Boddingtons Pub Ale
This is the initial fruit of my labor in attempting to improve the beer selection available at the U.S. Embassy commissary in Moscow. Still looking for a U.S. craft brew. This is the best we can do so far. Comes in a tall yellow half-liter can with black print surrounding a keg with what looks like frontal and top depictions of a bee. While most of the writing on the can is in English, the ingredients list is in four languages I don't speak. Just four elements listed though, so I suspect it is purity law compliant. Best before February 2006, I opened it on 8/13/05. One can criticism the nitro system, but it sure produces a good looking beer: clear copper under a one finger white head of very thick cream that lasts forever. Oddly, the lacing is a bit thin. There is remarkably little nose - basically none. The mouth is heavy and sticky, with mild carbonation. The taste is neither grainy nor sweet, with tinny hops emerging quite early, accompanied by a touch of grassiness. The finish is more metallic than bitter, whith shisps of sweetness (grape?) mixed in. Nice lip-smacking aftertaste invites another swig. It will do.