After a disappointing Landlord in Little Downham on Tuesday, I thought I might as well stop and enjoy the downpour in Ely before getting squashed against bikes on the train home.
Ely Cathedral really is a wonder now they’ve taken the scaffolding off and put live ammunition in the cannon.
As Paul Bailey wrote when he visited with us last year, the view from the meadows (i.e. from Bryan’s chippy) is the star, but the front isn’t shabby, either.
That view from outside the Minster Tavern (top) may be the best though. Inside, five classic BBBs and a frisson of Craft.
“Which one’s going fastest ?” I asked.
“The Rev” said the honest lady.
One sip proved I was right to ask. A cool chewy beer reminiscent of 6X at its best.
Two cheery ladies with pints of Hop House admired my Reverend.
“Ooh. Is that an ale ?”
“It is. It’s lovely (it was). You should have one next“.
So a point for recognising ladies can drink two pints at a sitting, and a point lost for recommending they exceed the Governmental alcohol limits.
I’m hoping to get into the Top 10 for “Blogs celebrating the scum on a pint of real ale“. This Rev James was tremendous, improving from NBSS 3.5 to 4 over time.
It’s a lovely place. There’s a bit too much tat, 6 Nations and promotions especially, but it had the feel of a locals pub anyone can go too at any time of the day. Food dominates the riverside pubs but was playing second fiddle here.
Of course, there’s no getting away from Harry Kane. Or Ed Sheeran, whose Galway Girl ushered me out.
No, I didn’t have time for chips on the way to the station.
retiredmartin 
“That view from outside the Minster Tavern (top) may be the best though.”
Agreed. 🙂
“Inside, five classic BBBs”
Ooh! I had a bottle of Cumberland a few days ago. Not bad.
“It’s a lovely place.”
Agreed. 🙂
Cheers
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Just remembered how sorry I feel for you and the Yanks having to drink bottled beer ;-(
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We do have keg. But cask is as rare on the ground as hen’s teeth.
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Keg is passable, though having had John Smiths Smooth last week it’s a pale imitation. Bottles consumed at home are the work of the devil.
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” Bottles consumed at home are the work of the devil.”
I look upon that as my bad boy side. 😈
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I-Dave gets cask at his”local” brewery- suffer through bottles and draft for 50 weeks of the year. The other two are spent drinking cask in England.
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😦
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“Bottles consumed at home are the work of the devil”
What did you do when your kids were younger Martin, you couldn’t leave them home alone, you couldn’t take them to the pub, and you fancied a beer? Asking for a friend
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I didn’t drink at home. In general, I’ve always taken my children with me to the pub.
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Bottles? We’re all cans these days.
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I love your scoring system re the ladies 😀 made me laugh out loud…great stuff …I really should start asking which beer has been selling the most as seems a sensible approach
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Did I score the ladies ? I sincerely hope I didn’t, Ian 😱
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Ha! I meant their drinking ability and subsequent health guidelines!! A gent like yourself would not do such a thing 😵
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Phew ! Thanks for clarification.
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“Did I score the ladies?”
Of course I read that as scored with the ladies. 😜
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Every pub in Cambridge should have Oakham’s on, but it’s not in the (pernicious) Marston’s portfolio is it!
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I agree. Oakham are a national treasure.
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Not yet….;0
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Might be my first time hearing of the Rev James; sounds like a good one. I give them points for the classy pump clip. I’m more conservative than most when it comes to this sort of thing; I want a beer label to look like a boring old beer label, rather than a candy-colored print you could hang in a modern art gallery. If it looks like it was designed in the 1930s and hardly even tweaked since then, it’ll win my heart for sure. 🙂
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We’re with you, on that one, Mark.
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Proper Job, a BBB? Surely some mistake?
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BPB that one. Lumped in cos I’m lazy 😉
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I’d have chosen the Proper Job, as I like that beer, whereas I don’t really like the other 4 on offer. Rev James would have been my 2nd choice. Was it actually nice, as opposed to merely well-presented?
Do they really need 4 very similar brown bitters on? The whole point of offering choice is that you actually offer choice.
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It was genuinely good. The Rev was my choice because it had been pulled recently.
I agree on choice. If you must have multiple beers, make them different.
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Celebration of scum – there’s an emerging science for you.
I can see there’s a hole developing in that scum – probably a global warming effect….which may have also been responsible for improving it….
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