Alehouse

Lovely little olde-worlde pub right in the heart of town. I love the little snugs round the back - the interior decs look like they've been lifted from a church. Not just the pews, there are stained glass windows here too. Good selection of rotating real ales, and some craft keg too. Friendly staff. My kind of place.

Visited May 2012.

Final pub on my Reading crawl of 30th June 2023. Formerly the Hobgoblin. A lot of wood panelling inside, with walls and ceilings bedecked in clip badges. Behind main drinking area is a corridor with a number of intimate compartments seating 2 to 4. A range of cask ales is supplemented by a selection of Belgian bottles. Seemingly unchanged since I last visited in 1989 or 90, except that it is no longer a Hobgoblin pub despite being the brewery’s first outlet. The commercial reasons for this change were explained by the ultra friendly manager who found plenty of time for a chat on the bar. Great folk music playlist. An enjoyable end to an impromptu city crawl. Allow yourself twenty minutes to the station platform and you’ll not miss your train.

Lovely boozer on Reading's main drag with lots of characters, both amongst the staff and the crowd. Interesting rotating cask selection

A very pleasant revisited after many years. Not much has changed since I first visited the pub in March 2005, the pub was then called the Hobgoblin (my 2005-rating in BITE). Still the same dark wooden layout with the main barroom at the entrance leading up to a narrow corridor with a few cozy snugs. Decorated all over with pump clips. Well kept, rotating cask ales served from ten hand-pumps. Located straight down from the train station in the beginning (or end) of the pedestrian area in reading. Polite service. (Visited with Finn 20.10.2019).

Lovely old-time pub. TV in the front room. More quiet options further in.

Scruffy looking boozer close to the centre of town, quite small. Pump clips and beer mats seem to cover every available surface. The guy that served me was friendly and knew his beers quite well. Selection was OK but a bit limited in terms of style. Prices were good. Worth a look.

Quirky traditional cask ale house in the city centre. Quite small inside with lots of nooks & crannies ( not a huge amount of seating). A range of 6 to 8 beers on cask with local beers from West Berkshire Brewery on permanently, not a particularly exciting range for a craft beer fan but will keep the Camra tickers content. It’s not cheap either but presumably the rent is quite hefty given the location.

Very nice old style pub in the city centre. Interiors and decoration are really nice. A lot of conviviality. Absolutely worth going if you’re in Reading.

Decent little old school cask tickers bar in the centre of town. Old fashioned, loads of pump clips festoon the walls.