Toasting Michael Jackson With A NZ IPA

Today was chosen as the day to toast the passing of Michael Jackson. The chosen time was 9pm EST but as that's the middle of the night here in England, I chose 9pm BST.

Due to family commitments (my wife is due our second child in four days), I chose to stay at home to toast him. It was a difficult decision which beer to chose. Clearly I don't have unlimited supplies of beer or even access to most beers, so my choice was limited. I could have chosen a Yorkshire brew in deference to where Michael was born, or I could have chosen a beer from Lithuania in memory of his roots. Instead I chose a style of beer he championed, from a country not renowned for its beer.

I think it's partly down to Michael Jackson that India Pale Ales are so popular with beer geeks now. This style, originally created by British brewers in the 1700s was written about by MJ in his pocket book of 1997 thus: "the hoppiest examples of the style are made by the new generation of American brewers". And it is Michael who played a huge part in the American microbrewery revolution. And out of this revolution, interest grew in other countries.

So for my toast I chose to drink Emersons 1812 India Pale Ale, an IPA from New Zealand. It is very American in style. A wonderful aroma of piney hops and an excellent bitterness to the taste with notes of lychee.

I am sure Michael would have been flattered by today's events and would have loved hearing about all the different beers chosen to mark the event. I don't know if he ever drank Emersons 1812 IPA - he probably did - I'm sure he would have liked it.

Here's to Michael Jackson, and a big thanks for all you did for beer.

Michael Jackson - The Original Scooper And Rater

Naturally, almost every single beer blogger has written a piece about Michael Jackson after his sad and untimely death late on Wednesday. All of us have been influenced by his love of beer and all of us own many of his books. The book that first got me hooked on beer was Michael's 1977 edition of The World Guide To Beer. Thirty years later this book is still captivating and essential reading. I also have The Beer Companion, and a few versions of his Pocket Beer Book. I cherish these books and will always do so.

What Michael Jackson did for me and countless others is open eyes to different beer styles and beers from other countries. It made me want to seek out all of these beer styles and it gave me the knowledge to search for the best beers wherever in the World I might go. Michael was lucky enough to taste thousands upon thousands of beers, and it made me jealous. He wrote tasting notes on all these beers (or appeared to in the name of professionalism and journalism) and that was good because he was educating beer lovers like me.

I guess my jealously of MJ and the fact that he had access to all these beers made me the person I am now - a scooper and a beer rater - for essentially that was what he was at heart. He was just able to do it at such a high standard and make a living out of it. He scooped beers and rated them far better than I can. There are many who suggest that you cannot accurately dissect beers from small samples but MJ could do it. His beer knowledge outweighed mine a hundredfold, and even though I never met him, he gave me the passion to be a beer lover and taught me a huge amount of things about the wonderful drink. The beer world will be forever in his debt but he leaves a large range of excellent educational literature for us all to learn from.

Let's all raise a glass to Michael Jackson; the original scooper and rater, who of course was much more than that.