Horse & Jockey, 120 Castle Street, Reading

1st beer festival since new licencees took over featuring 15 west country beers from Thursday 1st March

Jolly Boat: Buccaneers - 3.7% Matthews: Brass Knocker - 3.8% Barum: XTC - 3.9% Organic Brewhouse: Lizard Point - 4.0% Dorset: Coastguard - 4.1% Glastonbury: Lady of the Lake - 4.2% Teignworthy: Springtide - 4.3% Clearwater: Best - 4.4% Isle of Purbeck: Studland Bay Wrecked - 4.5% Burrington: Newt 'n' Wriggley - 4.6% Exe Valley: Mr Shepherds Crook - 4.7% Suttons: Eddystone - 4.8% Blue Anchor: Middle - 5.0% Blackawton: Headstrong - 5.2% Otter: Head - 5.8%

All beers should be available on stillage in the bar.

Allan

Allan - do you know if all of the beers should be available on stillage in the bar? TIA (sorry I couldn't resist, after the groundhogday posting) on a less frivolous note - do you know when the new Reading Zerodegrees is opening? Last I heard it was to have its own German BrauMeisteress (i.e. brewster, female brewer) Despite various previous statements to the contrary (Quaffale, older GBGs?, etc)- ZeroDegs' beers *do* meet the CAMRA definition (even the lagers are unfiltered, unpasteurised & conditioned naturally in the serving tank & pumped to the bar using air pressure - with the beer being stored in giant plstic bags inside horizontal serving tanks - very odd, but it worked a treat in London) cheers MikeMcG (ex ZeroDegs brewer, Blackheath)

Apologies for my duplicate posting!

I haven't heard of a date for the Reading Zerodegrees opening but I can confirm all the brewing kit appears to have been installed, if not necessarilly plumbed together.

There does seem a lot of work still to be done before it looks like a bar / brewpub though.

Cheers

Allan

It is a problem of understanding that lager is a process not the actual beer. Then again in the UK lager isn't a beer - "piss" was the short description used by an Aussie[1] who works in the same office. Personally I think he understates the case. Meanwhile he and I are quite fond of a number of lagered beers. What was that old comment by a German about English "lager" something about suitable for children and ladies of a weak disposition?

[1] He has the great misfortune :-) to live rather close to Bernies off licence (the one that has many entries in the Good Beer Guide ...)

In message , The Submarine Captain writes

Yes I have. I just don't like the taste.

The taste (singular?) Lagered beers tend to have a wide variety of flavours, it is only the factory lagerade [1] that has one consistent (naff) style.

"The taste" is about as valid as the same sort of comment delivered by non-beer drinkers as their reason for not drinking beer. Because they never made the effort to try anything decent they assume it is all the same. Maybe they got used to the idea that wine all tastes the same. (Warmed up Blue Nun or Austrian anti-freeze) :-)

[1] I could be blunt (but brutally honest) and call it many nasty names, but I'm in a nice mood.

In message , Steven Pampling writes

I notice the similarities more than the differences, but that's normal when you don't like the similarities. Like my scrumpy-drinking friends who don't like beer: they say it all tastes of hops, even when it seems virtually hop-free to my taste buds.