Siren Calls, Elusive Cries - Reading 2026
Dedicated readers will recall that I have explored Reading before.https://www.londonbiermeister.co.uk/blog/the-siren-call-of-reading
But there was unfinished business and, in particular, the goal of getting myself to the Finchampstead industrial estate which hosts both the original Siren site and Elusive.
I thought of doing another walk along the Thames, but that would just have been too much to take on in one day. So I headed out of the station and straight to the Siren Craft bar. My impressions here were the same as last time. It sits on a frankly ugly and characterless shopping street in Reading - very convenient for pre-train beers, but not exactly atmospheric. But amazing beer. This time I had my Passport, which offered a free pint. So I opted for the Soundwave IPA, which was reliably excellent. I always feel a bit guilty about only having the free pint when that is the offer, so I also enjoyed a half of the Memento cask bitter (in retrospect I drank the two in the wrong order as the flavour of the Soundwave rather overwhelmed the bitter).
I held off from getting any takeout because I had recently bought in a stash of Siren cans - in a smart marketing move, they had offered a 13.5% discount to distressed BrewDog equity punks. (A few breweries have done this, but Siren’s offer was the most generous).
I then strolled a few streets south. The ambience picked up dramatically and I found the Reading outlet of Zerodegrees microbrewery opposite a beautiful old church. I had been to Zerodegrees in Blackheath as part of my 2025 year of beer, but their Reading venue was a new addition to the Passport. The offer was a half price flight. The stars of their show continue to be the Mango and the black lager. Tasty beer, stylish bar, very much worth the visit as I was nearby.
To get to the Arborfield industrial estate, you basically have to get the local “3 Leopard” bus and accept that it will take a little while, with lots of stops along the way. But trust me it is worth it. You walk up Merino Way and you find Siren and Elusive on either sides of the car park. Siren was doing an absolutely roaring trade on a sunny spring Saturday afternoon. (Most people had arrived by car and I did wonder whether every single car there contained a non-drinking designated driver…) I looked it at Siren to see if there were any exclusives to sample (e.g. I remembered “Shattered Dream” from last time). There weren’t. So I decided to major on Elusive and strolled across the car park to them.
Pete Brown recently asked his friends on Bluesky for thoughts on high quality UK west coast IPAs. Everyone said “well, Elusive, obviously”, and then digitally scratched their heads for other examples to little avail. I am pretty sure Thornbridge do a good one. But Elusive are the undisputed kings. I started with their Cronos Mosaic pale. Then the Level Up Red Ale which I remembered so fondly from GBBF 2025. Then the Oregon Trail IPA (obviously). Then their stout, followed by their imperial stout. All delicious. The taproom was a lovely atmosphere - families, kids, dogs. (I see the debate has heated up again regarding kids in pubs. Kids in taprooms doesn’t seem to be an issue because craft beer parents do actually seem to look after their kids and not let them run wild). The dogs enjoyed pleasant - if loud - conversation with each other at the slightest excuse. Elusive’s only problem seems to be that they are winning so many awards that they are running out of wall space to put the plaques.
Having run through the menu at Elusive and succumbed to the lure of poutine from Canadian street food van the Funky Pickle, I strolled off well satisfied to catch the bus to Wokingham and home.
This trip was also a trial run for my new vlog. So if you prefer pictures to words, click here for my YouTube channel. More footage to follow.