Judging at the Brussels Beer Challenge. Pic: Paul Peng Wang,
I’m a beer writer, tour guide, walk leader, tutored tasting host and Accredited Beer Sommelier based in London.
I can provide various services including:
- Talks, presentations and readings
- Beer appreciation training
- Beer and food matching
- Beer lists and menus
- Beer judging
- Copy writing and tasting notes
- Advice and consultancy
July 2011 saw the publication of my first book, The CAMRA Guide to London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars, at a time when the ‘green shoots’ of the brewing renaissance were starting to show. I like to think my book made at least a small contribution to the subsequent explosion of London brewing. A new edition, essentially a near-complete rewrite, appeared in 2015, and like its predecessor won me the Best Travel Writing award from the British Guild of Beer Writers. I’m currently in discussion about a third edition.
I compile the UK listings for editors Stephen Beaumont and Tim Webb’s Pocket Beer Book (Pocket Beer Guide in the US), a modern successor to the late Michael Jackson’s regular update on the world beer scene. This was first published in 2013, with the most recent third edition in 2017.
Since 2002 I’ve been writing regular bottled beer reviews for the member magazines of Britain’s Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) , first for What’s Brewing, then for BEER, as well as the occasional feature on topics like beer retailing and pub and brewery walks. Among others I’ve contributed to both runs of the now-defunct UK-based newsstand glossy Beers of the World, Beer Advocate in the US, Time Out, Londonist website, Original Gravity%, Hoptical magazine (Beer Hawk), Craft Beer Rising magazine, Canadian title Buze, and the beer-themed entry in the world famous series of postmillennial canon-forming tomes, 1001 Beers You Must Try Before You Die.
I regularly lead beer and brewery walks and tours in London, both my own tours and for other companies. See my Beer Tours page for details.
I’ve hosted numerous talks and tutored tastings and judged beer at competitions in the UK and abroad.
I drink and judge beers from across the world in a wide variety of styles, though I’ve got most experience of the beer scenes in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and increasingly the USA.. What really interests me is how beer is appreciated and received, the culture that surrounds it and how that relates to wider features of the societies that produce and consume it, and the places where it is made. Beer is an artefact of human society, not a simple intoxicant but capable of being enjoyed and appreciated in the same way as all the other finer things in life, and should be celebrated as such. Thus the title of this site, and the philosophy behind the writing collected here.
The site was started mainly to archive my tasting notes and pieces about specific beers that have appeared in diverse places over the years, but I’m also hoping to add news, and information and views about places and events, as well as features, both reprints of pieces that have appeared elsewhere and original pieces that I feel should see the light of day but can’t find any takers for.
Beer judging
- Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting, Georgia, USA, guest judge 2017.
- The Beer Awards UK, judge captain 2016, 2017.
- Best Beer in Ireland, Killarney, Ireland, judge 2015, 2016, 2017.
- Het Beste Bokbier van Nederland, Amsterdam, Netherlands, judge 2013.
- Birra dell’Anno, Rimini, Italy, judge 2012.
- Brussels Beer Challenge, Brussels, Belgium, judge 2016.
- Champion Beer of Britain, London, UK, bottle conditioned beer judge 2012; final round judge 2013 and 2014; Southern England heats judge 2016.
- Champion Beer of London, London, UK, judge 2017.
- Fuller’s Cellarman of the Year, London, UK, guest judge 2012, 2016.
- Great American Beer Festival, Denver, Colorado, USA, judge 2013, 2015, judge captain 2016.
- International Beer Challenge, London, UK, judge annually 2008-10, table captain annually 2011-18.
- KuBo Beer Award, Bozen, Italy, judge 2018.
- Sainsbury’s Great British Beer Hunt, London, UK, judge in predecessor Beer Competition 2009, guest judge in regional heats 2011.
- Tesco Drinks Awards, London, UK, judge 2007, 2008.
- UK National Homebrew Competition, Bristol, UK, industry judge 2011, 2012.
- World Beer Awards, UK, European and international rounds judge 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, judge captain 2018.
- World Beer Cup, Brewers Association, USA, judge 2014 and 2016, judge captain 2018.
Ethics
There has been much discussion online on the issue of ethics in beer blogging and writing, so you may like to know that I’m an independent, freelance writer, not employed by a brewery or any other organisation involved in the brewing industry, though I have worked for a variety of different breweries and beer retailers on a paid freelance basis. The material on this blog represents my honest opinions.
This blog isn’t sponsored or financed by anyone other than me, with the exception of the pitiful handful of pennies that occasionally accumulates on a pay-per-click basis from the Google Ads in the clearly marked panel in the left hand column. Much of the material is original, though some of it was originally written on a paid-for basis for print publications. This is always clearly indicated.
While I buy a lot of the beers I review out of my own pocket, as a beer writer I do sometimes receive free beers from breweries or distributors. I never undertake to write about a beer purely because it was supplied for free, and the fact that it was free certainly wouldn’t sway my view of the beer. Although no-one has ever offered to pay me to write positive things about a beer, I would never present such writing as my unbiased opinions.
In the interests of transparency, I have started to note in reviews whether or not they were based on tasting samples supplied by the brewery or distributor, although I haven’t had time to revise previous reviews on the site with this information where it was not included at the time.
I rarely write about beers that I don’t have something positive to say about — I usually ignore beers I’ve found technically flawed or boring and dull. This is a position shared with many beer writers and bloggers, and I know not everyone in the beer community is happy with it, arguing it’s a writer’s duty to highlight the negative aspects of the beer world alongside the positive ones. But I have limited time to write about beer, and I’d rather spend it celebrating good beers than criticising bad ones.
More about me
I also write about other things — I’ve had quite a bit published in the Ramblers magazine walk and used to be their books editor. Until May 2015 I worked for the Ramblers as a day job, mainly on promoting everyday walking for health, developing projects and doing policy work. In a more leisurely frame I have a walking blog focused on walking in London, London underfoot, at http://desdemoor.blogspot.com. I’m interested in all forms of transport and travel, but walking and trains are my favourites.
Music is another passion and I have been a musician, performer, songwriter and translator specialising in European-influenced musical cabaret and chanson. I ran a club in London putting on this sort for stuff for over 12 years from 1994. In the early-mid 2000s I had some modest success with Darkness and Disgrace, a musical cabaret from the songs of David Bowie developed with the late, great pianist and performer Russell Churney. Since then it’s tailed off a bit, though I’m currently working on more Bowie material with another pianist, Clifford Slapper See www.desdemoor.com for a now-outdated overview of my musical career.
An interest I haven’t yet managed to turn into a job is film and the moving image in general. My current recommended list of 1001 Films That Will Reward Your Time is on Letterboxd and I’m gradually adding short reviews for all these titles.
I was born in 1961 in Ipswich, and I live in Deptford, southeast London, with my partner Ian Harris.
You can contact me at des@desdemoor.com.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the site. Please join my mailing list, leave comments, become a follower, send feedback — and visit again. Thanks.
Des de Moor
