Fred Eckhardt

Otto Fredrick "Fred" Eckhardt (May 10, 1926 – August 10, 2015) was an American brewer, homebrewing advocate, and writer. Eckhardt is best remembered as a pioneer in the field of beer journalism, publishing a series of articles and books on the topic, including the seminal 1989 tome, The Essentials of Beer Style. At the time of his death in 2015, Eckhardt was memorialized as "the Dean of American beer writers."

Otto Fredrick Eckhardt, known to family and friends as "Fred," was born May 10, 1926. He grew up in the town of Everett, Washington.

Eckhardt was first exposed to the homebrewing of beer by his father, who produced his own low quality beverage during the years of Prohibition in the United States. Eckhardt never developed a taste for his father's brew, however, recalling many decades later that it and the other home-made beers of the Great Depression years "earned an honest reputation as abysmal." Nevertheless, this aspect of his early life would later prove to be formative when he himself became interested in the brewing art in the late 1960s.

Eckhardt experimented with beer brewing starting in 1968, when he began modifying the recipe of a Vancouver, British Columbia brew shop owner and refining his technique. Eckhardt's positive interaction with a Portland, Oregon brew shop owner on the topic of homebrewing lead Eckhardt to the publication of his first beer book in 1969, A Treatise on Lager Beers.

He wrote 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 was a local celebrity in Portland, Oregon, which Eckhardt described as "the brewing capital of the world."

Eckhardt was nationally known as a "beer personality" and as a "beer guru." His success as a local character was the foundation for fame on a wider stage. A typical niche profile describes him as a "beer mensch:"

Eckhardt considered himself as an educator.

Eckhardt developed a national reputation as someone knowledgeable about American homebrewed beer. He was 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

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