You know, I'd heard the news this morning through good friends of his passing, and admittedly I too was wondering a way we could post it on BA. So kudos to ya @Irrenarztfor doing this...
The beer community is overall very small, and as new as it is, being an "old timer" like Tucker he got into the game at the right time. The man never had "the bottom 100", instead at 21 he drove over to Spec's in Dallas and asked the beer guy to sell him a mixer of 12 solid ones that he could develop his taste for- some were a hit, most were a miss, but because the majority were a miss, he started his research and discovered some brewery in Austin that was releasing some beer called Atrial... @jesterkingbeer
@WTKeene (I feel like the tag here is super necessary) is an awesome awesome human. Sure he liked beer, and having drank w him 100+ times, I grew to appreciate our friendship. When I first met him, I had randomly reached out to him through BA asking him if he'd like to team up to search for BCBS which was making its first Texas drop. Without a moment notice, he was willing to help-
Here in Texas, he had a tough crowd at times to deal with. You know who you are, but knowing who you are, you also know that he had very thick skin- I'd often times remind him that his gangly Yankee appearance/arrogance was gonna get his ass kicked, but the guy had faith in beer, and would often respond w a dismissal believing that beer unites, the rest is for the birds. <the scene from The Big Lebowski of Walter dumping Donnie's ashes comes to mind for some reason here>. I **** you not, he rarely rarely hated on folks that hated on him, he just didn't care. That's baller AF.
A long time ago, when Tucker graduated SMU he was gonna be moving to Austin, certainly the beer capital of our state and he was excited about the prospects to drink, and trade. At that time, I thought long about writing a satirical good bye (being shallow minded, I thought his move would be the end of a good run, and our friendship would end) titled "An Oude to Tucker" in this SW Forum- it was a play on words to bust on him for bringing some crappy beer called "Oude Fermier" to our then weekly tasting.
Never thought I'd say this, but the guy was Notorious Legend. Hated by some (for something likely petty), respected by a bunch. My fellow partner in crime @PC_Principalsaid it best about WTK: the man drank more whales before age 25, than most folks do in a lifetime. For Dallas folks reading this, there'll be a Tucker Memorial Share at some point, but tonight, I'm a pour one for our long lost hommie.
