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Beer Birthday: Michael Lewis

Jay Brooks


Today is 87th birthday of Dr. Michael Lewis, who ran the brewing sciences department at U.C. Davis beginning in 1962, and became the Professor Emeritus in 1995, when Charlie Bamforth succeeded him, although Dr. Lewis remains active in teaching and in brewing. He was my instructor, along with Charlie, when I took the brewing short course at Davis over a decade. He’s taught countless working brewers over the years and has greatly influenced the industry as a whole. Join me in wishing Dr. Lewis a very happy birthday.

Michael receiving an award for a lifetime of achievement at the 2008 CBC in San Diego.


Michael with Ruhstaller founder J.D. Paino at Sudwerk (photo from the Davis Enterprise).


Michael (at far left) with the gang at Sudwerk Privatbrauerei in Davis (photo from the Davis Enterprise).

Michael J. Lewis, front row, right, and his brewing lab class in Sonoma, in the mid-1970s, with Jack McAuliffe, left, at his New Albion Brewing Co., the first microbrewery in the United States. Photo taken by UC Davis student Doug Muhleman, who would earn a bachelor’s degree in 1977 and a master’s in 1979 and go on to become vice president of brewing operations and technology for Anheuser-Busch.
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