usvi-on-line
Rick G- you must be in mourning -- "Beer Hunter" d
Rick G- you must be in mourning -- "Beer Hunter" d
*Another fine scatterbrained production
Yes, yesterday was a rough day for us. Michael has been a friend since 1987 when I met him in Denver. He spent a lot of time in the DC area. He spoke at a couple of our events and we worked as volunteers at his National Geographic, Smithsonian and Brickskeller events.
His last article is posted at http://allaboutbeer.com/.
Michael had been going down hill since he turned 60. I would see him every year at the GABF and he did not recommend aging. What no one knew until recently was that it was Parkinsons that was aging him so quickly.
We went to the Vintage 50 brewpub in Leesburg last night to toast Michael. I was pleased to do it with a beer that he had enjoyed over the years. I had perfected my homebrewed Franconian Kellerbier recipe and Bill Madden had brewed that with me at the brewpub. It went on tap yesterday and is delicious (they call it a Keller Pils). It is an entry in the GABF Pro-Am category and will be served at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver in October. Its an awesome beer, all humbleness aside. Michael won't get to try the commercial version, but he has been an inspiration in every beer I've crafted.
Michael largely defined the nomenclature that we use today to describe beer and whisky. Even the 100+ beer styles that the GABF judges beers against were largely defined by Michael in his 1977 World Guide to Beer. In the US beer world, he was our muse and messiah. He led us from a land of consolidated megabrews to one with thousands of local breweries - in less than 20 years.
I'm crushed that he left us.
One of my favorite anecdotes was written by Jim Busch, a local homebrewer and a Victory Brewing team member. I was at this event and have fond memories of the bard of beer, the maven of malt, doing signatures.
----
Back in the 90s we had a local brewpub that was in planning to open in northern Virginia and the proprietor happened to reside in a large mansion type residence in Potomac, MD. He had arranged for Michael to attend a gathering at his home and also invited our local homebrewers club BURP to come along. I asked then brewmaster of Old Dominion, Ron Barchet, to also come along and join the fun. Lots and lots of folks wanted MJ to try their homebrew and comment and he was of course very gracious in doing so in a way only Michael could. Never a harsh or mean word despite how raw some of the recipes must have seemed. He did seem quite fond of that Millenium barley wine that Ron brought though.
Anyway as the evening progressed we all got a little more loose. Autographs were being asked for and supplied when one of the more gregarious BURP women folk decided to one up the rest and ask Micheal to sign her breast, which he seemed quite pleased to do. This led to another one and the third female to be autographed was/is my longtime partner Liz. To this day I think Liz is still surprised that she had the gusto to do this and for many years after whenever I ran into Michael I would always remind him who I was by saying "you know, you signed my girlfriends breast at that BURP event back in the 90s"! And he always reacted the same, instantly red faced and flummoxed but also knowingly in on the tale. And to think, to this day I never had MJ sign any of his books that I own but I can be happy in that he has shared a certain breast that is close to my heart too!
---
A followup by Samar Farha:
I remember, back when I worked for WTTG's Fox Morning News, I got them to book him in the last half hour of the show. He and Felix Coja showed up a little early. They seemed still a little drunk from the previous
night's entertainment. Michael told me how he can't believe that he's become almost a rock star in beer circles. He mentioned how one woman at the previous night's party, seeing him autographing various books and things, came over and pulled up her shirt and asked him to "'autograph my boobs, please'. And how could I refuse such a request?"
He went on the air and had a selection of beers with him to show off. The anchor for this interview was Brian Wilson. That's right, Brian Wilson was interviewing Michael Jackson. I'm in the booth for this, and as Michael begins to show off the beers with the intention of pouring some and doing a tasting live on the air, the producer is yelling into the IFB for Brian not to let him drink. Brian did no such thing, of course. He helped himself to a taste as well.
Michael was our beer rock star.
Cheers, RickG
His last article is posted at http://allaboutbeer.com/.
Michael had been going down hill since he turned 60. I would see him every year at the GABF and he did not recommend aging. What no one knew until recently was that it was Parkinsons that was aging him so quickly.
We went to the Vintage 50 brewpub in Leesburg last night to toast Michael. I was pleased to do it with a beer that he had enjoyed over the years. I had perfected my homebrewed Franconian Kellerbier recipe and Bill Madden had brewed that with me at the brewpub. It went on tap yesterday and is delicious (they call it a Keller Pils). It is an entry in the GABF Pro-Am category and will be served at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver in October. Its an awesome beer, all humbleness aside. Michael won't get to try the commercial version, but he has been an inspiration in every beer I've crafted.
Michael largely defined the nomenclature that we use today to describe beer and whisky. Even the 100+ beer styles that the GABF judges beers against were largely defined by Michael in his 1977 World Guide to Beer. In the US beer world, he was our muse and messiah. He led us from a land of consolidated megabrews to one with thousands of local breweries - in less than 20 years.
I'm crushed that he left us.
One of my favorite anecdotes was written by Jim Busch, a local homebrewer and a Victory Brewing team member. I was at this event and have fond memories of the bard of beer, the maven of malt, doing signatures.
----
Back in the 90s we had a local brewpub that was in planning to open in northern Virginia and the proprietor happened to reside in a large mansion type residence in Potomac, MD. He had arranged for Michael to attend a gathering at his home and also invited our local homebrewers club BURP to come along. I asked then brewmaster of Old Dominion, Ron Barchet, to also come along and join the fun. Lots and lots of folks wanted MJ to try their homebrew and comment and he was of course very gracious in doing so in a way only Michael could. Never a harsh or mean word despite how raw some of the recipes must have seemed. He did seem quite fond of that Millenium barley wine that Ron brought though.
Anyway as the evening progressed we all got a little more loose. Autographs were being asked for and supplied when one of the more gregarious BURP women folk decided to one up the rest and ask Micheal to sign her breast, which he seemed quite pleased to do. This led to another one and the third female to be autographed was/is my longtime partner Liz. To this day I think Liz is still surprised that she had the gusto to do this and for many years after whenever I ran into Michael I would always remind him who I was by saying "you know, you signed my girlfriends breast at that BURP event back in the 90s"! And he always reacted the same, instantly red faced and flummoxed but also knowingly in on the tale. And to think, to this day I never had MJ sign any of his books that I own but I can be happy in that he has shared a certain breast that is close to my heart too!
---
A followup by Samar Farha:
I remember, back when I worked for WTTG's Fox Morning News, I got them to book him in the last half hour of the show. He and Felix Coja showed up a little early. They seemed still a little drunk from the previous
night's entertainment. Michael told me how he can't believe that he's become almost a rock star in beer circles. He mentioned how one woman at the previous night's party, seeing him autographing various books and things, came over and pulled up her shirt and asked him to "'autograph my boobs, please'. And how could I refuse such a request?"
He went on the air and had a selection of beers with him to show off. The anchor for this interview was Brian Wilson. That's right, Brian Wilson was interviewing Michael Jackson. I'm in the booth for this, and as Michael begins to show off the beers with the intention of pouring some and doing a tasting live on the air, the producer is yelling into the IFB for Brian not to let him drink. Brian did no such thing, of course. He helped himself to a taste as well.
Michael was our beer rock star.
Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
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Tracy in WI
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