We popped into Reading to the Hope Tap last Sunday to see what they had – and to meet up with some friends for a meal.  I tried 3 of the festival beers, plus a pint of Loddon Hoppit (3.5%) – a lovely local beer brewed just to the north of Reading.  The festival beers I tried were:  Greene King Boss Hogg Bitter (4.1%), brewed specially for the festival, a very tasty golden ale; Adnams Pale Champion Ale (3.4%), another beer brewed specially for the festival – I think this suffered from following a more full-flavoured beer – I’m sure it’s a very nice drink, but after the Boss Hogg, it tasted a bit thin; Bath Hefewiezen Hare (4.7%) from Bath Ales in Bristol, another special brew for the festival, and absolutely delicious – a wheat beer with fruity, spicy tastes – definitely the best of the session.  The full list of beers, complete with tasting notes, is on the JD Wetherspoon website, along with a lot of other useful information.

I have mixed views about JD Wetherspoon.  They do a lot to promote good beer, and support local breweries, and that is brilliant.  Their pubs are usually quite clean and presentable, and serve a good range of reasonably priced food.  What bothers me a bit is that they are so ubiquitous, and they are such good value, that the smaller, more traditional pubs find it hard to compete, and I’m sure that JDWs, along with other similar chains of bars, contribute in no small way to the rapid rate of pub closures.  What confuses me greatly is the closeness of JDWs and CAMRA.  On the one hand CAMRA are bemoaning the closure of so many traditional pubs, but on the other hand are giving JDW money-off vouchers when you join or renew your CAMRA membership – doesn’t anybody else see the contradiction here?  CAMRA seem intent on blaming the supermarkets selling cheap booze for the demise of the pub – perhaps they should be looking a bit closer to home.

This doesn’t mean that I’m anti-JDW – you know what you’re going to get when you go into one of their bars, so if you’re in a strange town and looking for a decent pint, they are the safe bet.  They do champion the cause of proper beer, and of local small brewers (though I believe they screw them down on their prices – they clearly have the clout that independent pubs don’t have).  Maybe we get the pubs we deserve, and maybe the places we want to drink are changing to reflect our preferences – as has always been the case.  It’s a complex issue, and one that is best discussed over a pint.

The bottle also warns “expect another couple of equally individual beers soon”.  I can’t wait (imagine Jack Dee delivering that line).

The event finished at about 10pm, and we then set off back home to Reading.  In need of a comfort stop, we pulled in at The Pack Saddle in Mapledurham, a couple of miles north of Reading.  When I first moved to Reading back in the mid-1970′s I used to go there quite regularly – it was a Gale’s pub then, one of four to the north of Reading.  It was what used to be called a “spit and sawdust” pub – run for the locals, but with excellent beer.  It’s now a Wadworth’s pub, and has been extended and developed into what appears to be a decent restaurant – but still serving good beers.  I’d wanted to try a pint of Horizon, but unfortunately it was off, so I had a pint of Henry’s Original IPA (3.6%).  Quite dark and low in alcohol for an IPA – but a decent session bitter – I hadn’t tried it before, but I will look out for it again, as I prefer the lower strength bitters (it means I can drink more of it).  It’s one of those beers that you just drink – nothing outstanding about it, no gimmick, just a nice tasting and very satisfying drink.

Back to the pub – we were surprised to see, when we walked into the bar, that it had a bar billiards table.  You don’t see those very often these days, and apparently it had only been there for a few days.  Sarah and I used to play regularly in the leagues in Reading, but we haven’t played in years – we didn’t have time for a game last night, but it’s a good reason to go back there.  I also discovered, when I was looking at the pub’s website, that it also has a helicopter landing pad!

They have 3 cask ales – IPA, Abbot Ale and Old Speckled Hen.  I went for the IPA, which was very tasty – well kept, light and refreshing – and washed down our starter of loaded potato skins very nicely.  Main course – well, when there’s a steak and ale pie on the menu I just can’t resist – this one was huge, with loads of steak and smashing gravy – with another pint of IPA to help it down.  And for pudding?  While Sarah tucked into the hot fudge cake with chocolate sauce, my pudding was a pint of Old Speckled Hen – one of my favourite beers both in bottles and on draught.  A bit more body than the IPA, and a nutty, caramel taste.  We were stuffed after all that – a very satisfying meal and a nice drop of beer.

A few years ago I spent quite a bit of time working in Camborne – not the prettiest town in Cornwall, and little incentive to stray beyond the hotel bar in the evenings (The Tyacks hotel – which is one of the brewery’s hotels as it happens).  I got quite a liking for Tinners and HSD, so I’m looking forward to re-acquainting myself with those – but I’d also like to try some of the other beers that you don’t seem to get anywhere away from Cornwall – such as their IPA, Proper Job and Black Prince.

This time we’re staying in the White Hart Hotel in St. Austell – a short walk from the brewery.  Hopefully I’ll have something nice to report on next week.

In the evening we decided to go out for a meal, and chose The Jekyll and Hyde in Stratfield Turgis a few miles south of Reading.  It’s a Badger pub, and I was delighted to find that they had Hopping Hare available.  I had the bottled version of this beer a few weeks ago (see Hop to it), and was looking forward to sampling the cask version.  It certainly didn’t disappoint – it’s 4.5%, the same as the bottled, and is light, refreshing and very drinkable – the 3 pints washed down the burger and chips very nicely!

Something that was interesting (and a bit concerning) was that apart from me, only a couple of other people were drinking the real beer; everyone else was drinking lager.  Okay, it was Sunday evening and not very busy, but there still seemed to be plenty of beer left in the barrels, considering the beer festival had started on the previous Thursday (St. George’s Day).  The only beer on the list that had run out was the Hare Raiser, although the barman promised me they would be getting some more in.

Hare Raiser is a new seasonal beer brewed specially for cask ale week at the start of April, and only available until the end of April – a pity it was off last night – must have sold well over the weekend!  Olde Trip is a Hardy & Hanson’s brand (now part of Greene King I believe, like so many other small breweries) and is named after the famous Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem pub in Nottingham, which claims to be the oldest pub in England.

I decided to try a pint of the Jekyll’s Gold (4.3%).  It’s a very pale golden colour, dry and refreshing without being particularly bitter.  At first I thought it tasted a bit “thin”, but it grew on me as I progressed down the pint.  Meanwhile, Sarah was trying the Olde Trip (4.3%) (probably a sentimental choice as she was born and spent her early years in Nottingham).  An exchange of slurps showed that we both preferred the Olde Trip, so I decided to have a pint of it.  Certainly more body than the Jekyll’s Gold, darker, more bitter, and a bit more flavour.  I enjoyed the Jekyll’s Gold, but I think I preferred the Olde Trip.  Sarah went for the Greene King IPA, and enjoyed it.

From there, home to a couple of bottles of Fuller’s London Pride and a pizza.  Thinking of going back up to The Sportsman this evening to see what they’ve got left – not least because they have an offer that if you buy 5 drinks from the festival beers you get a 6th one free, and I’ve got 4 stamps on my card!

Anyway, on the way home, we decided to stop off for a drink and something to eat.  Being a fan of Fuller’s beers, and only being able to get bottled versions of most of them, we decided to go to the Mad Bishop and Bear in Paddington Station.  We’ve been there before, and we know they do good beer and decent food, and I was looking forward to a pint of Chiswick Bitter, or maybe Discovery.  So, we settled ourselves down and I went to the bar – two pints of Chiswick please.  Sorry Sir, the Chiswick has just gone off.  Hmmm – two pints of Discovery then.  The barman goes off up the other end of the bar and comes back with – one pint of Discovery.  Sorry Sir, the Discovery has just gone off as well.  I ended up with a pint of London Pride - which is no hardship really (I was gallant enough to let Sarah have the Discovery, though did have a little slurp myself).  Much as I love London Pride, I’d really set my heart on Chiswick – ah well, it went down well with the steak and ale pie (though another little gripe of mine is pies that are served in their individual little dishes that you can’t eat out of properly and can’t tip the contents out on to the plate because they are too hot to handle).

We decided to miss one train and stay for another drink – Chiswick still off, so I had another pint of Pride – Sarah had a St. Austell Tribute (again, I managed a decent slurp of that).  The Tribute was a bit sweet and flowery for my taste – but maybe that was just because I was tasting it after the London Pride.

All in all a bit disappointing, but the Mad Bishop and Bear is a decent pub, especially considering it is in a main line railway station.  The staff were pleasant, the food was good and arrived quickly (important if you’ve got a train to catch) and the beer was excellent – just a pity that the beer I really wanted was off.  Never mind, I travel through Paddington often enough that it won’t be too long before I get another opportunity.  I  must find out how the pub got its name.

Another couple of indicators that Morland Original is one of the poor relations of the Greene King stable – the handpump advertises “From the brewers of Old Speckled Hen” (obviously nobody has heard of Morland, but they have heard of Old Speckled Hen) - and the Greene King web site has no mention of it – not even under “other Greene King ales”.  It’s sad that this local brewery is no more – but they are hardly unique in that – and I suppose that being part of Greene King is better than going out of business altogether.  I’m not really criticising Greene King for taking over Morland (and a lot of other small breweries) – they are at least still producing good quality, good tasting beers – and I suppose that the Morland name is still around, so that old fogeys like me can reminisce about how things used to be!