Michael Jackson?????

[BREWERDLUX]

Who besides me thinks that the picture of Michael Jackson on the home page of Real Beer looks like the photos of Saddam Hussein when they drug him out of that hole he was in?

Nothing against Michael, but that is not the best photo I have seen.

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by BREWERDLUX
Who besides me thinks that the picture of Michael Jackson on the home page of Real Beer looks like the photos of Saddam Hussein when they drug him out of that hole he was in?

Nothing against Michael, but that is not the best photo I have seen.

I see what you mean -- they both look(ed) a little bedraggled

[brewmonkey]

I thought I was the only one who thought that. :D

[Steve16823]

The guy drinks beer for a living.. he's bound to look a little rough around the edges. Jackson, I mean, not Saddam. :D

[chazwicke]

The last couple of times I have seen him he looked pretty rugged. I'd be willing to take over his job though.

[DreamWeaver]

Originally posted by Steve16823
The guy drinks beer for a living.. he's bound to look a little rough around the edges. Jackson, I mean, not Saddam.

I agree. But ya gotta admit he does look a little Glen Cambell/Nick Nolte- ish in that pic. I know that I've had picture surprizes when I least expected them. I hate when that happens.

Face it, with a name like Michael Jackson, did you expect a pretty face? :D

[hops99]

I was thinking the same thing, as well.

[davesarman]

I met him a couple years back at a beer dinner hosted at Sherlock's Home in Minnetonka, MN (sadly no longer in business). We all sampled beers from the local brewpubs and he gave his thoughts on all of them. He was quite down to earth and friendly. Didn't say anything bad about any of the beers, although I'm sure some of them he could have. He did a book signing afterwards and I got to chat with him a bit. Yep, a little rough around the edges looking, but with all that travelling and beer drinking (not to mention single malt scotches and other spirits), one could understand why. Very nice fellow tho.

[chazwicke]

I've met him too, on several occasions. Even being invited by him over to his first trip to tour Old Dominion Brewing Company many years back. I have several pictures of him from that visit. I also have several books signed by him including a first addition, from the late 70s, of his first book. It was a Christmas gift from my brothers in 1978. He was shocked to see it at the first tasting where I saw him about 10-12 years ago. A very down to earth guy. Some beer travelers from DC called him one time when they were in the UK and he joined them at his local for some beers. That is accessable! He has appeared at the Brickskeller and Smithsonian tastings for a long time now.

[davesarman]

Can you imagine having a career of getting flown all over the world, drinking the best beers and not having to pay for any of it? Wow, what a dream job. I imagine the travel gets tiresome after a bit, and I suppose sometimes you'd want to just sit and enjoy a few pints while reading a book or doing something else non-beer related without having to write or give a review every single time you have a beer. Still, what a dream job!

[chazwicke]

I hear ya! I've never gotten tired of travel. The only part I do not like is the flights. They can be boring. But if I know good beer is at my destination then that makes it worth it.

[stronk]

And if you're in a British Airways 'plane, you can even get good beer on the flight (sometimes). I had quite an enjoyable can of London Pride last time I flew (although, with the altitude, it gave me a headache. I don't really like drinking on flights).

[studentofbeer]

Originally posted by davesarman
I met him a couple years back at a beer dinner hosted at Sherlock's Home in Minnetonka, MN (sadly no longer in business). We all sampled beers from the local brewpubs and he gave his thoughts on all of them. He was quite down to earth and friendly. Didn't say anything bad about any of the beers, although I'm sure some of them he could have. He did a book signing afterwards and I got to chat with him a bit. Yep, a little rough around the edges looking, but with all that travelling and beer drinking (not to mention single malt scotches and other spirits), one could understand why. Very nice fellow tho.

I was recently reading this article on the website of the Shelton Brothers who import a lot of lambics (http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/rants.asp), and one of the brothers mentioned quite strongly that he really disagrees with the fact that lots of beer writers, including Michael Jackson, won't be critical about less than stellar beer.

If you look at wine writing, it is quite cutting and acerbic sometimes. They say, "This is good, this is bad." But beer people aren't willing to say, "This is bad." I think until we do, the business is not going to be looked at like a serious one, like wine. We'll continue to lose market share to wine and other beverages. I think there needs to be a little bit of snobbism attached to it like there is with wine. Well, hell, naturally that is the role I'm taking. I hope more people will develop that attitude. Even Michael Jackson, I think he is a great writer and I like him a lot, but he seems more and more unwilling to criticize breweries that are changing formulas and dumbing down their beers to get a broader appeal, and I think it is the wrong way to go. In the end, the beer business is going to suffer for it.

I think it's an interesting point. maybe the beer world has to get a little tougher, even if that means poor quality breweries and brewpubs don't survive.

[davesarman]

That is an interesting point. I would surmise it's mostly due to the fact that there has been such a push by all of us "beer advocates" to put it on as high a pedestal as wine is sometimes revered, that to speak poorly of "craft" beer would hurt the overall movement. But in the long run, he's correct. It does no good to prop up a beer that is really not well made. In the case of the dinner I was at, all the brewers of the beers Mr. Jackson was critiquing were in attendance, so I'm sure it was partly to not embarrass someone in front of a room full of people. But in print, by all means, if it looks like a bad beer, smells like a bad beer and tastes like a bad beer, it probably is a bad beer.

[chazwicke]

There was a big shakeout of breweries and brewpubs in the mid-late 90s. Some of it was due to inferior products some was due to competitian for shelf space. While I hate to see breweries fail and macros prevail I am almost as sad to drink just OK beer from a brewpub that could do better. Especially after I have traveled or made an extra effort to get there.

[billy frank]

There is nothing that makes me sadder than planning a big trip and doing all my beer research only to find sub-par breweries and brew pubs.
The shakedown or demise of a lot of breweries was there own undoing, by either making bad beer (infected, off flavored, uninteresting), or trying to cater to the coors light crowds(light bodied beers, when it shouldn't be.
Overall I know that real beer drinkers will stay true to quality product and interesting beers, plus with a network like this people will know where to get good beer. Almost like word of mouth.

Oh crud this was about MJ, yeah he knows his stuff and I envy his job. His reviews mostly seem to point out whether the beers that he is tasting are true to style, and clean tasting.

Thanks for letting me put in my .02
Later,
Billy