The Hop Leaf, Reading

although its layout hints at a former two bar set up, now knocked though into a single space. You enter into a shallow but wide room with a very old-fashioned carpet, plain white walls broken by a dado rail, a few dark lintels which show you how the pub might once have been laid out, and some obscured glass in the front windows. Hard backed banquette seating has been formed into a series of long U-shaped booths down the front wall, with tables and low stools to the left and some old pews over to the right. The servery is directly opposite the entrance, running along the rear wall with a brick counter front which includes a newspaper rack set into an integral pillar, plus a modern bar back and a simple but quite pleasing pot shelf. Décor is sadly almost non-existent, leaving the room almost entirely devoid of character, which is a real shame. The space to the right tried to make up for such shortcomings by presenting a decent looking brick fireplace and a bar billiards table, making this arguably the best place to try to bag a seat. Pop tunes chuntered away in the background, but it was the general chit-chat of the bar staff and a decent band of locals that thankfully prevailed. A few picnic benches are available outside the front of the pub, but these face a fairly busy road and didn’t seem like a particularly appealing option. They had no less than five Hop Back beers on the go when I arrived – Thaiphoon, Summer Lightning, Citra, GFB and Crop Circle – plus a guest in the shape of Downton New Forest Ale. I gave the Thaiphoon a whirl and thought it was in great shape although not my favourite beer from this brewery. Staff seemed to be well acquainted with their locals and were just as friendly when serving strangers. I had really high hopes for this place, having enjoyed other Hop Back pubs in the past, but whilst the beer side of things was all good and well, I felt the pub itself was a bit plain and soulless, enlivened only by a loyal band of regulars. Not quite the destination pub I’d hoped for, but still worth checking out for those Hop Back beers.

Had the place to myself at 7pm on a Monday Night. Decent pub - in the Good Beer Guide. Most of the beers were from the Hop Back brewery. Ever going against the grain, I went for a New Forest Ale from Downton Brewery. Missed the Pinball machine! Decent visit blogged at http://bit.ly/2i4SbeS

Busy, welcoming pub serving the full range of Hop Back beers including Odyssey, which I hadn't heard of and regret not trying, esp now I read HB's interesting tasting notes (coffee & marmalade?). Reading is something of a concrete mess but cherry-picking the handful of pubs that are so rightly praised on this site makes a visit very worthwhile, although getting around the 4/5 best ones will certainly result in a hangover as you'd have to be very disciplined not to want several pints in each.