It arrived in excellent condition (I bought it used from a seller on Amazon.com since it is hard to find new copies – the book is either out of print or unavailable to book-sellers in the US).

The book is a decent read so far. It has lots of details on the history of Belgium, the history of Belgium’s many unique beer styles, and a great many stories about numerous breweries in Belgium. There are also pictures and tasting notes of many of Belgium’s most acclaimed beers. In fact, the inside covers are covered with pictures of Belgian brews:

Overall, it is a very fine addition to my library. In addition to being a good read (Michael Jackson was, after all, a very good writer), it is also a gorgeous book. For instance, at the beginning and end of each chapter is a huge two-page color picture of something beautiful (always either beer or food).

The history on Lambic and Oud Bruin have been the most interesting so far, but I haven’t even gotten to the chapters on my personal favorites: Abbey and Trappist beers (the latter pictured above).

The only complaint I have is that the book contains a great many typographical errors. In some places it is punctuation, others slightly off formatting, and still others misspelled words. Many of the punctuation and spelling errors appear to be the cause of bad OCR software (optical character recognition). Perhaps the whole manuscript was scanned in from another source prior to this edition being released… Aside from these issues (which are in fact devilishly distracting), the book is laid out well, and the formatting and text is all easy on the eyes.

For any fans of Michael Jackson’s writing, I highly recommend this book. It goes into much greater detail and depth than does The New World Guide To Beer, so if you enjoyed that book and are wanting to learn more about Belgium and her beers, this is the book for you.

I had to empty out roughly two gallons of the Farmhouse Ale in order to make room for the new batch. So I have lots of bottles of that. They should keep pretty well, so I’ll make sure that at least one or two bottles survive until 2009.

I ordered a copy of Michael Jackson’s Great Beers of Belgium, and it should arrive this week (likely by Wednesday). I’m pretty stoked. It is out of print, but I found a vendor on Amazon selling a hardback copy of the latest revision (5^th edition, from 2005). I’ll likely post some comments on the book after I’ve had time to peruse it. I have no doubt it will be excellent.

After reading some of the things said last night and this morning on other beer blogs, I came across a link to a fantastic article about Mr. Jackson. It was written by Alastair Hook, the head brewer at Meantime Brewing in England. In it, he recounts his memories of Michael Jackson, having met him on more than one occasion. Here is the link to that article. I encourage you to read it.

Another interesting read discusses the etymology of the name Belgium and its interesting relation to Michael Jackson. Read more here.

I own one of his books: The New World Guide To Beer. The original edition of this book, from the 70s, was the first formal categorization of the world’s beers into what we recognize today as beer styles. In addition to writing numerous books, Michael Jackson also wrote for All About Beer Magazine for 23 years. Their website currently has both his very first and very last article available for reading. You can get a sense for his style and see that he was a great writer, in addition to being an iconic figure in the world of craft beer.

Without him we may not have had the craft brew movement in America that has led to such a fantastic variety of great beer here. Also, we may not be enjoying the wonderful array of imported Belgian beers that are now commonly available in many restaurants and beverage stores.

In his last interview, it is evident that Michael Jackson was ill. He had been suffering from Parkinson Disease for over 10 years, and it had taken a toll. But he seemed in good spirits and certainly did not appear close to his deathbed. The video seems very sombre, particularly in retrospect now that he has died. Despite his battle with Parkinson Disease, it was a heart attack that ultimately took his life. You can read more about Michael Jackson from these articles, published after his death: Associated Press and Seattle Weekly.

Last night, I saw something on the web that reminded me of the tragic news: a national toast in honor of the man known as the Beer Hunter. The toast is two weeks from Sunday, and one aspect of the toast is to raise money for the National Parkinson Foundation.

I have been disappointed thus far in my failed attempts to find a place in Atlanta that is participating in the national toast. I have called and left a message for the operators of The Brickstore Pub in Decatur, hoping that they will show some interest and perhaps spread the word. I’ll also give a call to the Five Seasons brewpub in Sandy Springs. I will keep looking and doing what I can to bring this toast to Atlanta, even though I may not actually be able to attend (9pm on a Sunday up in the city won’t be the easiest thing to make happen). And I will send a check to the National Parkinson Foundation.

I had never before understood how some people get so emotional when a celebrity dies. For instance, that so many people who never even met Princess Diana wept at her death struck me as surreal. Though I did not weep when I heard about Michael Jackon’s passing, I did feel a sincere sense of loss and sadness – especially after taking time to read more about this great man. I still don’t completely understand how a person could be so grief-stricken by the loss of someone they never knew, but I can empathize a little better now.

Here’s to the Beer Hunter. May he dine and drink well in his afterlife, and may his life and death continue to conjure passion in – and inspiration for – the great brewers of this world.