Michael James Jackson (27 March 1942 – 30 August 2007) was an English writer and journalist.

[4] He is credited with helping to start a renaissance of interest in beer and breweries worldwide in the 1970s, particularly in the United States.

[8] He went to King James's Grammar School, Almondbury, and became a journalist, particularly being associated with Edinburgh, where he first encountered whisky.

[9] The modern theory of beer style is largely derived from this book, in which Jackson categorised a variety of beers from around the world in local style groups suggested by local customs and names.

Episodes featured beer barrels being lined with pitch, and iron foundry workers drinking "light" beer while they worked in hot conditions to quench thirst, practices which he knew were likely to be ended soon.

He was appointed to an honorary officer of the Ridderschap van de Roerstok in 1997 for his important contribution to the international success of the Belgian beers.

[13] Jackson disclosed in December 2006 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease over a decade earlier.