Michael Jackson, the most famous beer writer in history, died in his UK home Wednesday night of a heart attack, he was 65.
Some articles about his passing:
Washington Post: Beer Connoisseur Michael Jackson, 65
AP: Beer Critic Michael Jackson Dies
The Orgonian: Parkinson’s claims beer’s frontman
I am not usually one to get upset about celebrities dying, but what this man did for the image of beer in general, Belgians and for American microbreweries was transformational to the industry. His death is a terrible loss to the international beer community. AllAboutBeer.com (which he regularly wrote for and his last column, from earlier this week, now appears on) now has a tribute site up to him, and it’s so sad to read through these. One of the more notable posts is by Bill and Ron of Victory Brewing, who were encouraged by Michael to create their brewpub, which is now one of the most famous microbreweries in the country now shipping beer internationally. In addition to their kinds words about Michael the guys at Victory have vowed to donate 11% of their beer revenue for the 11 days following his death to donate to a charitable organization in his name.
We learned of his death on Thursday, a friend of mine in Belgium told me it had been on the news over there. I told Michael and we immediately dropped our previous plans for the evening and decided to head up to our favorite beer bar to enjoy some beers from one of his beer books we own and honor his memory. Our beers for the night chosen from his book included: Orval, Rodenbach Grand Cru, Westmalle Triple and Saison Dupont. The evening was accented by talking to the owner of the beer bar and a few patrons we’re familiar with, they all had stories about the times they met Michael, who flew in from the UK regularly and was in the Philadelphia area often. He was the guest of honor at an annual beer dinner not too far from our house and is regularly a guest at Monk’s Cafe down in Philadelphia, but sadly we never got to meet him. When his annual beer dinner came around this year we decided to put off going until next year, and now there won’t be a next year. Clearly the lesson from this is “Life is short, drink beer now!”
Rest in peace Michael, you will be missed. We’re heading out to Victory tonight.