The Three Guineas, Reading

Stopped I here on the way back from Bristol.As bars next to stations go its pretty decent.Loads of handpumps but the beer range can be un-exciting.They had 2 Longman beers ,2 Bingham and 5 from Brains craft range so it was good tonight.I had the Brains -green dragon which was flavoursome and in good condition.

This grand looking pub located next to Reading train station is actually situated inside the original station building and is an impressive sight on approach, although unfortunately this doesn't quite translate to the interior. The building is formed of a very large, spacious open plan room with a servery running along the back wall. The room is bare boarded with loads of space for vertical drinking in the area surrounding the bar. The vast space is broken up by a few large pillars with drinking shelves attached, and some high tables and stools which run across the middle of the room, whilst standard table and chair seating has been arranged around the perimeter. The bar back has some modern looking etched windows which have the pub's name on them. The room extends a little towards the rear on the left hand side where a raised section has button backed upholstered banquettes and an impressive display of rugby shirts on the wall. A huge screen on the right hand wall was showing the evening's Premier League fixture and the pub is generally very popular with sports fans, including visiting football supporters for whom the pub is a designated drinking spot. Despite visiting quite late in the day, when most of the football crowd had dispersed, beer was still being served in plastic glasses, which was a shame. Considering the rather bland décor in the main room, it was a surprise to find a whole load of railway memorabilia lining the corridor and staircase that leads to the toilets, including a framed explanation of the pub's name. It did seem a bit of a missed opportunity having this stuff hidden away rather than livening up the main room. The ale range was much better than I'd expected, given some of the recent reviews below. The choice on my visit was from Howells Frosty Bells, Itchen Valley Christmas Cheer and Father Christmas Strong Ale, Adnams Shingle Shells, Brains Rev's Golden Cracker, Caledonian Gift Wrapped and Bitter Winter, Andwell Krystall Weiss and Cottage Tornado. The Shingle Shells was in good enough shape, although the plastic glass didn't help matters. The staff seemed to know a thing or two about the ales and helped a couple of customers decide what to drink. This is a pretty decent station bar which might not be a cosy place to settle down, but does provide a convenient spot to enjoy a decent pint. Whilst there are better pubs elsewhere in town, this makes a pretty good start/finish point if you're on a crawl.

A handy watering hole to wait for a couple of our PG chums to start our Reading crawl. Glad to say we didn't have to wait too long at those prices. I suppose the novelty factor for Mrs A and myself was tasting the West Berkshire and Upham ales. A fabulous façade to this building, but once inside I wouldn't like the train service to be delayed.