London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars
The fully updated and revised 3rd edition of my essential and award-winning guide to London’s vibrant beer scene, London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars, was officially launched on 18 November 2021.
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From traditional pubs serving top quality cask ale to the latest on-trend bottle shop-bars and funky brewery taprooms in railway arches, London is now bursting with great beer and this book will direct you to the very best.
Including:
- Profiles of all 140 London breweries including beer and taproom details
- Detailed reviews of 180+ additional pubs, bars, shops, restaurants and other outlets with an outstanding beer offer
- London beer style guide with recommendations and tasting notes
- Background features exploring London’s rich brewing history and modern beer scene
- Colour illustrations and detailed maps throughout.
Supported by the London Brewers Alliance.
Praise for the previous edition
“Probably the best book about beer in London” — Londonist
“A joy to read and will be my constant companion” — Roger Protz
“If you live in London and like beer, get a copy” — Boak & Bailey
“Meticulously researched and open-minded” — Independent
“A detailed and accessible treasure-chest of information” — Jeff Evans
“Rarely does a book appear that stands so much above other books as this guide” — PINT Magazine
Best beer and travel writing 2011, 2015 — British Guild of Beer Writers Gold Award
Updates
Support my work to chronicle and publicise the London beer scene by becoming a London’s Best Beer Drinker on my Patreon page. For a modest monthly contribution, you’ll get a full update to the book at least three times a year, exclusive invites to events, a free beer heritage tour and other goodies.
Become a London’s Best Beer Drinker.
You can download the August 2023 update below, including new reviews and lots of updates and brewery news.
I’ve since issued several further updates to Patreon supporters, most recently in June 2024, with another due in September or October. If you’d like to access these, please support me through Patreon.
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More about the book
Despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, London is once again one of the best beer cities in the world, and London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars sets out to provide the complete and indispensable guide to its beery treasures. The book chronicles a brewing community that has grown tenfold in less than a decade, from 13 producers in 2011 to around 140 today, and directs both the beer beginner and the experienced connoisseur to the best places in which to experience this miraculous renaissance alongside the fruits of brewing excellence from the rest of the UK and the wider world.
The growth in brewing has been matched by an unprecedented surge in the range, variety and local provenance of quality beer in pubs, bars, restaurants and shops. London beers are now appearing on London bars with a ubiquity and frequency unseen since the 1970s, and the quality and variety on offer is almost certainly the best it’s ever been. In certain parts of the city like Hackney or Deptford, it seems no-one would dream of bothering to apply for a new alcohol licence without at least some local beer to hand. I like to think this guide, first appearing in 2011, made a modest contribution to a truly remarkable renaissance.
The main part of the book is a directory listing not only all the breweries but several hundred other venues worthy of the thinking drinker’s attention. The criteria are beer choice, quality, presentation and expertise, with priority treatment for brewery outlets or places offering something unusual or unique. The book has never been a simple pub guide and the venues in this edition are more diverse than ever, encompassing bars, restaurants, bottle shops, micropubs and taprooms as well as ‘proper’ pubs. It’s also never focused exclusively on cask beer. Though I’m keen to celebrate great cask wherever I find it, there’s no ignoring the fact that much of London’s best beer is now in kegs, cans and bottles.
Besides brewers, beers and beer outlets, the book contains a wealth of other useful detail, with summaries of notable pub and bar chains, the main festivals and events, beer tour operators and beer styles brewed in London. I’ve included notes on beer with food, a pub and bar user guide for visitors, and an index of places to drink by theme. For additional depth you’ll find material on the history and heritage of both pubs and brewing, and for breadth there are some alternative thoughts from some of the capital’s beer movers and shakers.
This edition has 316 main entries, including 141 breweries and brewpubs. 134 of these had full listings in the previous edition in 2015, while 44 were also featured in the first edition in 2011, though some are under new management and perhaps new names. 62 places with full entries in 2015 appear here as Try also.
As always, I’ve made sure to visit or revisit practically all the places mentioned, except for a small handful clearly of interest which were still in development at the time of writing and an equally small handful of breweries closed to the public. During the initial research I visited 767 places over 65 working days and travelled 3,306 km (2,054 miles), including 644 km (400 miles) on foot, the equivalent of walking from my flat in Deptford to Mugdock Country Park on the other side of Glasgow. Following the lockdowns, all the entries were checked and several new openings added, clocking up another 37 visits over eight working days and 517 km (323 miles), including 66 km (44 miles) on foot (which would take me on along the West Highland Way past Loch Lomond to Inverarmen).
Suggest a place
This time round I’m keeping the guide updated on a regular basis for Patreon supporters (see above) while thinking about the 4th edition in a few years’ time. You can help by suggesting additional places to drink, along with any other comments and feedback you might have, by email to des@desdemoor.com.
Previous launch events
- Thu 18 November 2021 19:00-21:00, Sambrook’s Taproom, 1 Bellwether Lane SW18 1UD. London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars Official Launch.
- Wed 24 November 2021 19:00-21:00, waterintobeer, Unit 2, 209 Mantle Road SE4 2EW. London beer tasting and signing.
- Thu 25 November 2021 16:00-18:00, The Hope, 48 West Street, Carshalton SM5 2PR. Dark beer festival informal tasting and signing.
- Tue 30 November 15.00-19.00, Round Chapel, 1D Glenarm Road E5 0LY. Pigs Ear Beer and Cider Festival signing.
- Wed 1 December 19.00-22.00, indiebeer, 322 Holloway Road N7 6NJ. Winter beer tasting and signing.
- Mon 6 December 2021 19.00-22.00, One Inn the Wood, 209 Petts Wood Road, Petts Wood BR5 1LA. Anspach & Hobday tasting and signing.
- Wed 8 December 2021 19.00-22.00, Dodo Micropub, 52 Boston Road W7 3TR. London beer tasting and signing.
- Wed 15 December 2021 19.00-22.00, Star and Garter, 227 High Street, Bromley BR1 1NZ. Winter beer tasting and signing.
- Wed 19 January 2022 19.00-22.00, Hop Inn Micropub, 122 North Street, Hornchurch RM11 1SU. Beers of the year tasting and book signing. Sadly this event had to be cancelled for health reasons. Hopefully another time.
- Thu 27 January 2022 19.00-22.00, Bohem Taproom, 120A Myddleton Road N22 8NQ. Tasting and book signing.
- Fri 28 January 2022 19.00-22.00, Ora Beer Taproom, 16A Rosebery Industrial Park N17 9SR. Tasting and book signing.
- Sun 30 January 2022 14.00-17.00 Beerblefish taproom, 2A-4 Uplands Business Park, Blackhorse Lane E17 5QJ. India Pale Ale past and present, talk, tasting and signing.
- Mon 31 January 2022 19.00-22.00. Little Green Dragon, 928 Green Lanes N21 2AD. London beer tasting and book signing.
- Thu 10 February 2022 19.30-22.00. Beer Shop London, 40 Nunhead Green SE15 3QF. London beer tasting and book signing.
- Tue 22 February 2022 19.30-22.00. Bull and Finch, 126 Gipsy Hill SE19 1PL. The Bull and Finch presents Des de Moor’s guide to Belgian beer + Book signing.
- Mon 28 February 2022 19.00-22.00. Old Street Brewery, 1 Queens Yard E9 5EN. Beers of Old Street.
- Tue 8 March 2022 19.30-22.00 Rusty Bucket Pub, 11 Court Yard SE9 5PR. Traditional beer styles tasting.
- Fri 27 May 2022 14.00-19.30 Kidbrooke Beer and Cider Festival, Charlton Park RFC, 60A Broad Walk SE3 8NB. Book signing.
- Sat 28 May-Sun 29 May 2022 12.00-23.00 Sambrook’s Tap Room, 1 Bellweather Lane SW18 1UR. Born to be Mild London mild ale festival.
- Fri 15 July 2022 15.30-19.30 Ealing Beer Festival, Walpole Park, Mattock Lane, London W5 5EQ. Book signing.
- Thu 28 July 2022 14.00-21.00 Beckenham Beer and Cider Festival, Beckenham Rugby Club, Balmoral Avenue, Beckenham BR3 3RD. Book signing and tutored tasting.
- Wed 3 and Fri 5 August 2022 14.45-15.45 Great British Beer Festival, Olympia London, Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UX. Book signings plus A Tasting Tour of London.
On other pages
Buy the new edition from CAMRA Books
Regular updates for London’s Best Beer Drinkers
London’s Best Beer Facebook page
London’s Best Beer Twitter feed
My London brewery and beer heritage tours
London brewery pages
Advanced announcement of the new edition (February 2019)
Postponement announcement (May 2020)
Archive of information on previous editions
