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A short walk from the North Taproom is this self-service bar, a concept that I first properly experienced in Belgrade earlier in the year.

Liam needed some help with the self-service, but there were plenty of staff on hand to offer assistance.

There are also instructions on screen.

Richard got muddled up and thought you could order on your phone.

This is the Piccadilly Porter from Cloudwater and it’s the first self-service beer that I’ve had in the UK. Smooth and creamy, but slightly thin. I didn’t buy it, but tried some of the Hawkstone Lager (the Jeremy Clarkson linked one) which was OK, crisp and smooth.

Richard proudly showing off his pouring skills. Liam and I didn’t say anything.

This is a fun and laid-back bar, there were some interesting beers available and it’s always a little bit exciting to pour your own beer (well, more exciting for the others as I’ve done enough over the last year) so that added to proceedings. They had finished serving food when we arrived, but it’s particularly well reviewed and the pizza slices look rather appetising judging from the photos on-line. With that, we thought that it might be best to start to consider getting some food elsewhere though and I had identified a chicken place that I thought would be a suitably decent location.

Oooh, some punchy beers there. This is the North Taproom at Circle Square which is operated by North Brewing who are based in Leeds.

My first beer was the Barbe Noël from Brouwerij Verhaeghe, fruity and rich. Thanks to the friend who bought me this, I’ve forgotten which one 🙂

There’s a happy Simon with his choices. Richard had found himself a Kriek which had black pepper in it (added by the brewer and not Liam) which was one of his better beer choices, it might sound like an odd combination but I think it’s an intriguing one. Ross had found himself a Pilsner that he rather liked, so all was well with the world. And judging from the above photo, Łukasz looked excited at the beer options that Simon was about to work through.

But this was the big hitting drink at the bar, the 11% Telex barrel aged stout from North Brewery themselves. Smooth, rich, decadent, lots of chocolate and a liquorice edge. Delicious.

The venue was busy but comfortable, with the team members being helpful and engaging. The bar is very positively reviewed on-line and their beer list is creative and well curated. All rather lovely.

Next on the agenda for the evening was Cloudwater Taproom, which I’ve been to before when I rushed there from the railway station last year during a break in my journey. They’ve also got another taproom in London, along the Bermondsey Beer Mile. Cloudwater were founded in 2014 and they also operate the Sadler’s Cat pub in the city which I’ve been to, but I’ve realised didn’t write about.

Liam was using Untappd here rather than trying to distract himself, but I know that Ross wasn’t as he is adamant he’ll only use a lager only beer app. The beer is the Stollen from Ivor, which I thought was a little thin, but it had a sweetness to the taste and a pleasant lingering flavour. Richard is starting to use Untappd as well, but I think the technology is sometimes a bit beyond him, but the will is there. Simon is a drinking professional, so of course he uses it, although Łukasz is completely unconvinced.

The Weisse from Cloudwater, which was better than I expected and it had a suitably banana flavour and was light and fluffy.

If we go back to the Middle Ages in Bavaria, which Richard claimed he can’t remember, brewing was largely controlled by monasteries. Weissbier, with its high wheat content, was seen as a nutritious and refreshing drink, perfect for sustenance during fasting periods. But there was a problem, the German Purity Laws were brought in partly to stop wheat being used for beer, when it was needed for bread. Luckily, some of the aristocracy quite liked this wheat beer, so exceptions had to be made. I can’t establish the veracity of this, but it’s widely noted that the Dukes of Degenberg were given a special exemption to brew wheat beer in the sixteenth century, so had something of a monopoly for a while. Not that it’s one law for the rich and a different one for the poor….

Someone had acquired me crisps, probably in a bid to keep me quiet for a while, which is to be fair is an effective strategy. This is the Mimosa Breeze from Cloudwater, orange to the core, smooth and with a taste of honey.

Thanks to Simon for this, it had marshmallow, chocolate, cherry and biscuit. Delicious, pastry stouts are very much my thing. And pastry sours as well, it must be that pastry thing I like….. The pastry element here refers to the sweetness, although there are often similar flavours going on as to what would be found in desserts.

Łukasz and I often seem to end up playing Jenga in the pub. I can’t remember who won, but we all watched intently as Richard tried to steady his hand when taking Simon to the wire when he gave it a try. Incidentally, as a fun fact that I found out recently, Jenga blocks are actually all slightly different sizes and weights, which is part of the design to make the game slightly more challenging.

I very much like Cloudwater and this taproom is no exception. It’s a spacious and well proportioned taproom which is located upstairs above their brewery set-up. It’s not a surprise, given that this is a craft beer brewer, that the interior is on trend, modern and functional. It was also busy, we were fortunate to get a table, although the turnover of customers seems relatively fast. The staff were friendly, knowledgeable and keen to engage, with the crisps selection meeting my expectations. Their food set-up is from Osaka, an interesting looking Japanese arrangement.

It was meant to be off to Track after this, but as we started to walk there someone just leaving mentioned they had closed, so that meant a rapid change of plan for the evening. Fortunately, there were no shortage of places on the list to visit.

I was too excited to get to the next bar to take the time to get a photo with the night mode on, so this will have to do.

It was a relatively short menu, but there were some interesting and tempting options there. Well, not the lager, although Ross was surprised and delighted to see that. Once again, my photographic skills are a little lacking.

Richard has arrived! My beer there is the Greengage from Balance Brewing themselves, and it was fruity and tart (the beer, not Richard). I’m not actually entirely sure what a greengage tastes like to comment on that element.

Nell’s Pizza are located a few doors down and Liam tried, and failed, to order a pizza on-line and so we went down to do it in person. The taproom encourages customers to bring pizza in, indeed, they’ve put the QR code on the tables to assist with that purchasing. The pizza place staff were friendly and explained they had been having some problems with the on-line ordering process, which is perhaps just a little sub-optimal when you take all your orders on-line. However, decent set-up and the pizzas didn’t take long to make.

I felt that a large 22 inch pizza would be best, although it wasn’t the easiest to carry into the bar. I was trying to take a photo for Untappd with the beer in it, but I’m not entirely sure how well that turned out but at least it’s sort of visible in the foreground. It was another tart little number, earthy, sour and intriguing. The pizza had plenty of toppings and tasted good to me, it’s a winning combination that pizza and beer thing.

It’s clear here from the writing on the box who ordered what. I’d add that some others shared that pizza, I didn’t have it to myself. I also ordered, but didn’t photograph, the Absolutely Electric beer from Sureshot Brewing (the taproom that we had just come from) which had a decent mouthfeel, was luscious, creamy and tasted like it had a bit of twig in it.

I hadn’t heard of Balance Brewing before coming here, but I liked their beers although they specialise in mixed-culture barrel fermented beer, which is perhaps a little niche although suits me. The taproom is very well reviewed on-line and I liked the friendly service, with a reasonable numbers of beers available.

Another entry into the photographic awards is coming for this blurry little number. I’ve liked Sureshot Brewery for a while, not least because of their interesting can design which included earlier in the year a beer branded around Alan Partridge. The company was founded in 2020 and their first beers were brewed in 2022, with the operation growing in scale since then. They now have fifteen staff and an 8,000 square foot brewery, quite an achievement in these challenging times for brewers.

The beer list and crisps selection. It’s rare that I can get both these delights in the same photo. Seabrook crisps are about as decadent as they come, so it’s always a delight to see a selection of those available.

This is the ‘Del Boy Falling Through the Bar’, which had a rich mouthfeel for cask and was creamy and fruity. Play it cool!

The ‘Banished to the Shadow Realm’, of which I’ve just noted on Untappd that there’s more pine than an IKEA Bedside Cabinet and it was smooth. I’m not entirely sure, on reflection, how useful a commentary that actually was, but there we go.

The ‘Welcome to Your Doom’ which was really rather lovely, creamy with chocolate and coffee, some vanilla and a nice little touch of sweetness.

The taproom was comfortable and spacious, with the high tables that I like and felt rather appropriate here. It’s very well reviewed on-line and hasn’t picked up any negative reviews yet on Google, which is something of an achievement. The team members were helpful and knowledgeable, with a decent selection of beer available. I think Liam enjoyed picking random beers for Untappd based on what they were called, rather than any deeper logic, but that leads to an exciting voyage of discovery of its own. Although I’m more into keg craft beer, it was good to see that there was a cask option as well.

I wasn’t sure that I would blog this trip, but I’ve decided that I will given that there was considerable bravery from me on hovercrafts and lots of craft beer to write about. Thanks to Richard, Simon, Liam, Ross and Łukasz for coming along on my birthday weekend this year. After the evening before led astray, once again, by Julian in the King’s Head, there was an early pick-up for Ross and me thanks to Liam, the group’s official driver. Richard was also driving, but we are unanimous that Liam is the best driver. We picked Simon up en route, and then Richard and Łukasz arrived later in the day. I accept no-one is too concerned about this, but I like to have a memory of such matters for myself as I get muddled up who went where half the time.

We have long since had a tradition of visiting a JD Wetherspoon pub that I haven’t been to before en route, but we had the slight issue that I’d been to them all in the area. After picking Simon up from Cambridge North railway station and having a look at the Novotel there that Richard complained about, we (well, I) chose the Swan & Angel in St. Ives as it was on the lowest price band. All was well and after a few coffees, we were ready to continue on the journey.

It’s fair to say that there’s a complete absence of photos here, I usually take more than this as the next one in this riveting series is arriving at the hotel, the Ibis Budget at Salford Quays. Richard was quite annoyed that we had picked this hotel as he only stays in premium hotels, but Liam and I are more budget people. Goodness knows what I must have been wittering on about to have forgotten to have taken any photos during the day other than one of breakfast, but it must have been excitement about the weekend. Or, more likely, I probably fell asleep during most of the car journey which has been known and I think Liam secretly prefers.