retiredmartin

“Did you enjoy your night staying in your own village” – “Yes”

“And are you still going to slag my Facebook friends off” – “Yes”

Mrs RM knows me too well.

Some friends in Waterbeach had wanted to visit our own Milton Brewery* for a while, but needed a decent group size (25) to make it viable. With a few incomers to the village signing up, we were quorate.  Most of us had a ten minute walk (if we could climb industrial estate fences it would be two minutes); a few enthusiasts cycled in from Cambridge.

Last month’s trip to Great Yorkshire in Cropton was a slick tour targeted to retirees using their Red Letter Day vouchers, Milton Breweries offer is more straightforward;

Tip up at our brewery and drink our beer. Lots of it.

Four firkins of their finest, which adds up to a scary pint/head equation even my 15 year old son can do in his head.

Two of the Milton folk stayed to help us with this task, and give an entertaining run-through of the brewing process, without the digs at southern flat beer that Cropton specialise in, of course.

I like flat beer.  I like beer with a tight head as well, but beer straight from the barrel works best for me.  This was spectacularly cool too, (8-9 degrees they said), which gives the lie to warm beer. The classic pale Sparta (4.3%) was my, and many others, beer of the night.

At Cropton, we enjoyed leisurely pints over a dinner of mussels, lamb and Eton Mess. At Milton you get proper food;

That sauce is well-named.

Vertical drinking isn’t really my thing.  I like to walk when I’m standing up and sit down in pubs.  It does seem to make the beer go quicker though.  Astonishingly, the Minerva (4.6%) ran out two hours in.  I blamed Mrs RM, perhaps unfairly.

Our only complaint was the absence of Marcus Aurelius, but everyone copes as well with 7.5% stouts as Mrs RM, so probably a wise choice on the brewery’s part.

The two chaps from Milton were great hosts, happy to chat about their small estate of high quality pubs, maintaining quality in the free trade and the price of hops.  They wouldn’t let me drive the barrel stacker though, the meanies.

See Mrs RM; I haven’t slagged your FaceFriends off once. Waterbeach folk CAN talk about subjects other than schools, Corbyn, house prices and Milton sewerage plant.

A few of the group headed off at 10pm in search of Prosecco in the Sun. Old habits dies hard.

 * Milton Brewery moved a mile north to bigger premises a few years back, but Waterbeach Brewery lacks a little something as a name.