Now immediately I said George Washington. But the question is a bit of a trick question. I'll go into the answer in a little bit. First I'll talk about presidential Brewers.
George Washington was indeed a brewer. A 1757 journal of George Washington's was found with a recipe "To Make Small Beer." The journal is owned by the New York Public Library and they talk about it in the post entitled To Make Small Beer. Here is the recipe as listed in Washington's journal:
Take a large Sifter full of Bran Hops to your Taste -- Boil these 3 hours. Then strain out 30 Gall. into a Cooler put in 3 Gallons Molasses while the Beer is scalding hot or rather drain the molasses into the Cooler. Strain the Beer on it while boiling hot let this stand til it is little more than Blood warm. Then put in a quart of Yeast if the weather is very cold cover it over with a Blanket. Let it work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask. leave the Bung open til it is almost done working -- Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed.The Yards Brewing Company, which is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, created their line of beers created by the Founding Fathers. This set of beers called the Ales of the Revolution Variety includes George Washington's Porter (which is based on the recipe above), Thomas Jefferson's Golden Ale, and Poor Richard's Spruce Ale (Benjamin Franklin.)
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| (Photo courtesy Yards Brewing Co.) |
Yards Brewing wasn't the only brewery to make a beer based on the Washington recipe. In 2016 Blue Point Brewery which is located in Patchogue, New York made their Colonial Ale and served it during the 2016 Presidential Debate. in 2011 Coney Island Brewery made their Fortitude's Founding Father Brew in celebration of the 100th birthday of the New York Public Library's landmark Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street.
Not only was Washington a brewer but he was also a distiller. According to the Mount Vernon George Washington's Distillery website: In 1799, George Washington's distillery produced nearly 11,000 gallons, making it one of the largest whiskey distilleries in America at the time.
So the Father of the United States had his hands in both booze and whiskey. But here comes the trick in the question. While George Washington was a brewer, he wasn't the first POTUS to brew beer in the White House. Why? Well, the White House opened on November 1, 1800 and by that point, President George Washington had passed away almost a year earlier on December 14, 1799. John Adams was the first President to reside in the building that in 1901 would officially be called the White House. The first President to brew beer in the White House was number 44, Barack Obama.
In 2011 Barack Obama wanted to brew his own beer and paid for out of his own pocket for a home brewing kit and all the ingredients. He consulted with the White House kitchen staff and received a recipe from a local brewmaster for what would become the White House Honey Ale. Why a Honey Ale? The White House had bees that were being cultivated and what better way to use the honey than to include it in a beer. Here is a video entitled Inside the White House: Beer Brewing which details the making of the beer in the White House.
After a Freedom of Information Act request was made in 2012, the recipe for all the White House beers were made public. So here are the recipes for the White House Honey Ale and the White House Honey Porter:
But the Presidential link to beer doesn't end here. Many a POTUS drank beer in the White House. But there are little special nods to particular Presidents when it comes to beer.
As listed above, President Thomas Jefferson had an affinity for beer. In 2011, Starr Hill Brewery introduced the Monticello Reserve Ale which was an unfiltered American wheat-style beer made with wheat and corn which was sold at the Visitor's Center at Monticello.
President James Madison wanted to form a national brewery in 1809 and even wanted to appoint a Secretary of Beer before Congress put the kibosh on the idea. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was a known lawbreaker of the Volstead Act aka Prohibition, brought back beer of no more than 3.2 percent alcohol to the American public with signing of the Beer and Wine Revenue Act on March 22, 1933.
The president that Barack Obama owes a debt of gratitude for being able to homebrew beer is President Jimmy Carter. Since Prohibition, it was virtually illegal for Americans to make beer at home. President Carter signed H.R.1337 — 95th Congress (1977-1978) in 1978, going to effect on February 1, 1979. The text specified:
Allows any adult (formerly only heads of families) to produce wine and beer for personal and family use and not for sale without incurring the wine or beer excise taxes or any penalties for quantities per calendar year of: (1) 200 gallons if there are two or more adults in the household and (2) 100 gallons if there is only one adult in the household.With that, homebrewing was now legal in the U.S. For more on this, I recommend you check out the post Jimmy Carter: American homebrew hero? by John Harry from the Museum of American History website dated September 30, 2019.
Well, that's it for Presidential Brewers. I look forward to getting my hands on some of the Yards Brewing Ales of the Revolution Variety brews once things normalize post COVID-19. Any of you have any of those brews? Any of you made your own versions of the White House homebrews? Let me know in the comment sections.
Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,
SiscoVanilla
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