Today is the 77th birthday of Charlie Papazian, one of the most influential persons in modern brewing. Charlie founded the AHA, the AOB and the IBS back in 1978 (which today is the Brewers Association) and organized the first Great American Beer Festival. His book, the Complete Joy of Homebrewing was one of the seminal works on the subject, and is now in its fourth edition. More recently, Charlie retired on his 70th birthday. Join me in wishing Charlie a very happy birthday.
Three cheers for Charlie! Happy Birthday to the guy who taught me how to brew and most importantly:
Relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew!
Happy Birthday Charlie!
Now that you are a new daddy you will age no more!
(p.s. That is Tom Hail and John Legnard of SandLot Brewery manhandling the man!)
Happy Birthday and many more.
I started homebrewing in 1971, but it was really Charlie’s writing that set me on a much more productive and much, much tastier path a few years after that.
The man’s an original! (And the fact that he’s also originally a fellow New Jerseyan doesn’t hurt either)
I too learned by reading Charlie’s book. I went from brewing in a 5 gallon bucket in my basement to actually getting paid to brew in a small brewpub. Happy birthday Charlie! If you are ever in Rapid City, SD relax, have a craft brew on us.
Nice tribute to a man who’s was a ground-breaker in the craft beer movement. He stands with Fritz Maytag, Michael Jackson, Jack McAuliffe and Ken Grossman as one of the true pioneers, everyone interested in good beer today in whatever capacity stands on their shoulders. Charlie’s memoir volume should also be mentioned, the name escapes me for a moment but it was a rollicking and still informative read. At only 65, he has years more to give.
Gary