Blue Moon, Cambridge

Odd looking building with odd customers and staff, I couldn’t make up my mind if they were sneery or just earnest, the staff that is the customers were just odd or foreigners. Two rooms, the larger had some sort of band practice or tune up going on and I’m not sure if there’s a counter in there. The other room has a counter tucked round a corner and has four pulls branded Adnams but I’m guessing Adnams would never get sold here. Overall there’s a definite hint of the local drill hall about the place. Two cask beers were on; a bitter from Three Blind Mice brewery and a torpid single hop pale from Ampersand. All the beers are listed on a blackboard but it wasn’t visible due to punters. A long horseshoe has about a dozen crafty kegs. Mixed furniture of the table and chair  breed, fairy lights and pump clip decor, pizzas and world food are available. GBG2022 listed but I suppose I caught it on a bad day.

A classic 60's estate pub,in a working class enclave of Cambridge which was a great surprise to find.It is the sister pub to the Cambridge Blue and looks rough from the outside with peeling paint and a large dog running around the first floor balcony.However the welcome from the barman was warm and friendly. The front room is unused due to Covid ,it's a store room with some key kegs dotted about the excess furniture.The back bar is accessed down a grubby corridor and doesnt have any windows,so like entering a club .It was decked out in Halloween decoration,with atmospheric lighting,some high tables at the side and cheap wooden furniture elsewhere.It smelt of students,and there is a small stage at the far end of the room.A very classy soundtrack was playing,music plays a big part in the pubs existance. The barman explained there were no handpumped ales but on each side of the two sided bar there are 10 taps,some key keg some keg.Not all 20 were operating although there is a chalk board list.After some discussion we narrowed down to 3 IPA styles from which I chose a decent Nene Valley Pulping On Your Sterio,a decent orange IPA (NBSS 3.5). If you get fed up with all those charming street corner pubs in Cambridge,this is a bohemian alternative and I enjoyed my afternoon visit.Quirky.