A Great Man Has Left Us

Chances are you’ve heard by now that Michael Jackson passed away on Thursday. He had been in poor health for some time and many of us were worried about him.

If you drink or think about beer today, especially if you live in the US or Britain, you have been affected by his work whether you realize it or not. Michael Jackson wrote many books about beer and countless newspaper and magazine articles. He was the first to address beer so singularly and his writing was accessible and eloquent on the subject.

But more than that this modern day Gambrinus wrote about beers and beer styles that many of his readers had never tasted or even heard of before. As America was waking up from its long light lager slumber, Michael Jackson was there ready to teach us about the dark, heavy ales of England and the sour and spicy beers of Belgium. His effect on the beer writing community and the beer world overall is inestimable.

He will surely be missed.

Cheers, Michael. May your next destination treat you as well as you treated us.