And I get asked to go along and be on the panel of judges to decide which of the hundreds of ales, ciders, stouts and flavoured beers get crowned festival brew of the year.
This was going to be interesting.
Sitting down on one of the two tables allocated for "official tasters" I was soon swamped by five members of the Peterborough CAMRA cricket team.
They told me their names, but I soon forgot them.
My job was to sniff, swill and swallow five of the chosen finalists in one of four categories – standard bitter, premium bitter, stouts and bitter and flavoured beers. Put a pint of hedgehog's urine in front of me at the end and I would probably mark it an eight.
That's 25 beers. And I have to go back and write about it after. No problem.
After one hour, the thought of sitting in front of a computer screen is about as appealing as entering the ring with a revved up Ricky Hatton.
One by one, we (there were 10 of us at our table) poured the contents of the anonymously labelled jug into our glass and wrote down a score out of 10.
"So how come you lot are here?", I asked the cricketers.
"They can't get rid of us", was the cumulative answer. It didn't take long to work out why these guys lost their one and only tour match in Newcastle last week. It's all about the ale come summer time. Averages don't come into it.
It was down to CAMRA tasting organiser Noel Ryland to serve up the drinks. Each year he invites 20 people to go through the nominated beers which come from all over the country.
Noel said: "We like to have champion ale. It draws money. And we get to go the winning brewery after as a thank- you.
"Even though some people are ale lovers, a lot of people turn up to the festival not knowing which drink to chose. It makes it easier if some of them have been singled out and have a bronze or silver award given to them."
It took about two hours to get through the preliminaries. That's roughly the time it takes to win the Olympic men's marathon. Comparisons are similar.
That's not to say it was my first time at the festival. Normally I head there on a Thursday night for a couple of jars and to listen to the bands.
But this was a bit different. Swilling down each sample with a sip of water, or a nibble of cheese, it was soon time for another.
Final time. Both tables had chosen their favourite from the nine categories (bottled beer is eliminated as it's not a proper ale – this is taken seriously!) and it's time for round two.
By this time spirits are high, and I know the ins and outs of the CAMRA cricket team tour. It wouldn't make pretty interesting reading.
Eight drinks later and that's it, Noel and the secretary of the Peterborough and District branch of CAMRA Harry Morten go way to tot up the scores.
By this time table one is singing. Yes, all the traditional pub anthems are out. And I have to head back and write about it.
The full article contains 653 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
