We visit the award-winning Bristol pub where the beers are made behind the bar

It can be thirsty work ticking off all the Bristol pubs that appear in the newly launched CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2024.

After all, there are around 40 of them in the book, which must be proof enough that Bristol is a city that takes its beers seriously.

The bar at the Moor Beer Co. is one of the more unusual Bristol entries as it’s one of the only brewery taps in the city to make the Guide.

It’s also slightly unusual because it makes a point of serving hazy beer. That’s intentionally hazy beer, rather than the cloudy (and therefore poor quality) ales that send pot-bellied CAMRA beer buffs into a state of apoplexy when they are served them.

Launched in 2007, Moor Beer Co. serves ‘live’ beer - that’s natural beer with live yeast, which makes for bigger flavours in the glass.

The brewery tap must also be one of the few Bristol entries in the Guide to sell a range of merchandise. That means the usual branded glasses and t-shirts, but also bar runners and hoodies at £36 a pop.

A small room within the warehouse-style brewery, with a small outdoor seating area, this bar is functional and no-frills.

There are framed posters of American grunge veterans Melvins on the wall and a blackboard listing live music. On the pavement, an A-board has the words ‘open for live beer’ chalked on it.

Snacks are limited to Mini Cheddars, Walkers, Monster Munch and Scampi Fries, but then why let food get in the way of the serious business of guzzling beer?

There are a dozen draught Moor beers on tap and they change all the time but on this visit they included Distortion, Feedback, Stout, Live IPA and Old Freddy Walker. They’re all made in the cavernous brewery behind the bar so it couldn’t get more local.

I went for a pint of Resonance (£5.20), a ‘citra golden pale’ that was zesty, full bodied and very quaffable. So quaffable, in fact, that I was soon ordering a second.

Well, I needed to stay hydrated for the onward journey to tick off the next pub in the Guide, didn’t I?

Moor Brewery Tap, Days Rd, Bristol, St Philips, Bristol, BS2 0QS.

Scroll through to see 8 photos of the Moor Beer Co Brewery Tap.