Des de Moor, who died this month, was a phenomenon. He was a prolific writer about beer and took part in beer judging events in many countries.
He delved deep in to the history of beer and its myriad of styles. At the same time he organised tours of breweries, pubs and taprooms and played a leading role in promoting the burgeoning London beer scene in the 21st century.
Des was born in Ipswich. He moved to London and lived in Deptford with his partner Ian Harris. A great believer in walking for health, he was the secretary of the Ramblers’ Association until 2015 and edited its magazine.
His passion for beer was matched by his love of music. He was a singer and performed in a number of clubs in London. He specialised in cabaret and presented a collection of songs by David Bowie called Darkness and Disgrace with pianist Russell Churney.
As described by leading beer writer Pete Brown, Des was “a man of many layers”. He translated into English songs by the Belgian performer Jacques Brel, founded music nights in the Vortex Club in Stoke Newington and took part in poetry festivals in the Camden People’s Theatre.
Des became an accredited beer sommelier, enabling him to take part in judging not only in Britain but in competitions abroad, including the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival in the United States, the annual Brussels Beer Challenge and competitions in the Netherlands.
He made a major impact with his popular Guide to London’s Best Beers, Pubs and Bars, first published by CAMRA in 2011, followed by new editions in 2015 and 2022.
Des said: “I like to think my book made at least a small contribution to the explosion of London brewing.” From the guide’s influential reach, I think we can be certain that it did.
Champion Beer of Britain (CBoB) competition organiser Christine Cryne said: “Des regularly judged at CBoB and Cask Beer in London and he was willing to share his knowledge and experience. He was of enormous help to CAMRA in London, using his knowledge of London breweries to keep our data up to date.”
He combined his love of walking with guided tours of London pubs, breweries and taprooms. The tours highlighted the Bermondsey Beer Mile with its collection of craft breweries that includes Anspach and Hobday and Kernel.
Des said of his writing and judging: “What really interests me is how beer is appreciated and received, the culture that surrounds it and how that relates to the wider features of the societies that produce it, 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 it should be celebrated as such.”
The impact of his work saw him win the Best Beer and Travel Writing Award from the British Guild of Beer Writers in 2011 and 2015.
He wrote a regular bottled beer column for BEER Magazine and contributed to other CAMRA publications.
In 2023 he published his major work with CAMRA, Cask, the real story of Britains’ unique beer culture, a history of cask beer and Britain’s unique contribution to the world of beer. The book traced cask beer brewing over the centuries, detailed how it survived the keg revolution in the 1950s and 60s and the rise of CAMRA in the 1970s.
He recorded the hammering of sales cask beer took during the Covid pandemic and the subsequent lockdown of pubs, but he was upbeat about its resilience, saying it had overcome many other challenges over the centuries.
In my review of the book, I described it as “superbly written and deeply researched”.
Des’s untimely death has led to an outpouring of comments on social media, all stressing his warmth, humanity and generosity. His enormous contribution to the appreciation of beer will not be forgotten.
