Cambridge Beer Festival

Today I took a train ride to Cambridge to go to the Cambridge Beer Festival.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the first Cambridge Beer Festival and it has grown hugely, with 200 Real Ales and 80+ Ciders and Perries on offer this year.

Here are a few of my photos.

I joined the queue to get in when the gates were to open at 12 at about 11:45, with about 200 people in front of me.

By 12 the queue was right back to the river and along it.

But we were all soon in and, hired glass in hand I headed for the beers.

My first 1/2 pint being pulled. I rather liked the T-shorts all the volunteer bar staff were wearing.

Outside the marquee were plenty of tables... and some mud.

I decided to take a seat inside the tent.

Although I didn't eat from it, the food stall of bread and cheese and sausage rolls etc looked very inviting.

Time for another beer, and the bar was still quite empty. In fact I never had to wait for more than a minute to be served all session. Thank-you to all the volunteers for providing such a great service. This year you could pay by card on a drink by drink basis rather than using those cards where the staff cross off the amount when you buy a drink which was much easier and quicker.

Some parts of the site were a little soggy.

There was plenty of choice of food stalls arounf the edge of the site. I chose a kebab for my lunch.

I wondered how many people were here. 1000? 2000?. I reckon it would have got a bit of a squash if the heavens opened and people all came under canvas.

My kebab was quite tasty, but I added plenty of chilli sauce.

I was served one of my beers by Ruth (left centre of the photo) who had been a fellow volunteer at the East Anglian Beer festival a couple of years ago. 

This is the selection of beers I tasted (1/2 pint at a time). I tried to get a good selection of  the styles on offer, but failed to get an Old Ale or Lager.

• Falstaff 3 Faze (3.8%) - My first one. A golden Ale from Derby. Very refreshing.
• Lord Conrad's Spiffing Wheeze (3.9%) - A lemongrass pale ale. I liked this too.
• Shortt's Hunky Dory (4.1%) - An Amarillo hopped fruity golden ale. A hint of mint in the aftertaste.
• Moongazer Cheeky Jack (5%) - A blonde IPA. Very hoppy, but balanced.
• Elgoods Black Dog (3.4%) -  An award-winning dark mild. I've had this before. Always worth having again.
• Tydd Steam Superdelic (4.6%) - A golden premium bitter. Surprisingly light-coloured for an IPA.
• Boudica Spiral Stout (4.6%) -  A traditional stout. Very tasty!
• Lacons Bloom (4%) - Shown on the programme as a specialty beer, but on the cask as a Pale Ale. Fruity and silky. That will be the honey. A yummy one to finish.

A great set of beers from a huge amount of choice. It was 2:45 when I left and I was in good time for my 3:45 train home. A lovely day out.