Calverly Brewery – Hooper Street – The Cambridge Foodies

I have heard quite a bit of noise about the Calverly Brewery in the Craft Beer In Cambridgeshire Facebook group over the past few months. So naturally, I had to pop by Hooper Street to see what all the fuss was about and book a table to sample their selection.

Upon entering the place is open and light. Overall, it’s a very pleasant place to be. It was a little featureless but the team had made a real effort to try and minimise this by adding some greenery, artwork, and a rather fetching fireplace.

The place started off empty but really filled up as the day went on. Looking at the booking page online it was fully booked with little room for flexibility – the place was clearly very popular!

There was a great selection on the menu including West Coast style pale ales, crisp lagers, fruity beers, and porters. There was something for everyone here, also including gin, wine, and ginger beer.

My first choice was one of my favourites of the day, a delicious Kayensee Dawg hazy pale ale. This came to 5.2% which was top end of the sessionable spectrum. It was served in a 2/3 pint glass but was just about right for me. I could have easily drank this all day but decided to explore the menu for the sake of exploring.

My wife has a delicious lemonade by Fentimans. It calls itself a “Victorian lemonade”. I’m not sure what that means exactly but it was absolutely fantastic. A real cloudy and sour lemonade which is exactly how I like it.

The next on my list was the Mosaic Simcoe pale ale. This was another West Coast IPA with a citrus and fruity flavour. It had a real sour element which I partially enjoyed. It didn’t have the same depth of flavour as Kayensee Dawg but was enjoyable in a different way. After a while the bitterness built up and became hard to finish but started off great. This is something I’d recommend as a half pint.

Last on my list is the Tafel Bier which was made with Belgium abbaye yeast. This was only 2.1% but you’d hardly notice the difference. Certainly something I’d recommend for the designated driver.

The staff here were great and one in particular was very chatty. It’s a very welcoming atmosphere and I was always served promptly (even when busy). The venue was very clean, open, and well designed, with a good use of space throughout. I can see why this place is so popular, even with so many highly competitive pubs close by.

I can certainly see myself coming back to finish off the menu. Being on Hooper Street makes this very hard for anyone living outside the Cambridge bubble but for anyone living close by I can see this being a real regular place to visit.

Update:

I decided to pop back to pick up some of their newly available canned beers. One is a pale ale and the other is an IPA (6.9%). A 6 pack came to £16.50 which I was allowed to mix and match. I didn’t think £2.80 for a can was horrendous for the quality of the beers and they easily kept up in quality with some of the more expensive stuff I’ve had in the past from other breweries.

Both beers were absolutely fantastic and personally I thought they were better than the stuff I tried on draught at the brewery. These are unfortunately only available at Calverley’s itself and not stocked anywhere else. I would really like to see these more widely available, perhaps somewhere outside of the city, as I could really see myself buying these more often.