The Cambridge Blue, Cambridge

I was blown away by this pub when I first visited many moons ago as I couldn’t believe what was lurking in an unassuming back street. The Cambridge Blue should always be commended for the effect it, and the other members of the original holy trilogy, had on the surrounding area to make this such a fantastic beer town, however I also feel it’s become a victim of its own success and lost something over the years. And for me that is it’s pub feel. I agree with other reviewers that it now feels more like a permanent beer festival than a pub, and the beer tray adorned extension and the bench seated tented outside space more resembles a tent at the Octoberfest than it does a traditional pub. But the ale lineup, both on the pumps and in bottles, was superb as usual and I would sill rather this one was in a back street in N21 than CB1.

The entrance of the Cambridge Blue leads to a wall of fridges stacked with craft cans and bottles. The interior is J-shaped with seating to the right and also up the left opposite the bar counter. In the left rear is a long and thin seating area with a curved ceiling that is plastered with beer trays. In fact there’s lots of breweriana all around the pub. The front bar area was busy during my Friday afternoon visit, but there was plenty of room under the trays at the rear. The bar counter supports 14 hand pumps that were drawing XT’s Squid Ink, Batemans’ Dark M, Tring Brewery’s Kingmaker and Liberator, Bishop Nick’s Devout, Wharf Brewery’s Puck’s Folly and No Name as well as Mad Squirrel’s Hopfest alongside New Age, Release the Chimps, Egyptian Cream and Business Time from Nene Valley Brewery. There were also ten real cider options, half of them being from Lilley’s. There was a bit of background music playing, but this place is all about the beer and well worth a visit.

Dating from c. 1860 and formerly the Dew Drop, the pub’s history is well documented on the website with a few photos by way of punctuation; I don’t think it’s a house conversion, as the proportions don’t match the surrounding architecture and then there’s the age. Externally, the Tolly Cobbold off licence sign is a very new addition and an indication that there’s much breweryana in evidence, with a huge number of brewery trays glued to the ceiling; there’s also a large collection of enamelled trade signs. Also on offer were 14 pumps, me going for a half of Tring’s Liberator (with the eponymous aircraft on the pump clip, were B-24s based in Cambridgeshire?), price forgotten but a decent drink. This is a good pub, but the busyness and overall character is, as mentioned below, a bit like being at a beer festival rather than relaxing in a cossetting pub; ‘crowded madhouse’ is also a fitting description.

The previous reviewers has it spot on, in my opinion. This is an overwhelming pub, doing everything for everybody on a huge scale. Yes, there's a great choice of drinks, but it feels like being at a beer festival. Maybe I should come back in the afternoon when it might be more congenial.

Multi pump and multiple Camra award winner in what I suppose to be a converted terrace house in a terraced street. There are 14 hand pumps, some double clipped with cider clips. Beers are sourced from smaller breweries nationally. Comprising a u shaped room at the front with two counter faces to the central servery, the front is occupied by fridges for a wealth of bottles and cans, one side of the u appears to be storage space for the off-licence part of the business. Decor here is mostly old enamelled advertising signs and US and European brewery signs. To the left is a long thinnish extension with refectory style tables and benches, the decor is an overwhelming mix of old brewery trays, mirrors, enamelled signs and whisky boxes stuck to the ceiling. Included is an ad for Dales whose brewery was at the other end of Gwydir St, the building is clearly recognisable. The pub has a large garden at the back with picnic benches under a marquee. The beer is well kept but the pub’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, Camra likes it and put it in their book: with 14 pulls you knew that didn’t you?

Official site of The Cambridge Blue - cambridge.pub