Best pub I’ve been to in Reading, 12 real ales on at any one time, a number of real ciders, and some decent foreign beers in the fridge. Friendly place and they do a fine Sunday roast.

The best beer selection in Reading, with about a dozen, constantly changing, beers on handpump. Enough said. Knowledgable and helpful landlord & staff. A little way out of the centre. The pub itself is pleasant enough but that’s secondary.

Have visited this pub several times - always a pleasure to visit.. Being a little bit outside the city center, I think it is very much a local pub, but also known for beerlovers from all over. With their 12 taps, there is almost always something new to try. I like the fact, that they have small blackboards on top of the bar, telling what is on, and what the next beer will be :-) Very friendly staff, always very helpfull.

My favourite pub in Reading - great selection of well-kept ales, all shown on chalkboards above the bar showing now & next, a few words to describe, and strength.

Cosy pub with a good selection of papers, beers, ciders and also some daily varying pub grub. Tasty sandwiches. Friendly staff and beers & ciders were in good condition. Beer list above the bar says which beers will replace others, when something sells out.

Very nice cosy typical English Pub. Very friendly staff, good music, not too loud. 12 changing casks plus few taps and bottles. Bunch of board games avsilable to use. 2 TV screens for sports. Definately to recommend to visit.

A good selection of ales, although I think I’m a little spoiled by the ale fans heaven of Leicester so this was nothing special to me. Food unfortunately wasn’t on when I was there, it being around 3pm. Pub was also pretty quiet (it was a weekday). Beer was pretty well-kept, glasses were very clean. Barman/landlord was very friendly. A pleasant pub, although in a rough part of town.

I went to this many years ago, when it was a rough, desolate, smoky hole of a pub - one of the nastiest and scariest I’ve ever been in. The transformation that the new landlord and lady have wrought here is therefore all the more incredible. Now it’s very clean and well-lit, both the landlord are very friendly, jovial, knowledgeable and proud of their well-kept beer selection and willing to let you try beers before before you buy ’em. The locals also seem a particularly amiable and chatty bunch - completely different to those who used to frequent it (I assume some people have been barred?). There is a choice of one (yes, just one!) home-cooked dish per night, which changes daily,and is exactly the sort of substantial tasty fare you want from this sort of pub. The decor is still basic - bare floorboards , scrubbed-wood tables - but all the better for it. There’s a large selection of books if you feel like settling in for the day - as well you might when you see the astonishing 12 real ale hand pumps with regularly changing and unusual ales, more than I’ve ever seen anywhere else to date. My only criticisms would be that the pub feels a bit too open and barn like inside for absolute comfort, and it’s a shame there’s a sports TV (although to be fair it’s less obtrusive than most pubs). A great pub, serving the most real ales in Reading, and the one that would be my second favourite Reading pub to have as a local (after the Retreat)

A fantastic backstreet boozer, a typical shabby run-down victorian beer palace with one difference - 12 real ales on tap, and a landlord who understands that good beer is at the heart of a good pub. The beers are all regional, and just show the breadth and variety of brewers in southern England. In addition to the 12 brews on sale, the blackboards also list what is to follow on each of the hand pumps. It’s almost impossible to resist a return visit to sample some of them. You can check out the website if you want to know what’s currently on offer.

Absolutely cracking pub, recently bought and improved. A locals local with a constantly changing 12 Real Ales all specialy selected for variety, check the blackboards by each tap for whats on and whats due to go on. The wine is also selected carefully and constantly changing, very unusual for this type of pub, the food is hearty and imaginative, particularly the Sweeny & Todds pies. If this can keep going like this it will join the legendary British Pubs list, the equal of the Far Cats and Wellingtons of this world. It’s that good.