Fred Eckhardt
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
brewer
Brewer
Brewer may refer to:*Brewer, someone who makes beer by brewing*Brewer , a disambiguation page that lists people with the surname Brewer*Brewer, Maine, a city in southern Penobscot County, Maine, United States, near the city of Bangor...
, homebrewing
Homebrewing
Homebrewing is the brewing of beer, wine, sake, mead, cider, perry and other beverages through fermentation on a small scale as a hobby for personal consumption, free distribution at social gatherings, amateur brewing competitions or other non-commercial reasons...
advocate and publicist. He writes about brewed beverages—beer and sake, and wrote the 1989 book, The Essentials of Beer Style. He is identified as a "beer writer," a "beer historian," and as a "beer critic." He's a local celebrity in Portland, Oregon, which Eckhardt describes as "the brewing capital of the world."
Beer personality
He is nationally known as a "beer personality" and as a "beer guru." His success as a local character is the foundation for fame on a wider stage. A typical niche profile describes him as a "beer mensch:"- "Fred is [an eighty-two] year old former Marine Buddhist who teaches swimming classes to children back in his native Portland, Oregon. . . . He wrote a book on how to homebrew lagers in 1969, ten years before homebrewing was relegalized. His 1989 book, The Essentials of Beer Style, has become a kind of Rosetta Stone for homebrewers and those who judge homebrew competitions. "Eckhardt (as mentioned by Ken Wells of The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
) is a soft-spoken, diminutive, roundish man with blue twinkling eyes and a white mustache and goatee. Imagine Shakespeare's Puck reborn as a beer mensch."
Eckhardt considers himself as an educator.
Beer publicist
Eckhardt has developed a national reputation as someone knowledgeable about American homebrewed beer. He is a featured lecturer and competition judge at "The Dixie Cup" in Houston, Texas. This annual event is the final competition in the series that determines- the Lone Star Circuit Homebrewer of the Year
- the Lone Star Circuit Homebrew Team of the Year
- the Lone Star Circuit Homebrew Club of the Year.
The Dixie Cup is one of the Qualifying Events for the Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing.
Eckhardt writes articles on beer, brewing, and other miscellany in Celebrator Beer News and in All About Beer.
Fred is a National judge in the Beer Judge Certification Program
Beer Judge Certification Program
The Beer Judge Certification Program or BJCP is a non-profit organization formed in 1985 "to promote beer literacy and the appreciation of real beer, and to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills." It has been described in the press as a "hands-on ... study program designed to teach aspiring...
.
Sake publicist
Eckhardt is an evolving advocate and publicist for American sake. Drawing on his experience in beer competitions, he created a set of guidelines for sake tasting competitions. He publishes a sake newsletter several times each year; and he authored Sake (U.S.A.): A Complete Guide to American Sake, Sake Breweries and Homebrewed Sake. While the rest of the world may be drinking more sake and the quality of sake has been increasing, sake production has been declining in Japan since the mid 1970s. The increase in American production for domestic consumption and export has been, in part, affected by the lower cost of rice compared with Japan; but other more difficult-to-analyze factors are important.At present, sake brewing at home is not allowed under Japanese law. Eckhardt foresees that his book, which spells out how to brew sake at home, might reinvigorate sake consumption in Japan. His optimism is informed in part by the unanticipated expansion of micro-breweries in Oregon since the state law prohibiting them was repealed in 1985.
Selected works
- 1993 -- Sake (U.S.A.): A Complete Guide to American Sake, Sake Breweries and Homebrewed Sake, Portland, Oregon: Fred Eckhardt Communications. 10-ISBN 0-960-63028-7; 13-ISBN 978-0-960-63028-8
- 1989 -- The Essentials of Beer Style: A Catalog of Classic Beer Styles for Brewers & Beer Enthusiasts. Portland: Eckhardt Communications. 10-ISBN 0-960-63027-9; 13-ISBN 978-0-960-63027-1
- 1983 -- A Treatise on Lager Beers: How to Make Good Beer at Home. Portland: Fred Eckhardt Communications. 10-ISBN 0-960-63023-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-960-63023-3