Reading had the better of the first half, but Forest picked up the pace after the break and looked far more dangerous than they had earlier in the game.
Both sides came close to grabbing a late winner with Reading keeper Adam Federici saving from substitute Robert Earnshaw and then Jem Karacan firing just over the bar for the Royals.
But there was a blow for Forest when the referee's assistant spotted a foul by Luke Chambers on Shane Long, for which Chambers was shown the red card shortly before the end.
In his first league game in charge of the Royals, manager Brendan Rodgers had plumped for youth, with five of the starting eleven having come through the club's academy ranks. Four more Academy players were on the bench.
Forest had spent a great deal of money during the summer, particularly on strikers and it showed with last season's leading scorer Earnshaw being relegated to the bench as Dele Adebola and David McGoldrick started up front.
Earnshaw was brought into the attack on the hour at the expense of McGoldrick.
Reading had far more of the possession in the first half and were constantly probing the Forest defence, particularly down the flanks where Jimmy Kebe and Hal Robson-Kanu were proving dangerous.
Despite that it was Reading keeper Federici who had the most testing shot to deal with, diving full-length to his right to save a long-range effort from McGoldrick.
Forest were doing their best to slow the game down, taking time over throw-ins and goal-kicks while Reading, in complete contrast, were keen to keep moving at a lively pace.
There were also some fierce tackles from the visitors with warnings for both Radoslaw Majewski and Joel Lynch, before referee Phil Crossley lost patience and booked Forest's Chambers.
He went on to book Majewski for another foul early in the second half.
At the end Forest's Billy Davies punched the air in joy and he was undoubtedly the happier of the two managers.