The Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling funds technical education and career advancement for black, indigenous, and people of color in the brewing and distilling industries. We are thrilled to offer this beer to support the MJJF and its cause.

Michael Jackson lived to see the first waves of craft beer’s ascent in the US. To seek inspiration for this beer, we went back to his writings on IPA, to the words and descriptions he used to convey the taste of the American craft IPAs that he encountered in the 1990s: “long oily hop flavors,” “a lemony, stony, appetizingly dry finish,” “a fresh leafy bouquet with suggestions of lemon pith,” “an oily palate with suggestions of orange peach sorbet and a rush of intense woody minty cedar bitterness in the finish,” “an intense finish dry as a martini.” Could we reimagine an IPA in the spirit of those beers with modern tools and brewing sensibilities?

The IPAs of the late ’90s were lower gravity and emphasized citrus and pine. The mindset towards hopping was more heterodox, and heavy dry hops and BU wars were ten years in the future. We pulled from a range of classic and modern American hops to create something close to this: a heavy handed approach to kettle hopping and a lighter dry hop; hops that have some floral, European attributes; and a pale, dry, and slender body. The result is a beer that drinks a bit like a classic West Coast Pilsner, if such a thing had actually existed.

Enjoy this beer, support a cause that insures a strong future for our industry, and raise a toast to the Beer Hunter himself.