith's has gone on to make cheap canned bitters which you can get in just about every pub in England. The brewery has a website here: http://www.johnsmiths.co.uk/ where you can find out some more info. I found this ad which I didn't even bother watching, but you may as well!

Boddingtons Bitter

Boddingtons Bitter is a nitro-widget canned bitter that can be bought quite cheaply here in the UK. I managed to pick up a six pack from 'Sainsburys' (a bit posher than Tesco's!) to take along to a themed dinner party. Since the theme of the party was 'Britsh night' I thought cheap canned bitter was an obvious choice. Boddingtons is originally from Manchester where it was brewed for over 200 years, but brewing giant InBev bought the brand and moved production to South Wales and Glasgow a few years back. Apparently the beer suffered for the worse with the move, although being realistic it probably was still pretty average before the move. The cask ale variety is still made in manchester, so if you happen to see it draught from the hand pump whilst in Manc town, then its probably worth a try. being a completely unqualified beer fan, I managed to find the following video review for your entertainment. Try not laugh at the thick northerner too hard - especially when he claims he can smell wine and sugar!