Moor Beer Co are a cracking brewery from Bristol, and their swish new range of cans are increasingly making their presence felt on the shelves of good beer shops in Scotland.
Moor's beers are a blend of new and old, both in their branding and in their brewing, with head honcho Justin Hawke bringing his experience of drinking in San Francisco, England and Frankfurt to bear on his beers.
Justin, a former First Lieutenant in the US Army, fell in love with the German way of making beer when he was stationed in Frankfurt, developing a taste for unfiltered beers and an appreciation of the real meaning of craft. A demobbed stint in England gave the ex-soldier a love of real ales, followed by a move to San Francisco just as California’s new wave of hop-loving craft breweries were starting to change the world.
But Justin had a taste for England and moved back in the late 1990s with a view to opening a brewery. In 2007, the opportunity came when a failed brewery in Somerset called Moor Beer came to the market.
The first few years were a challenge. The legacy of a bad brewery cast a shadow, particularly in cider-loving Somerset, but Justin stuck to his guns and was an early champion “modern real ales” merging the traditional beers of his adopted homeland with the hop-heavy styles of his native California. As fashions changed so Moor's success grew, and less than a decade later the brewery now employs 22 staff and operates a thriving tap-room. Last year they upped sticks and moved to Bristol and subsequently invested in a high-spec canning line.
Over the years, Moor Beer Co have collaborated with leading lights such as Arbor, Harbour, Beavertown and Scotland’s Hanging Bat and BrewDog.
Six Great Moors Beers
Hoppiness (6.7%)
This hefty IPA won FHM’s Top British Beer in 2013, an acclaim that must rocketed sales up into the stratosphere. It’s heavy on the hops – crisp and fruity – but the robust malt character holds it all together.
So’hop (4.3%)
Pours a cloudy chewy gold, with blast of lemon and a rush of pine forest, peach and amber. Taste-wise, it isn’t as lush as the aroma suggests, though the dry and sustained bitterness will leave you refreshed.
Not Another Eurovision Beer (5.3%)
A smashing collaboration with BrewDog, this rye amber beer reeks of succulent tropical hops – think Kiora ¬– and pours dark like a bitter. Has a savoury finish with resinous hops and burnt caramel, biscuit and juicy fruits.
TFA (7%)
A 7% homage to The Force Awakens, this black IPA is a belter, pineapple and plum aroma, thick foamy head and smooth texture. It’s a thing of substance and beauty, the roasted malts perfectly balanced against the flavours and big bittering.
Nor’hop (4.1%)
Light, crisp and dry, this pale ale is all about the citrus, though the pine is never too far away, with flavours of caramel biscuit off the malt helping to maintain body and balance.
Amoor (4.5%)
Smooth and silky, this porter has flavours of chocolate, Brazil nuts and early morning coffee. A bit of a soft lemon aroma in there too perhaps, as well as some lighter malt flavours all leading to a clean bitter finish.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here