They say…

Des de Moor
Best beer and travel writing award 2015, 2011 -- British Guild of Beer Writers Awards
Accredited Beer Sommelier
Writer of "Probably the best book about beer in London" - Londonist
"A necessity if you're a beer geek travelling to London town" - Beer Advocate
"A joy to read" - Roger Protz
"Very authoritative" - Tim Webb.
"One of the top beer writers in the UK" - Mark Dredge.
"A beer guru" - Popbitch.
Des de Moor

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Cool runnings: beer serving temperature and flavour

Taking beer’s temperature: warm or cool?

The piece below was first published in Beers of the World magazine issue 13, July 2007, and was my first proper feature piece to appear in a ‘newsstand’ title. It’s subsequently been reprinted with my permission in a couple of other places. Although I’d probably write it […]

Top Tastings 2012

Your author sampling the wares at the Borefts Bierfestival, Bodegraven, Netherlands, September 2012. Pic: Stephen Robinson.

2012 was another great year for tasting beer. Britain’s brewers got ever more eclectic and adventurous, and London’s share of good breweries and top venues multiplied apace. The developing Belgian scene was well reflected in the newly […]

Top Tastings 2011

Glasses waiting to be filled at the Beermongers, Portland OR, September 2011

This is the fourth year of compiling a Top Tastings list and I’ve stuck to the same self-imposed rules as previously. Here are 30 beers I’ve tasted during 2011 which particularly stuck in my mind as the sensory highlights of the […]

London beers

First published in BEER magazine, August 2011. BEER is sent free every quarter to CAMRA members, who can also view it online. The magazine is additionally available in selected newsagents. Click on the beer names for more detailed notes on each beer.

Evin O'Riordan of The Kernel brewery, London SE1

150 years ago, […]

Malt Teasers

First published in BEER magazine, May 2011. BEER is sent free every quarter to CAMRA members, who can also view it online. The magazine is additionally available in selected newsagents. Click on the beer names for more detailed notes on each beer.

Pale barley malt from Muntons.

Malted barley is one of […]

Top Tastings 2010

Pic: Gillian Evans.

Here’s my Top Tastings list for 2010, a little late thanks to the time dedicated to my forthcoming book (see right or under London above). As in previous years, they’re not necessarily new beers, just beers I happened to taste for the first time, or retaste after a long break, […]

New Real Ale in a Bottle

Originally published in BEER February 2011. Click on the links for extended reviews.

Hardknott Granite 2009

The good Real Ale in a Bottle just keeps on coming, and this column can barely keep pace! And pleasingly, many of the new bottlers aren’t just bottling cask but aim to tempt a discerning audience with […]

Strong and special beers

Originally published in BEER November 2010. Click on the links for extended reviews of the beers mentioned.

Marble Special and Decade. Pic from the Beer Emporium: www.thebeeremporium.com

While it’s great that good beer in Britain is a ubiquitous, everyday drink, the way in which the British perceive beer as an everyday, unpretentious quencher […]

Top Tastings 2008

Writing this piece was one of the things that inspired me to launch this website. My mate Chris, who edits the Stereo Jealousy music blog, habitually starts the year by selecting the best albums and singles of the previous one. Seeing his 2008 list inspired me to look back over my tasting notes, for a […]

Strong ales for winter

Originally published in BEER November 2009.

The British have an issue with strong beer. In a beer culture centred round swilling down several pints at 4 per cent ABV or less, there’s a tendency to see higher gravities as a route to quicker inebriation. It’s not surprising, then, that British bottle conditioned strong ales are […]