A Toast to the Beer Hunter, Michael Jackson

Ah, a good bloke. And a Yorkshireman!

 

I remember watching the Beer Hunter TV show back when my passion for craft beer was taking its first steps. So Michael Jackson is almost like a godfather of craft beer to me.

To Michael!

 

I met Michael at the 1993 National Homebrewers Conference in Portland. He signed my copy of the Great Beers of Belgium. At the end of the week I was standing in line next to him during the Oregon Brewers Festival. He asked me what I thought of the beer. Next year, when his pocket guide to beer came out, what I said was pretty much what he wrote. I was thrilled and honored.

 

RIP...Cheers to the Beer Whisperer. A few more tnight, on the last Saturday of summer, and I'll be doin the moonwalk blasting EVH's solo from Beat It

 

Ha! I was there in '93 as well. MJ was attending with Bert Grant; I was pretty much star-struck with the whole experience. They were incredibly approachable, and it was obvious how much they both appreciated what was going on.

What beer did you talk about? From what I remember, a lot of scuttlebutt was centered around Rogue's Imperial Stout, made especially for the fest.

 

In the days before the internet, Michael Jackson was our beer guide, and teacher.

It's a good night to finally pop open that bottle of Duchesse.

 

Great topic! Glad to see some positive energy here. (Is it just me or are there too many negative threads?) I never got to meet the man either, but I can more than appreciate the groundwork he laid and how passionate he was for the craft of beer. I loved the TV show he had and I'm excited to see the movie at some point too.

Thank you Michael Jackson for being awesome! I think he lived his life without regret. I raise my glass of Stone Espresso IRS to toast you tonight and join my fellow beer brethren in celebrating your life!

 

Unfortunately, I've never had the opportunity to read any of his books. What would be a good one to start with?

 

IIRC, it was Bridgeport's Pintail. That was their festival beer.

 

Aah. I really liked that one, too. That was back when Dick Ponzi still owned BridgePort*, and was a recent addition to their lineup. It was pale, fragrant with floral/fruity hops, and bitter, but also had a good dose of residual sweetness. I swear, when I returned in 1996 and the place was under new ownership, that beer was just not the same.

Anyway- that's pretty cool that you and he had a meeting of the minds on that beer. He also had a way of describing beers in a very succinct, yet incredibly accurate way in those guides- almost poetic, in a sense.

*- full disclosure- one of my friends worked there at the time, and I really liked the vibe of the original joint.

 

Well as you can tell by my avatar I am a mj fan. I donated to kickstarter for the documentary although have yet to watch much. I do understand his profound influence on the craft beer community, so I can't wait to watch it in full. I am in northern NH tonight and was happy to find a Hennepin at Shaws, a shitty supermarket that finally devoted a shelf to decent beer, no doubt due to some indebtedness to him. Cheers Michael! Would love to enjoy a beer with you someday, wherever it may be.

 

I just came across my old "Pocket Guide To Beer" (1988) a little while ago while moving some books. I'll have to flip through it and see if I'm doing it right.

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I met him in `96 briefly at the GABF. Very approachable...nice man. It was towards the end...just as fucked up as the next goer (except he probably got a 5 hour head start!)!

 

A Belgian brewer once described him to me as "very interesting, until about 10 am." But even in his cups, forever genial. My great disappointment is just missing out on meeting him, twice: once cruelly forced to wait at a bar in vain hopes of a no-show for a sold-out lecture, and another time I got a signing just after he'd sold out of his stack of books and left. That was in DC in the late '90s and it says a lot that he was a tough ticket at a time when microbrews were gaining mind share but not yet much market share.

His writings are still treasures for their evocative descriptions, wry humor and love rather than snobbism.The column that someone kindly linked, http://allaboutbeer.com/live-beer/appreciation/2013/08/farewell-father-…-it’s-beer-war/, says a lot: he'd be happy to reel off a list of favorites, but chafed at the idea of rankings, and refused to fall out with a beloved brewery even when he mildly taking issue with slipping standards.

 

Somewhere out there there is a photo of me taken with him at a Beers International dinner. Wish I had it. He was great at those dinners.