Beer and Brewer Magazine

Sadly, the international brewing community recently lost one of its most well-known commentators. Geoff Griggs farewells his colleague and mentor, Michael Jackson.

The world has lost its most revered author and expert on the subject of beer - and I have lost a friend. At the end of August, Michael Jackson, aka The Beer Hunter - no, not the other one, passed away in his London home at the age of 65. Michael had been suffering from Parkinson's disease for more than 10 years, but never announced it until his symptoms caused some to think he was drunk. "I do not have, and never have had, a drink problem," he pointed out. He wrote about the past year in an extremely poignant final column for All About Beer magazine, which has now been posted online. I urge you to read it.

While the internet is already teeming with personal memories of the man who described himself as "the quiet, courteous, friendly Lithuanian Jewish Yorkshire Englishman", his fellow English beer writer Roger Protz probably best sums up my own feelings about Michael Jackson; "He was the best - and always will be the best. His knowledge of beer is unsurpassable. His genius was to be able to write simply and beautifully about beer."

It was Michael who, along with Grant Jones - former general manager of Wellington's Regional Wines & Spirits, inspired me to start writing about beer. When I migrated to New Zealand in 1995 I could see Kiwis were getting excited about wine, but beer seemed to be largely ignored. While wine-drinking was becoming synonymous with a more modern New Zealand lifestyle, for many Kiwis beer drinking remained inextricably linked with negative images of the past. For some, it still is. As a newcomer to the country I found that both sad and unfair. I still do.

By contrast, Michael Jackson's books were like a breath of fresh air. They portrayed beer in a different light, as a sophisticated and food friendly alternative to wine. "‘Do you ever drink wine?' people ask me, as though beer is a prison rather than a playground", he writes in the introduction to his definitive Beer Companion. "A day may pass when I do not drink wine, but never a week. Whatever is argued about other pleasures, it is not necessary to be monogamous in the choice of drink. Beer is by far the more extensively consumed, but less adequately honoured. In a small way, I want to help put right that injustice."

Those words have inspired me to do the same. I first met Michael in the mid-1980s, in Brighton, on the opening day of the Great British Beer Festival. When I spotted him he was deep in conversation with his girlfriend, Paddy, but he willingly agreed to be photographed with me. Despite his high profile he was always humble and approachable. Our paths didn't cross again until 1997 when we judged together at a beer competition in Wellington. After the competition I'd arranged for us to fly to Marlborough to spend a couple of days touring Blenheim and Nelson breweries. His recollections of that visit are still posted on his website www.beerhunter.com. I remember a classic moment during that trip when we were sampling beers at Mac's with its newly appointed head brewer Tracy Banner. At one point Michael peered at her over the top of his half rimmed spectacles and enquired; "And why do you call this beer ‘Real Ale'?" Having previously brewed ales for Cains and Greenalls in England, Tracy was well aware that Mac's ‘Real Ale' was a blend of two lagers. She shrugged uncomfortably for a moment before Michael's stern face broke into a grin, his point made.

The last time I saw Michael was in England in April 2001. I met him one afternoon at his office in West London, and that evening we went out for a few beers and a curry. Having mentioned that I was fairly unimpressed with Fuller's Chiswick Bitter and surprised that it had won champion beer at a recent competition, Michael was anxious to take me to his local pub where, he assured me, the Fullers beers were always kept in excellent condition. Sure enough after three pints at The Andover Arms my opinion of the Chiswick Bitter had changed. We had a great night chatting and I'll cherish the memory of it forever. I last spoke to Michael about a year ago when he phoned to ask if I'd be willing to contribute a New Zealand chapter for his next world beer guide. As you might imagine I was rapt: talk about a no-brainer! Michael's last book, The Eyewitness Companion Guide to Beer will be published later this year.

Although he lived half a world away and I didn't know him well, Michael Jackson was my mentor and my inspiration. I miss him already. In 2002, in an article lamenting the imminent closure of my favourite Oxfordshire brewery, he wrote, "In heaven, you can get Brakspear's bitter on tap, always in perfect condition. Hours: eternal" I hope he's enjoying one right now. Cheers Michael!

Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts)