Brilliant pubs, breweries and walks: An away day at Reading City FC

Over the season I will be telling you about some of the places you can visit for food, drink or any interesting landmarks that may be of interest when going to watch a Berkshire team’s game this season, home or away.

First up, we stay local and turn our attention to Reading for those of you who may be thinking about heading out to watch Cherry Red Records Combined Counties League side Reading City.

On this particular occasion, Tom and I met at the Fox and Hounds in Caversham which is a 15-minute walk from the train station. At this moment due to Covid they are seating outside only but they have a large area and it is all covered. Once we were sat down there was a large screen with two pages of beer to choose from. If the TV is too far from your seat there is also a QR code on the table which you can scan and you can get the list of the beers they currently have on tap from that.

This list of beers was extensive showing 40 that were available including cask, gluten free, lager, cider, stout, bottles and low alcohol. I was drinking halves so I could try a few of the beers that breweries had made to celebrate Kevin and Kerri Durkan running the pub for 10 years.

I had Year X of the Fox by Elusive, Ooh, Beer friends by Double Barrelled and Park Life by Siren Craft. The Fox also do a very good range of food and Tom made the most of the Buffalo loaded fries and Buffalo wings which both looked very appetising and were good portion sizes. Visit www.thefoxcaversham.com

Now our next venue was Double-Barrelled Brewery which is right next to Reading City’s ground. You can walk back into town and get the number 17 bus but we decided to take a lovely walk along the River Thames to the brewery which takes 45 minutes.

Double Barrelled is an impressive site. They have a long counter and plenty of seating within the brewery. Currently they are running table service where you scan a QR code on the table and order and pay for the drinks through an app. Drinks are served to you within 5 minutes and considering how busy it was that was very good. I drank I Need Your Clothes, Your Boots And Your Motorcycle pale ale (my beer of the day, stunning!) and Define Dancing and bought a can of Punnet: blackberry and blackcurrent fruited gose to take home. Visit doublebarrelled.co.uk

At the ground itself I tucked in to a pint of Good Old Boy by West Berkshire Brewery but they also had Proper Job by St Austell, Doom Bar by Sharp’s and Peroni. Details at www.readingcityfc.co.uk

Other places to you could visit to enjoy a drink are:

• The Nags Head, Russel Street which has won numerous awards over the year for real ale and have a good selection of Ciders. www.thenagsheadreading.co.uk
• The Castle Tap, Castle Street. thecastletap.co.uk
• BrewDog, Castle Street. www.brewdog.com
• The Weather Station, Eldon Terrace. (please check out their face book page for details)
• The Greyfriar, Greyfriars road near the station (The perfect spot for beer and gin enthusiasts) www.thegreyfriarreading.co.uk

Places you could eat are:

• Hope Tap Wetherspoons www.jdwetherspoon.com
• Miller and Carter www.millerandcarter.co.uk
• Honest Burgers www.honestburgers.co.uk/
• Las Iguanas www.iguanas.co.uk
• Bierhaus www.bierhauspub.co.uk

There are plenty of other places but these are my go to places to visit.

If you fancy do other things apart from eating and drinking you could always check out the following:

• Forbury Gardens
• Visit the Abbey Ruins
• Visiting Reading Museum and see the Bayeux Tapestry www.readingmuseum.org.uk
• The Museum on English Rural Life merl.reading.ac.uk
• Take in a show at the hexagon whatsonreading.com
• And when it’s on Reading Festival www.readingfestival.com [although the ground is part of the Festival site so there will be no match that weekend at home – Tom]

As you can see there is plenty to see and do and you can really plan a great day out when visiting Reading City Football Club.