Back of Beyond (JDW)

We stop here for breakfast on our Sunday visit to the Siren taproom - the bus stop is located on the other side of the pub. Decent one-floor, medium sized spoons. ten cask ales and the usual selection of craft beers on tap. 4.99 for a solid traditional breakfast. Polite service. Located in the outskirts of Reading, about ten minutes walk from the train station. (Visited with Finn, 01.10.2023).

Traditional ´spoons. Handy for bus 3 to Siren/Elusive.

Long, cave like Wetherspoons on the East end of Reading in the old industrial part of town. It has quite a depressing atmosphere in here, lots of office workers grabbing a quick lunch and crafty pint. Service is slow and the beer range uninspired. Been there and done it.

A large, long, low-ceilinged Spoons. They have more than a dozen casks, but only a few interesting items. Friendly service, decent prices. Fairly central location, about a 10-minute walk from the station. Not a must-visit place, but likely good for a tick.

A typical ’Spoons setup - a single long bar and a cavernous interior - this used to be a good place to go at Beer Fest time, as 20 or so casks were set up on stillage next to the bar - the current management seem to have lost interest though, as on the first day of this festival (March 2015) there were only two festival beers available.

A fairly typical ’spoons with around 16 hand pumps and one or two interesting beers. There’s a beer garden alongside the canal but it was closed when I was there so I sat in a booth with information about the Huntley and Palmers biscuit factory which was located nearby. The service was friendly and efficient. (Visited 10 June 2014).

Barnlike interior (you can always get a table but there’s no atmopsphere at all!) with a pleasant (apart from the smoke) beer patio overlooking the River Kennet.. The beer selection is not up to Monks Retreat JDW in town, largely due to too many of the taps serving the standard IPA, Abbot etc. However, there’s usually still 4-5 guest beers, often including a local from the likes of Loddon & Rebellion, and beer condition is usually pretty decent. Oddly the prices here are 10-20p more than in the town JDWs, and the service can be a little slow. However, at beer festival time this is the best ’Spoons to visit in Reading, as for the festival period it sets up racks of gravity casks and has more beers on than usual.

Fairly typical Wetherspoon. Bit further out of town than the others so often a bit quieter. 8 handpumps, usually 4 or 5 guests plus the JDW usuals. Normally in fairly good condition.

One of Wetherspoon’s Pubs, same same... Big interior, cheap beer but not cosy. 6 casks, 19 taps and a fridge full of bottles.