British Guild of Beer Writers pays tribute to co-founder

By Georgina Townshend

- Last updated on GMT

Paying tribute: beer writers Pete Brown (left) with Roger Protz
Paying tribute: beer writers Pete Brown (left) with Roger Protz

Related tags Michael jackson

At the traditional summer party of the British Guild of Beer Writers, members paid tribute to its co-founder Michael Jackson, who died 10 years ago.

Held aboard Stonegate's "pub on the Thames", the Tattershall Castle, the party and tribute attracted some 130 guests. Among them was guild members from the UK and abroad, brewers, MPs and others within the beer industry.

Leading the tributes was beer writer Roger Protz, who said Jackson had "done more than any other writer to put beer on the map and to bring it to the attention of a wider audience".

Other anecdotes and tributes came from licensee Mark Dorber, beer writer Matt Curtis, Belgian broadcaster and writer Ben Vinken and Fuller’s PR manager Georgina Wald.

Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery and Rose Blancquaert of Liefmans Brewery both delivered their homage via a short film and, to end the event, author and columnist Pete Brown read aloud Jackson's last piece of writing from 2007.

Sharing memories

"It was wonderful to gather together so many people who cared about Michael and share our memories of him to mark the 10th​ anniversary of his death," continued Protz.

"What shone through all the tributes was Michael’s eloquence – in speech and on the page – his humanity and his sense of humour. I, like so many in the room, feel privileged to have known him.” 

Guild chairman Tim Hampson added: "Holding the Michael Jackson tribute added a different dimension to this year’s event, reminding us all of the extraordinary power that great writing can wield in raising awareness.

"He would, I know, be enormously proud of the guild’s success, just as we are proud to be carrying on his legacy of bringing beer to a wider public.”

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