As a rule, I don’t like surprises.
I am referring here to things like surprise parties or any sort of public celebration that catches one unawares. I also tend to cringe at practical jokes that are sprung on people and therefore loathe April Fool’s Day each year.
But I do delight when something positive surprises me when I was looking mainly for general information on a topic. That’s what happened as I was researching for this week’s beer column, which despite the happy unexpected nugget I found, is still mainly about the Michael James Jackson Foundation.
This foundation is a grant-making organization that funds scholarship awards to Black and indigenous folks and people of color within the brewing and distilling trades. It kicked off in November of last year and is chaired by the great Garrett Oliver, founder of Brooklyn Brewery.
But more on the foundation below. What I discovered while researching the topic was that Massachusetts’ own Tree House Brewing recently donated $40,000 to the foundation. It always puts a smile on my face when local beer makers (and since they started off in Western Massachusetts, I still consider them local) do a selfless good turn for others. Kudos to Tree House for their generosity and support of a great cause.
The foundation is named, of course, after the dean of all beer writers, the late, great Michael Jackson. With more than 3 million copies sold of his numerous books on beer and whiskey, he is regarded as not only the preeminent beer scribe, but also a prime force in the surge of craft brewing in the U.S. and elsewhere. Long before humble beer scribblers like myself took to writing about our favorite adult beverage, Jackson had been to beer writing akin to what J.S. Bach was to classical music: He already had done almost everything, one way or another.
And, as the Michael James Jackson Foundation puts it on its website: “While not a person of color himself, Michael can only be described as actively and profoundly anti-racist.”
The foundation hopes to accomplish its goals in two ways: funding scholarship awards to accredited brewing & distilling technical courses, and personalized mentorship of grantees by industry leaders. The program is open both to candidates who are just starting their careers, as well as people who are looking to further their education.
I am extremely glad that the brewing industry has one more tool for expanding its base to include people of color. The foundation should further help the similar goals of the Brewer Association’s Diversity Committee, which started in 2017 and which has taken proactive steps to advance diversity and inclusivity among brewers and beer lovers.
Cheers to all.
March 01, 2021 at 01:02AM
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Beer Nut: Tree House Brewing aids new brew foundation - MassLive.com
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