Photo credit.
My first immersive experience with British cask-conditioned ale came in 1998 while visiting the cities of London, Brighton and Cambridge.
One morning in the latter municipality my friends and I began exploring the lovely grounds of the famous university, which dates to 1209. This risky endeavor at exercise soon yielded to common sense, and a full day’s ale sampling ensued at ten or more of the city’s licensed establishments.
We even found time to eat once or twice – maybe thrice.
At one of the pubs, perhaps the Anchor, or Bath Ale House, I drank my first-ever hand-pulled Mild. I know it wasn’t at St. Radegund (R.I.P., the inimitable Terry Kavanagh) because we stuck to Fuller’s London Pride. On second thought it might have been a quaint, old-school CAMRA-listed pub, its name regrettably forgotten, but I believe since demolished, where the landlord graciously allowed us to remain inside during the afternoon...
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