Guide to London's Best Beer, Pubs and Bars: Celebrating the capital's brewing re-emergence

A book like this would have been a lot thinner a decade ago, says Will Hawkes

Will Hawkes
Friday 24 July 2015 16:28 BST
Comments
Three to try: Fourpure, Pils; By The Horns, Sour To The People; Weird Beard, Weird Brodmance
Three to try: Fourpure, Pils; By The Horns, Sour To The People; Weird Beard, Weird Brodmance

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Des De Moor's recently published Guide to London's Best Beer, Pubs and Bars is its depth of information. A book like this would have been a lot thinner a decade ago, as De Moor acknowledges. "London has in a matter of years reclaimed its status as a world-class centre for making beer as well as drinking it," he writes in the foreword.

It's a good time to celebrate London's brewing re-emergence. August sees the Great British Beer Festival return to Olympia, and the event that I helped bring into being last year, London Beer City, is back to add to the general sense of jollity. I'm delighted to report that we've got even more great stuff than last year: there are events all over the city, many of them involving not only beer but also that other primary source of contentment, food.

There's a Belgian dinner at The Dove, in Broadway Market; a London lager event at The Bull, in Highgate; an intriguing five-course "sensory" dinner at Brewdog's bar in Shepherd's Bush; and much more besides. Cheese expert Ned Palmer, meanwhile, will be all over town during the week, pairing high-quality cheese with beer from some of London's best small breweries. Sounds exhausting.

There's a lot of good beer to be found, particularly if you've got something as meticulously researched and open-minded as De Moor's new book to hand. Buy it and visit one of the many great pubs described within.

Three to try

Slurp

Fourpure, Pils

Dry, assertively bitter and perfect for fine weather. Oh, and made in Bermondsey. £2.25 for 330ml, 4.7%, beermerchants.com

Sip

By The Horns, Sour To The People

Tart and funky, this goes down a storm with good cheese – goat's, creamy or blue. £3 for 330ml, 4.8%, eebria.com

Share

Weird Beard, Weird Brodmance

This collaboration with Brodie's may be unfortunately named, but it's delicious: rich and all-enveloping. £6.60 for 660ml, 10%, alesbymail.co.uk

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in