Berkshire Brewery Bonanza

In which we travel from Wokingham to Reading, taking in a quartet of breweries along the way.
Hopping off the train at midday we braved the walk through a sudden deluge of rain, making our way to the centre of town and the Outhouse Brewery. 

Outhouse Brewery (Unit 4, Southgate House, Alexander Court, Wokingham, RG40 2SL- web)
This brewpub opened on the 9th July 2021 - rather inconveniently for me as I was standing outside it two days before that date the last time I was in town.
It's owned by a chap called Peter Rhodes who starting brewing beer in the cellar of a Chichester terrace before moving to Wokingham and locating the brew kit in his outhouse.  Hence the name.  And - as you can see - he's now upgraded from the outhouse to a brewpub.

Top marks for the bright and enthusiastic staff who were keen to tell us which of the ten beers were their favourites, chatting cheerily to us and offering us tasters.
I picked the 'Big DIPA' - a dangerous 7.3% ABV to start the day.

We settled into the spacious side room, sat in front of bits of brewing kit, entertained by a soundtrack of Blur, Oasis and the Manics which was pure Q Magazine best of the nineties.

Wokingham has previous form in expanding its boundaries for Good Beer Guide entries listed under the town name.
The Oakingham Belle in 2022 as far out on the edge of town as you can get.
The Crooked Billet in 2021, a mile beyond the Welcome to Wokingham sign, surrounded by fields and farmhouses.
But Elusive Brewery is really taking the biscuit...  

It was a 5-mile, 30-minute trip from the town centre to somewhere that could more justifiably be listed as Arborfield, Finchamstead or Farley Hill. 
To get there we caught the Leopard 3 bus to the Robinson Crusoe stop - names which make it sound like a way more exciting journey and destination than it really was.

A few minutes walk through the twists and turns of the Hogwood Industrial Estate, the Elusive Brewery banners pointing us in the right direction, and we found ourselves here...

Elusive Taproom (Unit 5, Marino Way, Hogwood Road, RG40 4RF - web)
At a proper brewery tap, with an open shutter, brewing kit on view, and German beer garden style bench seating under gazebos.
Inside there are a handful of tables and a couple of video game consoles, the bar on one side with a plethora of framed awards hung above the beer taps.

I picked the tasty keg 'Assassin's Trail', brewed in collaboration with Roosters Brewery. 
Then thought I should really try the solitary cask ale - 'Serano Pale Ale' - being as you don't often find a hand pump at an industrial estate brewery tap room with limited opening hours.

Straight across the road from Elusive are the big boys of Berkshire brewing...

Siren Taproom (18 Marino Way, Finchampstead, RG40 4RF - web)
It was winter 2018 when I was here last during the Beast from the East, huddled against the chill clutching a stupidly strong DIPA.  
Marginally better weather this time, although don't bank on it in the summer of '23.

Inside the Tap House there were a trio of long social tables, with a decent crowd and a small queue to the bar when we arrived. 
Ten beers listed at the back of the bar, offering a great, varied selection, and Ricky Martin's 'Livin' La Vida Loca' playing in the background while we made our choices.

I ordered a trio of  beers:
A modern pale ale brewed in collaboration between Verdant and Rivington: 'Never Known Sharks Like It'.
The Siren/SALT collab 'Birthday Bourbon' - a great stout at a sensible strength.
And Siren 'Send Me More Sunshine' - a "massive mango sour".  Worth it for the craft photo opportunity...

We did much clock-watching, not wanting to miss the hourly bus for our onward journey to Reading.

Where we made a quick stop in the Alehouse - thereby spoiling the brewery theme, but worth it for a fabulous pint and the usual heavy prog rock soundtrack.

 
Then we set out on one last bus ride to reach the fourth and final taproom of the day.

To get there we took a bus up Oxford Road, hopping off at the Pond House pub.
Better pub bloggers than me would have called in to investigate...

But we had not time to stop for the £2.80 Fosters.

We strode on, taking a right at the roundabout and following the hubbub of conversation emanating from a dull-looking industrial estate.

Double-Barrelled Taproom (Unit 20 Stadium Way, Tilehurst, RG30 6BX - web)
Wow, this was busy.  Families, young folk, couples, craft beer geeks, loads of excitable dogs.
Lots of happy people.  In Tilehurst.

Double Barrelled are another brewery that started on a small scale in a Caversham garage.  They've made a fair leap in size as they now brew 1.3 million pints a year at this site.

There were 12 beers on offer, 9 of their own creations plus guests from Yonder, Bristol Beer Factory and Napton Cidery.
I picked a 6% ABV West Coast IPA called 'What's Your 20?'
What's that beer name mean?

We accompanied the ale with a pretty superb and wickedly spicy paneer wrap from the Desi Infusion food truck parked outside.

I'd wanted to hold on for food at Oxford Road's Polish pub, The White Eagle.
But it didn't seem to be serving the most traditional of Polish cuisine... 

So instead we predictably ended up in the Nags Head where I sampled the very peculiar 'Tzatziki Sour' by Orbit.  And several more besides.

A nice day out: three breweries in industrial units, a brewpub, and two top-notch Reading pubs.