CASK v KEG AT CAMBRIDGE BREWHOUSE

June 2025. Cambridge.

Scorchio in Cambridge again, as I bravely tackle the train, the tourists and the Marks & Spencers till to buy Dad another pair of trousers and slippers. It’s the only clothes shopping I’ll do all year and it’s not for me.

A reminder that Cambridge’s top architecture isn’t the colleges, it’s Lloyds Bank on Sidney Street,

with the derelict bingo hall (bus stop and all) behind it the most shameful.

I feel some obligation to visit all the Cambridge pubs for you,  but I hadn’t been to the Brew House on King Street for a decade,

neither a building to match the Champion of the Thames or a place with a good reputation for beer.

I mean, it’s homebrew. And it’s midsummer, and there’s no cask trade, with the foreign students all on the local favourite, Rekorderlig.

Anyway, you’ll be wanting to see the prices and go “How much !”.

For the record, the young staff were great, chatty and enthusiastic, and the main trade is burgers and TV sport.

I picked the last thing checked-in on Untappd, a cool but overcarbonated One Hop,

which I rather enjoyed in the heat, though it could have been any NEIPA.

But then I thought, “What if I don’t come back for another decade, and the real ale at Brew House is actually great ?”.

Copper ESB, just a half. It actually looks OK.

But within 2 minutes it looked like this;

and I wished Tandleman was there with his famous thermometer.

The warm cask is hard to drink, the cold and carbonated keg tough to finish. I took the pint outside to warm up.

It almost worked.

Unknown's avatar

Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

7 thoughts on “CASK v KEG AT CAMBRIDGE BREWHOUSE”

  1. To be honest – and I know you appreciate honesty – I spent the last Sunday in June in Cambridge, and the best beer I had was a half of Abbot in the Champ, despite the temperatures in the high twenties, and the two hours I spent there in company of a couple of mates was the most fun I’ve had in a pub in months. That said, all the cask I had (Champ, Live and Let Live, Blue, Geldart) held up better than expected given heat. Keg prices indistinguishable from London now, but that’s been case for a while has it not? Alex

    Like

    Reply

    1. That’s good to hear, Alex.

      In general I’d say cask has held up pretty well so far this summer. Newcastle was very good.

      Looked far too many hand pumps at the Brew House, which doesn’t help.

      I love the Champ, and delighted to see it so well regarded by local CAMRA.

      Like

      Reply

    1. Now you say it, I remember it is ! Thought you’d remember. Definitely recall the Tolly sign. Cambridge Arms over the road now D’Arrys.

      For me King Street meant Parrots and Garon Records, Clowns Italian cafe and the St Radegund. All gone.

      Like

      Reply

      1. Cambridge Arms was a classic two bar street corner pub with outside toilets, run by ex Plymouth copper Les Roper. The Greene King IPA was an absolute eye opener; today’s bland liquid bears no resemblance.

        Like

Leave a comment