Masons Arms

September 21, 2008
Way out in the middle of nowhere, it seemed. I had read a lot of good things about it, and it certainly was a nice, quaint pub, but I was a bit disappointed with the selection. I’m not sure if any of their beers were on, and what was on were several very similar bitters. Maybe it was just the long walk that put me in a bad mood.

January 22, 2008
Visited in September 2007 on a popular Saturday night for the locals. Sadly had none of their own bog beers due to a festival a few weeks before, they still had an interesting and solid selection of brews on tap. Friendly service got mixed up and were slow but they were fairly busy. Clean and high boring ceilings (where every other pub in town is nooky and cramped) made for a more open and noisy fare, it’s pretty much a nicely pubbed-up old house on a hidden side road just outside of town. Worth cycling to for the evening.

July 19, 2007
This is just the sort of pub that you would be delighted to have as your local. Just off of the ringroad and tucked away in a part of Headington called Headington Quarry actually it’s quite close to two other pubs in this area, if one should decide on a mini crawl and they are the Six Bells situated on the side of ring road and The Chequers admittedly neither of theses were that great last time I ventured into them. There is often a reasonable choice of beers on in this pub and there is also the small brewery ’Old Bog’ bet you can’t guess what room was converted to form this brewery? Old Bog beers are usually only brewed for the weekend whereupon they quickly run out.

June 26, 2007
A really nice neigborhood pub, where as a visitor you know you don’t exactly belong, but where the locals don’t mind you being there. Landlord’s brother brews some of the regular Old Bog guest ales in a tiny room out back. (The ones I’ve tried have ranged from good to excellent.) The rest of the taps are solid choices, and while most of the regulars won’t be wildly surprising (West Berkshire ales, Deuchars), the landlord does try to rotate in some more interesting things when he can. A few nice Belgian bottles. A big garden out back, where you just might see Aunt Sally being played. A very good pub, aspiring to be even better. Do get a good map before you try to find it.