To the Beer Fest (UK-Style)

   Over 35000 of you came - 3000 more than our previous record. You apparently drank 90000 pints of various things.  cambeerfest@twitter

The day was stormy or sunny in alternating phases, sometimes light, sometimes dark.  In many ways, that mirrored the choice of brews on tap in the Big White Tent over the annual Cambridge Beer Festival.  This event covers a big patch of Jesus Green every spring, as local artisan brewers offer their wares for about 1.50 pert half-pint.

The quality is uniformly high, the alcohol content clearly marked and highly correlated with price (although the cider has the highest hit by far at over 7% alcohol), and the crowds are red-faced and easy-going.  The only thing missing is a music stage; they kept promising that a band would start, but the only striking noise was a jet engine that someone kept demonstrating for the kids.

There were food booths and a small selection of local wines and desserts, along with a few oddities at the “Foreign Bier Bar” (mostly Belgian) and the “Mead Bar” (mostly hard stuff).  The kegs seemed to be running dry by 5:30 at the more popular brewers, but I really enjoyed the variety of dark ales and clever signage.