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
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Your support makes all the difference.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
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