Des was a man of many layers. Years after the event, I discover my first interaction with him was buying the 12” remix of Charlton Heston by Stump - that was him, as half of the Irresistible Force. He made the Popbitch newsletter as Secretary of the Ramblers Association (moor, geddit?) 1/2

Terribly sad to hear of passing of Des de Moor, an absolute gentleman, kind & generous. Talented writer of award-winning books inc. his comprehensive Cask, London's Best Beer & Pubs. Des conducted historic pub tours of London sharing his passion & knowledge. You will be missed RIP

Today in @thetimes.com, old man shouts at cloudy beer. I don't like hazy IPAs. Here are some beers that are better. www.thetimes.com/life-style/f... (paywall)

Love how the headline of this says “Thiel warns,” as if it’s somehow not the deranged ramblings of a fucking lunatic.

Shit. Guess I have to start boycotting Fullers pubs now. Damn, no more £8 pints of Asahi for me.

What a pathetic, needy, tiny little man. Anyone who thinks this grasping, insecure narcissist is worthy of admiration in any way needs serious help.

On a busy train. People who would rather stand for an hour in the corridor rather than sit in an unreserved seat next to another person: what’s all that about, then?

Today has not been a good tech day. In a @premierinn.bsky.social hotel room, I fell for the con of, in 2026, actually paying £5 for their “Ultimate WiFi”. It’s actually slower than either tethering to my phone or their own garbage free WiFi. This is a public service announcement.

We gotta come up with a better system than “everything rests on whether these twelve billionnaires are nice”

Interesting. From personal observation, I’ve long thought the idea that GenZ is sobering up and going clean is belied by the amount of coke and ketamine they seem to be hoovering.

Twenty-odd years later and @gwr.com are STILL pretending they have working wifi on their trains.

Fantastic stuff from Waitrose - first big supermarket chain to embrace and actively promote SIBA’s indie beer campaign. www.waitrose.com/ecom/shop/br...

People are actually responding to news of BrewDog closing their distilling operation with the comment “Go woke, go broke.” Can anyone think of a more stupid, uninformed, ignorant, clueless hot take on a story than this?

Today in @thetimes.com - why alcohol-free beers (and yes, that definition includes beers up to 0.5% ABV) are not just for January. These six and more are great all year round (paywall) www.thetimes.com/life-style/f...

Within half an hour of when Deputy AG Blanche told reporters that DOJ "complied with the statute...we did not protect President Trump," DOJ deleted multiple documents from the database with damning information about Trump. Among those deleted were first-person accounts of Trump raping kids.

Not the most heartbreaking news I’ve heard today, by some distance, but still heartbreaking nonetheless.

It quotes “stats” from an anti-alcohol pressure group, quoted without question. It incorrectly equates the (already dodgy) NHS definition of alcohol-related harm with alcoholism. If I submitted something this poor to @thetimes.com - pro- or anti-booze - it would be thrown back in my face. Shameful.

I can’t stand shit “journalism” like this. Headline is based on data showing 25% of adults don’t drink. Meaning 75% still do. Data in young people is from 2022. This has been superseded by 2025 data suggesting those numbers were a blip. (1/2) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Why is anyone apart from urs billionaire techbro overlords still trying to push the narrative that AI is a good thing that we should all accept without question?

On the day the govt is expected to announce £100m relief on biz rates, I’m on Radio 4 You and Yours from 12pm today talking about pubs, we use them and how they're changing. Tune in!

Today in @thetimes.com - I’m being sent more and more gluten-free beers to try. So I learned about the cruel minefield that is coeliac disease and gluten intolerance and picked the best GF beers I’ve found so far (paywall) www.thetimes.com/life-style/f...

Friendly tip for PRs working in beer - when you win a new beer account, don't assume that professional beer writers have never heard of the brewery, just because you didn't know they existed until three weeks before you pitched for the business.

OK so I don't like Amazon and I don’t like my books being heavily discounted. But am sharing this in case anyone who is feeling really skint just now is interested in my award-winning beer and music pairing book Tasting Notes - currently just £4.99 on Kindle. www.amazon.co.uk/Tasting-Note...

A Longtailed Tit painted onto a Watney’s beer mat from the 1960s. darrenhaymanart.com

Youth hostelling with Chris Eubank? Monkey Tennis? Oh.

Just found out that since the melty-faced, friendless nazi fucked it over, X is only the 15th-biggest social media platform globally. It has 1/6 of the monthly users Facebook or Insta have. Pinterest and Reddit are bigger. So why do we (esp politicians) obsess over it? Ignore it. Hopefully it’ll die

Texas has 2.1 million immigrants. Florida has 1.6 million immigrants. Minnesota has 130 THOUSAND immigrants. What Trump is doing was NEVER about immigration. It’s about RACISM and REVENGE in Minnesota. He’s not creating jobs, or bringing down grocery prices or making healthcare affordable

Just before Christmas I was invited onto the wonderful “Better Known” podcast. It's a simple concept: talk about six things you love that should be better known. Mine is a mix of personal passions and cynical plugs for my books. Listen here next time you're bored: betterknown.co.uk/2025/12/14/p...

Reading a mostly excellent book about effects of diet on blood pressure. Every single point about health effects of diet is carefully footnoted and points to serious research. Until we get to “drinking more than 14 units a week is a well known risk factor.” No footnote. Why would that be, I wonder?

in the plus side, watching the president of the United States destroy the entire geopolitical order because he didn't get a shiny award has successfully cured all my hangups about subtle character motivation in writing

As a panel member on this, I’m imparting as much wisdom as I can. But am also keen to learn from three very talented writers who have won Beer Writer of the Year since I last did. Can you honestly think of anything better to do on a Wednesday evening in January?

Your annual reminder that “Blue Monday” is a complete fiction invented by a company that wanted to sell you more holidays. Enjoy January! It’s quiet and cosy and time for semi-hibernation, reflection and being kind to yourself!

This week in @thetimes.com it’s a tricky one. “Write about your eight favourite breweries” they said. EIGHT?! Not a hundred? Apologies to the other 92 breweries I adore. You know who you are. But these 8 are truly special. (Paywall) www.thetimes.com/magazines/th...

When you type the name of an author into Amazon's search bar, and books by 4 different authors come up before the first book by that author. “We know this is not what you're looking for but we don't give a shit.” Imagine if an assistant in a local independent bookshop did that to you. Off there now.

Beer people! I’m writing a thing on post-hazy IPAs. Who is going back ton traditional British IPA and doing it well? Or West Coast? Obviously I have my own list of course but do you have any that deserve recognition?

Great! Just great. The beer at gigs just got even shitter. www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2026/01/ab-i...

Today in @thetimes.com - these are not just beers… NOT an advert, but M&S try to position their beer range between supermarket and bottle shop, and spend more time on collab brewing their own range with good brewers than any other supermarket. www.thetimes.com/life-style/f...

FAVERSHAM! I am talking Tasting Notes and blowing minds with how music changes the flavour of beer (or rather, your perception of it) on 20th Feb with @favlit.org and @henrygjeffreys.bsky.social. Info and tickets here! Lots more events coming up. www.favershamliteraryfestival.org/2026/events/...

“If it’s good enough for Shirley Bassey, it’s good enough for thee!” (IYKYK, IYDK, read my book Clubland.) Happy 89th birthday, Dame Shirl!

Content will include articles that have appeared in the journal over the past 40 plus years and posts from his Zythophile blog. Please let us know, via Bluesky, if there are any specific blog posts that you would like to see in print.

We are very pleased to announce that 'Brewery History' will be publishing a special issue later this year containing a selection of Martyn Cornell’s work.

Trying to imagine what this party would be like and am almost inspired to start writing short stories again.

Made my own blinis for the first time this morning and I would just like to apologise to anyone on whom I ever inflicted a supermarket-bought blini. Merry Christmas!

Waitrose at 7am. Spartacus at 3pm. Fino at 3.30pm. It’s only the 23rd and I feel like I’ve already won at Christmas.

This is great. I’m regularly asked to check something I’ve written because some AI bullshit doesn’t agree with it, and have to explain that I’ve used sources that are not online. My writing is richer when I get my hands dirty.

Today in @thetimes.com, for my last column of 2025, here are the six new (or new to me) beers that have impressed me the most over the last 12 months (paywall) www.thetimes.com/life-style/f...

grimch

Why are some Norfolk seal pups abandoned? Because people get too close. Amaya, 11, explains how simple actions can protect them ⤵️ eastangliabylines.co.uk/environment/...

As “Black Eye Friday” bears down on the pub trade, this week’s @thetimes.com column discusses Christmas pub etiquette - or how no to be a dick on your office Christmas do. (Paywall) www.thetimes.com/life-style/f...