[hopfenundmalz]

Sad, but Fred was full of life, and was a pleasure to have a conversation with.
http://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/r-i-p-fred-eckhardt-1926-2015/

[majorvices]

I never had the pleasure of meeting him but I read his stuff for years and thought he was a great beer writer! He will be missed.

[S. cerevisiae]

One of the true pioneers!

[Stevie]

Wow. Too sad. He had the best mustache in beer.

[cascadesrunner]

That is some sad news.  I caught Fred here in Salem a few years back and it was an absolutely fantastic evening.  The topics were far ranging, entertaining and of course in Fred's storytelling style.  Need to lift a Fred-Lite for him.

[HoosierBrew]

Sad to hear. He was definitely a trailblazer. Great writer.

[toby]

Met Fred in 1995 at Dixie Cup.  The beer world has lost a great one.  Cheers!

[Pinski]

Was a somber day in P-town.

[jimbrewer]

It was my great pleasure to know Fred.

In 1987 he was one of the original judges for the GABF blind tasting. He continued to contribute as a judge for, I expect, 15 years or more

We were part of a small group that toured Cincinnati breweries prior to the 1989 AHA Conference. At a little restaurant for lunch we were seated by a painting of a World War I German officer that looked like he must have been Fred's grandfather. I have a picture of Fred with the painting somewhere.

Fred was a regular speaker at the AHA conference starting in 1982 and continuing into the late 1990's, My notes from his 1982 talk include a time versus temperature graph for step mashing. He received the AHA Governing Committee Recognition Award in 1988.

In addition to beer I learned two important bits of advice from Fred "never let the facts get in the way of a good story" and it is time to call it a night when you have been to pee a second time.

Jim Homer
Boulder, Colorado

[Steve Ruch]

Fred will definitely be sorely missed.