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Morten
Christian Meilgaard
November. 11th, 1928 - April 11th, 2009
Morten tilling boat in Australia, 1962
"I can still recall" he said to
me recently, "How you came downstairs and crawled into bed and
curled up with me. I was emotionally shaken by the lack of shyness
by this young boy I barely knew. You won my heart that day."
It was Barking, England, 1957. Morten had just started dating Manon
and was feeling some trepidation that she had this little boy.
Morten Christian Meilgaard was born
on Fyn, Denmark in 1928. His younger siblings, Ida,
Jørgen and Erik, followed in short succession. As their
father, Anton Meilgaard, was a country doctor, they were
brought up in a rural milieu in Morud. Their school was a
considerable distance away, and during some winters, they
would ski to pursue their education.
Morten caught the travel bug early, taking a road trip with his
friends Finn and Torben, pulling a creaky four-wheeled cart around
Jutland in 1944, during the German occupation of Denmark. |
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After WWII, Morten pursued of
a degree as a chemical engineer and became a
research chemist specializing in yeasts for Alfred
Jørgensens Laboratorium in Copenhagen. This dovetailed nicely
with his love of travel, and his job took him all over the
World. He was the "Johnny Appleseed" of establishing good flavors
for beer throughout the World, including Japan, South Africa and
the Americas with the archive of yeasts from the laboratory, |
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Morten's contribution to the field of sensory science cannot be underestimated; it was truly extensive. Amongst his
many
contributions, He is the major contributor to the flavor wheel,
a Rosetta Stone of sensory evaluation science.
Morten's publication, "Sensory Evaluation Techniques" is the
educational standard in this field of science. He was quite
possibly the foremost expert in his field.
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 During his work and travels in
England, he met Manon Meadows. They fell in love and remained
married for almost fifty years, until her death in 2008.
Justin Meilgaard, Morten's and Manon's son, was born in England,
1966.
In 1967, the entire family, including Manon's mother, Doris Meadows
moved from Denmark to Monterrey Mexico where Morten worked for the
Cuauhtemoc Brewery from 1967 to 1973.
In 1973, Morten was hired by
Peter Stroh of the Stroh Brewery, Detroit, where he worked as
Peter's right hand man until the Brewery was acquired by the Miller
Brewing company in 1999, at which point Morten retired.
Even after retirement, he
continued to be active in his profession for many years, doing
consulting jobs for the Danish Government, working with his
co-editors on a revised edition of his book, and donating his
extensive collection of brewing literature to Wayne State
University.
In 2008 Morten returned to
Denmark & Sweden to visit family and revisit the important sites of
his childhood and early adulthood.
Morten is survived by His younger
brothers and sister, Jørgen, Erik, Ida and his sons, Justin
Meilgaard and myself.
* Jørgen, Erik and Ida have since passed away. (Updated 06/20/2021)
Sincerely,
Stephen Goodfellow
The purpose of life
is a life of purpose.
~Robert Byrne |