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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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 […]

Weihenstaphaner Vitus

Weihenstephaner Vitus

Top Tastings 2012

ABV: 7.7% Origin: Freising, Bayern, Germany Website: www.weihenstephaner.de

My 2012 top tastings feature not just the brewery that claims to be Britain’s oldest (Shepherd Neame), but the one that claims to be the world’s oldest too. Weihenstephan, or ‘Holy Stephen’, began brewing as a Benedictine monastery in Freising […]

Schneider Tap X Mein Nelson Sauvin

Schneider Weisse Tap X Mein Nelson Sauvin.

Top Tastings 2012

ABV: 7.3% Origin: Kelheim, Bayern, Germany Website: www.schneider-weisse.de

Of all the great European brewing industries, Germany’s seems the most conservative, complacent and insulated from international trends. Many of the country’s vast numbers of brewers still seem to think no further than their immediate […]

Tempest Brave New World

Tempest Brave New World

Top Tastings 2012

ABV: 7.8% Origin: Kelso, Scottish Borders, Scotland Website: www.tempestbrewingco.com

In May 2012 I hosted an IPA tasting downstairs at Mason & Taylor in Shoreditch – one of my favourite new craft beer bars in London until BrewDog made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Manager Steve […]

Societe The Butcher, the Harlot and The Pupil

Beers and brewhouse at Societe Brewing, San Diego CA.

Top Tastings 2012 (The Pupil)

ABV: 9.8%, 6% and 7.7% Origin: San Diego, California, USA Website: www.societebrewing.com

San Diego, a naval and university city in California’s far southwestern corner, is also a top craft beer producer, boasting heavy hitters like AleSmith, Port and Stone […]

Ska Steel Toe Working Class Milk Stout

Ska Steel Toe Working Class Milk Stout

Top Tastings 2012

ABV: 5.4% Origin: Durango, Colorado, USA Website: www.skabrewing.com

With my soft spot for the smarter and sharper side of mid-1960s music and fashion and its later revivalist derivatives, I was intrigued to find a Colorado craft brewery calling itself Ska and borrowing its […]

Shepherd Neame Double Stout and India Pale Ale

Shepherd Neame Double Stout

Top Tastings 2012 (India Pale Ale)

ABV: 5.2% and 6.1% Origin: Faversham, Kent, England Website: www.shepherd-neame.co.uk

When I was rediscovering beer back in the mid-1990s, one of my favourites was bottle conditioned Shepherd Neame Spitfire, regularly available in my local supermarket. Its classic combination of rich malts and moist, […]

Russian River Pliny the Elder

Russian River Pliny the Elder

Top Tastings 2012

ABV: 8% Origin: Santa Rosa, California, USA Website: www.russianriverbrewing.com

Russian River brewer Vinnie Cilurzo is generally credited with creating the Double IPA as a commercial beer style. Inaugural IPA, the first beer Vinnie brewed professionally, was so named as it launched his first brewing venture, […]

Rodenbach Grand Cru

Rodenbach Grand Cru

Top Tastings 2012

ABV: 6% Origin: Roeselare, Oost-Vlaanderen Website: www.palm.be

Beer writers and experts tend to have different drinking habits from ordinary beer drinkers. To keep ourselves well informed and authoritative, we’re usually tasting beers we haven’t tried before, and find ourselves passing on the popular and familiar by. In […]

Mikkeller/Proef Big Worse Barley Wine

Mikkeller Big Worse Barley Wine (Proef)

Top Tastings 2012

ABV: 12% Origin: Lochristi, Oost-Vlaanderen Website: mikkeller.dk

Highly creative and prolific Danish cuckoo brewer Mikkel Borg Bjergsø will need no introduction to craft beer connoisseurs. His preconception-challenging products have cut a swathe through the world of beer appreciation since his kitchen home brews first […]