Bond Brews Best of British

Tasting Summary

These comments are the opinion of the individual reviewer and represent what they thought of the beer on a particular day in a particular pub. If a review is less favourable, it may be because the beer suffered somewhere in the supply chain between them and the brewery.

The Bat & Ball, Boundstone, Surrey

Who	Score	When	Notes
Hogan Sampling		14 Feb 2026	1st beer of this visit: This Berkshire copper-coloured session bitter some 11 miles north of Farnham "as the crow flies" was presented with a very good head and with its lacing lasting the whole way. Just south of Wokingham by 2.5 miles, it has come from a traditional microbrewery, established in 2015 by Dean Bond, hence the name, specialising in handcrafted real ales using a six-barrel plant. A malted bitter first hit. A hoppy bitterness climbing from its two whole leaf hop varieties for a good bitter-sweet presence, and although not defined, likely to be a combination from the classic British hops range and possibly including Fuggles or Challenger that are consistent with a traditional English bitter. Gentle nutty and biscuity notes joining in with hints of dried fruit and just slightly caramel-tasting. A moreishly dry malty bitterness aided by three blends of malted barley and wheat descending in its finale with lingering hints of chocolate. Very quaffable as in superb condition and moreishly full in flavour but a different ale also had to be sampled from the five on.

Fisherman's Cottage, Reading, Berkshire

The Bell, Waltham St Lawrence, Berkshire