The rise in independent craft and micro breweries over the past decade or so has been phenomenal. Long gone are the days where everyone drinks large brand, run of the mill beers. As well as pubs and bars, people are spending their evenings socialising in taprooms set up right in the heart of the breweries, some which also offer tours. Here are some fantastic Berkshire brewery tours including one of my favourites, Double-Barrelled Brewery.
It’s not just the taprooms that are selling small batch, locally brewed beers. Craft beer pubs and bars have seen a rise in popularity too. There are tap takeovers from breweries, as well as collaborations between the breweries, bringing the best aspect of their experience and flavours together. The craft beer community is thriving, and it’s a great community to be part of.
The three brewery tours listed were taken pre-pandemic and there may be some changes to the experience, but all other information is kept up to date.
BERKSHIRE BREWERY TOURS #1 – DOUBLE-BARRELLED BREWERY
Starting off with one of my favourite craft beer brewery stories, the first stop on our Berkshire brewery tours takes us to Reading, and DOUBLE-BARRELLED BREWERY. A venture created by husband and wife team Mike and Luci Clayton-Jones, Double-Barrelled opened up their tap room and brewery facilities towards the end of 2018.
Having been home brewing in their garage for a while before taking on the unit, they had previously decided to quit their career jobs to travel. With a passion for beer, the idea was to travel to different areas of the world in search of the best beers, breweries, bars and bottle shops. This would gather inspiration for what would become Double-Barrelled Brewery.
The experiences they had on their travels have formed the basis for many of their brews. The quirky names of some of their beers such as Seven Dollar Saturday, Full of Dinosaurs and Wiffle Ball? (to name a few) all have stories around their creation. Stories which the duo, and team, will be happy to tell you about when you visit.
The Double-Barrelled Brewery Tap Room experience
Since opening in 2018, the tap room experience has grown incredibly. A beautifully fitted out area, the wood panelling on the walls, contemporary styled bar and comfortable furniture detracts from the high ceiling of the industrial unit and creates a lovely, cosy space. As the popularity of the brand has grown, so has the indoor seating area – expanding to use up all available space in the unit that’s not being used to create those fantastic beers.
With an outdoor seating area, rotating street food traders every Friday and Saturday and events such as comedy nights and markets, there’s always something going on down at Double-Barrelled.
The brewery tour at Double-Barrelled Brewery
Double-Barrelled Brewery run brewery tours at 13.00 every Saturday and Sunday. The 90 minute tour covers the couple’s journey of becoming brewers, the creation of recipes, and the process of the brewing. This is followed by a generous tasting of four of their signature beers.
Given the relatively small size of the brewery, it provides the opportunity to get a really clear understanding of the brewing process from start to finish. The tours are informal and relaxed, while providing really useful and insightful information. While the couple’s passions are stouts and sours, they brew a wide range of beers including pale ales and fruity gose to please all tastes. During our tasting we sampled two pale ales, two stouts and the gose, all of which were really tasty.
Tour tickets cost £18.50 per person. The price includes the tour and tasting. A range of merchandise is available including clothing and jewellery. Cans and bottled beer is available for takeaway from the Tap Room shop.
Getting to Double-Barrelled Brewery
Double-Barrelled Brewery is located in West Reading, Berkshire. The brewery can be reached by public transport, using the Reading Buses numbers 16, 17 and 28. The brewery is a short walk from the Norcot Road roundabout stops. Taxis from Reading station take approximately 10 minutes. The Tap Room is open Thursday to Sunday with varying hours on each day. Tables can also be booked via the website.
BERKSHIRE BREWERY TOURS #2 – SIREN CRAFT BREW
Second up on our Berkshire brewery tours, it’s SIREN CRAFT BREW located in Finchampstead. The brewery started its life in 2013, from founder Darron Anley’s desire to create some modern and forward flavoured beers. The name Siren stems from the Sirens of Greek mythology. The six flagship beers in the range are focused around the story and branding of these sirens.
Flavour and high standards are key to the brewery. A lot of time and research is put into creating perfect flavours, using high quality ingredients. Siren’s first ever brew, a beer called Maiden, is the first batch brewed every year and released as an anniversary edition. With a busy brewing schedule, Siren brew numerous beers every year with seasonal beers and collaborations thrown in. The brewery have also been given numerous awards including the ‘Best Brewer in England’ award by Ratebeer users in 2015.
Having expanded over the years, the brewery is housed in two separate units on the same industrial estate. The original unit houses the brew house and bottling line, where the newer facility is home to the Tap Yard, a large cold store, barrel stores and offices.
Siren Craft Brewery Tap Yard experience
Siren Craft Brewery runs tours most Saturdays at 13.00 – 14.30pm and 15.00 – 16.30pm. The Tap Yard opens and 10am during the week (closed Mondays) and 12pm at weekends so we made sure to arrive in time to sample a beer or two before our 13.00pm tour began. The Tap Yard has a wide selection of the Siren beers on tap and available by the bottle. Street food is available, and this changes on a weekly basis. A note – this place gets busy! On the day of our visit, as well as two tours of 20+ people, there was a stag party and coach party stopping by on a local ale-trail. Add the regulars into the mix, and you have a thriving atmosphere. Despite the numbers, everything was efficient and we were always served quickly.
The brewery tour at Siren Craft Brewery
As we were a fairly large group, once the tour began, we were separated into two smaller groups. Our group headed off to the original unit to learn about the brewing process and were given a tour of the brew house and bottling area. A brew was taking place while we were there, which was great to see. We were also able to sample one of the recent brews – again a nice touch. Following this, the groups swapped over and we headed back to the newer unit where we got to see the barrel and cold stores, as well as being given further information about the process. The whole group came together at the end, where we took part in a tasting of five flagship beers, as well as a small taster of that year’s Maiden brew, which wasn’t being launched until the following week. Perfect timing.
Tour tickets cost £16.56 and the price includes the tasting, which is a fairly significant amount of beer. My favourites from the tasting were Yulu and Soundwave. The brewery shop also sells a range of merchandise including clothing as well as beer growlers – reusable containers for your take away drinks which keep the beers fresh and chilled. We saw a number of people calling in during the afternoon with their growlers, for their take out beers.
Getting to the Siren Craft Brewery
Siren Craft Brewery is located in Finchampstead, Berkshire which is a short distance from Wokingham. The brewery can be reached by public transport, using the Reading Buses Leopard 3 service which stops a short walk from the brewery. Taxis from Wokingham railway station take about 15 minutes.
The Tap Yard is open Tuesday 10.00 – 18.00, Wednesday to Friday 10.00 – 21.00, Saturday 12.00 – 22.00 and Sundays 12.00 – 18.00.
BERKSHIRE BREWERY TOURS #3 – RENEGADE BREWERY
Finally, the third of our Berkshire brewery tours takes us to West Berkshire and RENEGADE BREWERY. Formerly known as West Berkshire Brewery it was established in 1995 in the village of Frilsham, on the outskirts of Newbury. Over the last quarter of a decade they expanded and settled into a large multi-million pound facility near Yattendon.
In December 2021, the company was acquired by Yattendon Group and rebranded as Renegade Brewery, delving further into the craft beer market while retaining the old classic ales. With plenty of scope for expansion within this large facility, they have canning and bottling lines on site. They produce a large number of beers including a classic English bitter called Good Old Boy, as well as their Renegade range of lagers and pale ales.
The Renegade Brewery taproom experience
Renegade Brewery run tours on a Friday and Saturday at various times, and vouchers can be purchased on their website. They also offer a number of tasting experiences, some of which include a brewery tour. We had booked a 2pm tour and arrived a couple of hours early so that we could grab some food from the Taproom. The Taproom is large, with a traditional bar set up in one corner and a glass wall providing views into the brewhouse. There is a kitchen serving lunches including delicious burgers, pizzas and salad which you can match with your choice of beers.
The brewery tour at Renegade Brewery
Onto the tour. The day we attended, there were several hourly tours running, so our group was swiftly gathered together just before 2pm, and off we went. Our tour was performed by Will – the head brewer. Obviously knowledgeable, with many years of experience, he provided a really informative and relaxed tour of the facility. From the storage areas where we learnt about the ingredients, through to the brew house showing us the process of making the beer, it was a simple process to follow. After this, we got to see the remainder of the large facility which included the bottling and canning lines. They have a streamlined operation, and a large facility that they are planning to expand upon, to keep up with their demand.
Tour vouchers cost £25.00 and the price includes the in depth guided tour, two free pints, 20% off shop purchases and 10% off food in the taproom.
Getting to Renegade Brewery
Renegade Brewery is located outside of the village of Yattendon in West Berkshire. It’s roughly half way between Newbury and Reading. The brewery is not easily reached by public transport, so if your group doesn’t have a designated driver you may need to organise taxis from local railways stations (Newbury, Reading, Theale or Thatcham).
The Taproom is open Monday to Saturday 11.00 – 23.00 and Sundays 9.00 – 18.00. Food is served Monday to Saturday 12.00 – 20.30 and Sunday 09.00 – 11.00 (breakfast) and 12.00 – 16.00 (lunch).
THE GROWTH OF THE BERKSHIRE CRAFT BEER SCENE
The great thing about these craft beer breweries is the fact there doesn’t seem to be any competition. Everyone is supportive of each other and there are often collaborations between the breweries, to come up with beers for special events. They are all in it together, they call on each other for support, advice and input. It creates a great community feel.
With craft beer bars, further breweries and events opening in Reading and the surrounding area, the scene is thriving. Here’s a brief look at what else is available in the town.
Craft beer breweries, taprooms, bars and events
ELUSIVE BREWING Located on the same trading estate as Siren Craft, Elusive Brewing have been operating since 2016 and their taproom and beer shop is open every weekend offering their unique and tasty beers.
PHANTOM BREWING CO Another relative newbie to the Reading beer scene, Phantom Brewing Co is a craft beer brewery a short walk from the town centre with a fabulous taproom, who also offer tours and tastings.
FOX AND HOUNDS, CAVERSHAM A fantastic boozer across the Thames in Caversham, The Fox and Hounds is a great pub with 19 lines, serving up some great local and not so local beers and ales.
CRAFT THEORY – CRAFT BEER AND MUSIC FESTIVAL An craft beer festival in the heart of Reading, this annual event takes place at South Street Arts Centre for a couple of days, bringing together a huge amount of local, national and international breweries, complemented by a great selection of live bands as well as delicious street food. What’s not to love?
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3 Comments
Riya
April 18, 2019 at 6:54 pmI just love travel blogs. Yours is amazing.
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