A national toast was held last night across the world (particularly, the US and the UK). The toast was made in honor of the well-respected and highly influential author of things beer (and occasionally of things whiskey, too), Michael Jackson, the Beer Hunter.

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.