14/08/17 - CAMRA Good Beer Guide Pubs of Reading - Part 2

I'm back with the Booze Bible in Berkshire.  Four weeks after rain stopped play on Part 1 ticking Reading's 8 Entries, I am repeating the bus journey on the Emerald 6, knowing exactly where to alight.

The Hop Leaf, Southampton Street, Downton Brewery New Forest Ale

7pm on a Monday night and there's the Bar Lady, me and the King of Sudoku.  Initial engagement is at the bar, where I shun the most obvious choice of several Hop Backs (pub is tied to the brewery) and have a first ever New Forest Ale.  Handsome looking bitter.

The KoS soon exits, leaving behind his work for me to mark.   Never, in the history of the Times, has the Fiendish been completed with no workings out.

By god, but he was neat

If there was company, I could have entertained myself with many of the available games, bar billiards and darts more traditional than the documented Pinball machine that I failed to locate.

Hop Leaf 

Eldon Arms, Eldon Terrace, Timothy Taylor Golden Best

I've found the HQ of the Berkshire Real Ale resistance movement.

Once again, I am in a near empty pub.   There's a couple taking selfies at the very far end of this long narrow pub and a guardian of 8 real ales.   Makes you wonder how they keep them turning over.

Really unsure about the Paint Job.  Don't think it was this colour last time.

Maybe Reading is like Spain and no-one comes out till 11pm.

I check in TT Golden Best into Untappd for the 2nd time in life, once again being surprised that its classed as a Mild.

Only way to entertain myself is to read Berkshire CAMRA's "Pint Taken", recognising the cover shot of Nag's Head from my last Reading ticking.

There's something deeply satisfying about reading about a documented pub closure in the actual said pub.

The fightback against pub flat conversions started here.  I only hope it wasn't the new owners who came up with the Bobby Sands colour scheme.

Good News - Nag's Head wins POTY.  Bad News - Eldon Arms is closed.  

The Purple Turtle, Gun Street, Doombar (Soz)

Now, I'm not as prolific as some of the pub blogging Twitterati, but I have managed to get 150 ticks since the 2017 edition was released last September.

I defy any of the Jedi Masters of GBG Ticking to come up with a more bizarre entry than the Purple Turtle.

I make no apologies for the shaky night time photo.   I was worried the bouncer was looking at me.

He was.

Clocked

Mrs M catches my Untappd check in an in a hopeless confusion from Police Academy 1, thinks I am in the Blue Oyster Bar.  I have form.   Facebook Friends led me to Leed's New Penny.  The Cask Marque App led me to Oxford Street's City of Quebec.   And just because it looked nice, I once led myself into London's premier real ale bar for Bears in Poland Street.

There must be a reason why its in the Good Beer Guide.   Personally, any place that has a bouncer should be instantly excluded, in my opinion.

The bible's closing line on the place is "Beer Choice is eclectic, you never know what you are going to get from one week to the next".

I must have chosen a bad week.   It was Doom Bar or Hobgoblin on offer today.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the place and there is a lot more to it than you can see on entry.  On this visit, I ignored the empty stage and American Diner booths and headed out through the side door and out the back into a wonderful outdoor area.

A decent place on a mild August night.

Outdoor at the Purple Turtle

The Alehouse, Broad Street, Mr Chubbs Lunch Time Bitter

Longtime favourite in Reading and another chance to enjoy one of my favourite named beers at the wrong time of day.   Proper looking pub inside and out, with nooks and crannies that I would have been better off exploring to get away from the very drunk Irish Man and not so drunk co-worker who came to entertain me on my little table for 1, next to the bar.

Like any good journalist, I made my excuses and left.  Fully in the knowledge that it won't be too long before I am back.

The Glory of Mr Chubbs Lunchtime