A toast to beer's biggest booster

Despite beer writer Michael Jackson's self-deprecating assertion on his website that he wasn't "that Michael Jackson," the revered London-based author, TV personality, and "beer hunter" was definitely a superstar in the brewing community.

Jackson, who had Parkinson's disease, died on Aug. 30 at the age of 65. He was a journalist by trade, but his appreciation of good beer and of disappearing traditional styles compelled him to research and write "The World Guide to Beer," first published in 1977. He traveled the globe, tirelessly researching and updating the "World Guide," making a TV special called "The Beer Hunter," and writing many other books about whiskey and beer. One of his best known, "The Great Beers of Belgium," put that country's traditional brews on the map.

The Englishman considered beer as complex and as deserving of respect as wine; his enthusiasm and appreciation of styles old and new endeared him to brewers around the world.

Jackson didn't come to Boston often, but local brewers who met him remember him fondly.

Dan Kenary, president and co-founder of Harpoon Brewery, met Jackson in 1986, just as Harpoon was starting up. "He was so supportive," Kenary says. "He was so excited about what all [American craft brewers] were doing. "

Jackson singled out the Cambridge Brewing Co. as the first US producer of a Belgian-style triple ale, a big thrill for the brewery, owner Phil Bannatyne recalls. CBC's brewmaster, Will Meyers, remembers seeing Jackson many times at the yearly Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

"He was like a rock star," Meyers says. "At the GABF he always had a crowd of people following after him, wanting to talk to him. He was a sweetheart. He always stopped and talked to people and signed autographs."

Tod Mott, head brewer at Portsmouth Brewery, first met Jackson when he was at the now-closed Commonwealth Brewing Co. "He said our [cask-conditioned] Burton Bitter was the best he had had on this side of the pond," Mott recalls. "I admired him so much. He knew so much but he never flaunted his knowledge. He was our biggest spokesman."

Kenary remembers how grim the brewing scene was 25 or 30 years ago, when few people were making craft beers and few consumers knew about them. He credits Jackson with helping the industry reemerge. "He inspired a lot of people - brewers, beer lovers, writers. That's his legacy."