Fred Eckhardt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Fred Eckhardt
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Beer writer Fred Eckhardt enjoying a beer at Houston's annual "Dixie Cup" festival.
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Fred Eckhardt
May 10, 1926 Everett, WA, US
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| Died | August 10, 2015 (aged 89) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Homebrewer and Beer Journalist |
| Known for | Writing about Beer and Sake |
Otto Frederick Eckhardt (born May 10, 1926 – died August 10, 2015) was an American brewer, someone who supported homebrewing, and a writer. Eckhardt is best known as a pioneer in writing about beer. He published many articles and books on the topic. His most important book was The Essentials of Beer Style, published in 1989. When he passed away in 2015, people remembered Eckhardt as "the Dean of American beer writers." This means he was seen as the most respected writer about beer in America.
Contents
Biography
Early Life and Military Service
Otto Fredrick Eckhardt, known as "Fred" to his friends and family, was born William Wright Cudahy on May 10, 1926. He was born in San Francisco, California. A family from Everett, Washington adopted him. He learned he was adopted when he was a teenager. From ages 10 to 15, he lived in a children's home.
At 17, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps. He worked as a radio operator during World War II in Okinawa. He also served in the South Pacific during the Korean War.
Fred first saw homebrewing (making beer at home) when his stepfather made his own beer. This was during the Prohibition years in the United States. During this time, it was illegal to make or sell alcohol. Fred did not like the taste of this homemade beer. He later said that these early homemade beers "earned an honest reputation as abysmal," meaning they tasted terrible. However, this early experience later made him interested in brewing in the late 1960s.
Becoming a Brewer and Writer
Eckhardt started experimenting with brewing beer in 1968. He began changing recipes from a brew shop owner in Vancouver, British Columbia. He worked to make his brewing skills better. He also helped many people who made beer, wine, and sake at home. This included customers and staff at F.H. Steinbart, the oldest homebrew store in the United States.
He wrote hundreds of articles about beer for many places. These included The Seattle Times, The Oregonian, Celebrator, Zymurgy, and All About Beer. He also published his own newsletters. Some of these were Amateur Brewer, Listen to Your Beer, Talk to Your Beer, and Sake Connection.
In 1968, Eckhardt improved a beer recipe from Stanley Anderson. Anderson owned a homebrew shop in Vancouver, Washington. Fred took this recipe to Wine-Art, a homebrew shop in Portland, Oregon. The owner suggested he should write a book about homebrewing.
His 1970 book, A Treatise on Lager Beers: How to Make Good Beer at Home, made him famous. At that time, making beer at home was still against the law because of old rules from after Prohibition. The Blitz-Weinhard brewery first published this book. It included 70 German recipes.
Later, Eckhardt released two more important books. These were The Essentials of Beer Style: A Catalog of Classic Beer Styles for Brewers & Beer Enthusiasts in 1989. And Sake (U.S.A.): A Complete Guide to American Sake, Sake Breweries and Homebrewed Sake in 1992.
He wrote about both beer and sake. He was known as a "beer writer," a "beer historian," and a "beer critic." He became a local celebrity in Portland, Oregon. Eckhardt called Portland "the brewing capital of the world."
Eckhardt was known across the country as a "beer personality" and a "beer guru." His local fame helped him become known more widely. People described him as a "beer mensch," which means a kind and good person who knows a lot about beer.
He was an 82-year-old former Marine and Buddhist. He taught swimming classes to children in Portland, Oregon. His 1989 book, The Essentials of Beer Style, became very important for homebrewers. It also helped judges in homebrew competitions. Ken Wells of The Wall Street Journal described Eckhardt as a "soft-spoken, diminutive, roundish man with blue twinkling eyes and a white mustache and goatee." He compared him to Shakespeare's Puck, but as a beer expert.
Eckhardt saw himself mainly as an educator. He wanted to teach people about brewing.
Beer and Sake Publicist
Eckhardt became well-known for his knowledge of American homebrewed beer. He was a popular speaker and a judge at "The Dixie Cup" in Houston, Texas. This yearly event is a big competition for homebrewers. It helps decide the best homebrewer, team, and club of the year. The Dixie Cup is also a qualifying event for the Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing.
Eckhardt wrote articles about beer, brewing, and other topics for Celebrator Beer News and All About Beer. He was also a National judge in the Beer Judge Certification Program. This program trains and certifies beer judges.
Eckhardt also supported and wrote about American sake. Sake is a Japanese alcoholic drink made from fermented rice. He used his experience from beer competitions to create rules for sake tasting competitions. He published a sake newsletter several times a year. He also wrote Sake (U.S.A.): A Complete Guide to American Sake, Sake Breweries and Homebrewed Sake.
Even though more people around the world are drinking sake, and its quality is improving, sake production in Japan has been going down since the 1970s. The increase in American sake production is partly because rice is cheaper in the U.S. Eckhardt believed his book, which explains how to homebrew sake, could help bring back sake consumption in Japan. He was hopeful because micro-breweries in Oregon grew a lot after the state law against them was removed in 1985.
Death and Legacy
Fred Eckhardt passed away on August 10, 2015. He died from heart failure at his home in Portland, Oregon. His partner of 62 years, James Itsuo (Jimmy) Takita, had died three months earlier. Jimmy was a retired science librarian.
Eckhardt carefully collected his papers. These include 30 boxes of articles, drafts, photos, and letters. They are kept at the Special Collections and Archives Research Center at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. They are part of the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives (OHBA). The collection also has printed copies of all his email messages. His papers also include many issues of important homebrewing magazines. These are Celebrator Beer News, All About Beer, and Zymurgy.
Works
- A Treatise on Lager Beers: How to Make Good Beer at Home. Portland, OR: Fred Eckhardt Communications, 1970; reissued 1983.
- The Essentials of Beer Style: A Catalog of Classic Beer Styles for Brewers & Beer Enthusiasts. Portland, OR: Fred Eckhardt Communications, 1989.
- Sake (U.S.A.): A Complete Guide to American Sake, Sake Breweries and Homebrewed Sake. Portland, OR: Fred Eckhardt Communications, 1992.
See also
In Spanish: Fred Eckhardt para niños
