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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Russian River Temptation

Top Tastings 2009

ABV: 7.3% Origin: Santa Rosa, California, USA Website: www.russianriverbrewing.com

Russian River Temptation Barrel Aged Ale

My first encounter with a US brewpub was a fortuitous one. When I first crossed the Atlantic some years back, it was to San Francisco, but rather than head straight for the city we first […]

Rodenbach Vin de Céréale

Top Tastings 2009

ABV: 10% Origin: Roeselare, Oost Vlaanderen Website: www.rodenbach.be

Rodenbach Vin de Céréale

Rodenbach of Roeselare is a Belgian beer icon, one of the key breweries celebrated by Michael Jackson back in the 1980s when he first introduced the country’s remarkable beer culture to the wider world. It’s renowned then as […]

Red Squirrel IPA in the USA

Top Tastings 2009 CAMRA North London tasting 2010

A shorter version of this review was first published in BEER February 2010 as part of a piece about beers to taste with chocolate. For more beers tasted with chocolate, see Hoggleys Solstice Stout.

Also known as IPA in the USA, under which name it was reviewed.

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Port Old Viscosity Ale

Top Tastings 2009

ABV: 10% Origin: San Marcos, California, USA Website: www.portbrewing.com

Port Old Viscosity Ale

Port Brewing has its origins in the Pizza Port restaurant founded by Vince and Gina Marsaglia at Solana Beach, California, one of the pioneers of the craft-beer-and-pizza formula now found throughout the USA. The original Pizza Port […]

Orkney Dark Island Reserve

Beer sellers: Scottish Real Ale Shop Top Tastings 2009 (bottled 2007), Top Tastings 2011 (draught 2010)

ABV: 10% Origin: Quoyloo, Orkney, Scotland Website: www.orkneybrewery.co.uk

Orkney Dark Island Reserve

One of Britain’s northernmost breweries and one of Scotland’s strong collection of distinctive micros, Orkney was founded in a derelict schoolhouse by an Englishman […]

North Coast Brother Thelonious

Top Tastings 2009

ABV: 9.4% Origin: Fort Bragg, California, USA Website: www.northcoastbrewing.com

North Coast Brother Thelonious Belgian style abbey ale

There are multiple puns in the name and marketing of Brother Thelonious, a Belgian-inspired strong abbey ale that is indeed connected to a monk. The monk in question is, however, not […]

Neder Schwarze Anna

Top Tastings 2009, Beer sellers: Landbierparadies

ABV: 5.2% Origin: Forchheim, Franken/Bayern, Germany

Neder Schwarze Anna

Franconia is still the secret garden of beer appreciation. There are about 300 breweries in the three districts that make up modern day Franconia, a culturally and historically distinct region of what’s now the German “Land” of Bavaria. […]

Molen Bloed, Zweet en Tranen (Bruichladdich)

Top tastings 2009

ABV: 8.1% Origin: Bodegraven, Zuid Holland, Netherlands Website: www.brouwerijdemolen.nl

De Molen Bloed, Zweet en Tranen

Menno Olivier’s De Molen (“the mill”) brewery is in a 17th century windmill called De Ardkuif beside the Oude Rijn river bang in the middle of the Groene Hart, the rural “green heart” within the […]

Hopshackle Historic Porter

Top Tastings 2009 The beer also featured in BEER May 2011 as part of a piece on the influence of different malts on beer flavour. See additional text below, and to read about other beers featured see Vale Black Swan.

ABV: 4.8% Origin: Market Deeping, Lincolnshire Website: www.hopshacklebrewery.co.uk

Hopshackle

Nigel Wright’s Hopshackle […]

Hobsons Postman's Knock

Top Tastings 2009

A shorter version of this piece originally appeared in BEER May 2009 as one of several milds for May.

ABV: 4.4% Origin: Cleobury Mortimer, Worcestershire, England Website: www.hobsons-brewery.co.uk

Hobsons Postman's Knock

May is the month to celebrate beers which in the words of the promotional materials for CAMRA’s endangered beer […]