Jeff Gish
Earlier this year, the Nashville craft beer community was saddened by the passing of Jeff Gish, a mainstay at festivals and tastings around town and an all-around great guy. I met him only a few times but was always impressed by his passion for and knowledge about beer and the optimistic way that he faced his many treatments for cancer.
A group of Jeff’s friends have come together to inventory his extensive collection of craft beers, with hundreds of bottles in the core holdings. Gish was always one of the leaders of any beer share at a festival, opening up his rare bottles and pouring a taste for anyone who asked, whether they (or I) had anything comparable to reciprocate with. It was his desire to continue to share some of his most beloved bottles at future festivals, so his friends will make sure that happens.
But there are still plenty more collectible beers that he wanted to see distributed and enjoyed, not just at festival events. So his friends have separated 200 bottles into lots for a blind online auction with the proceeds benefiting Gish’s family. They have titled the auction the “Gish Magic Fridge,” a reference to the fact that at beer tastings in his home, Gish seemed to always be able to come up with a bottle from just about any brewery that anyone asked about. The organizers have set it up online at 32Auctions.com. Here’s how they describe the way that they have determined what is in each blind box:
“We have separated the beer into 20 blind boxes. Each box will contain 4 large format bottles, as well as a six-pack of smaller format bottles. We endeavored to make the boxes as equal as possible, ranking the bottles by Beer Advocate ratings. All of the boxes average around 90 on their Beer Advocate rating of the combined 10 bottles. Each box on the auction site lists a few of the breweries represented in the box. In addition, each box in the auction contains either a KBS or Bourbon County bottle, as well as a variety of other cans and bottles.”
Some of the notable beers represented in the lots include New Glarus, Wicked Weed, Bells, Brooklyn, Yazoo ETF, Des Chutes, Dieu Du Ciel, Stone, Cigar City and many others. The auctions will run until this Wednesday, Nov. 30, and at the time of this writing, the bidding amounts are still quite reasonable. Since this is a casual auction among friends, the logistics and pickup details are still up in the air, but when it is over, there will be at least some event where winners can collect their lots. Although they don’t intend to ship any of the beers, the organizers will be flexible about pickups in Nashville and Franklin.
Whether you’re a serious collector of beer or not, this auction would be a great way to start one or just acquire some excellent bottles to drink at your leisure. Plus the proceeds go to support Gish’s family and honor his memory, so head over to the auction site and take a look. Cheers!
