The President of the United States likes his beer — so much so that he’s instituted the first-ever home brewery at the White House. Drawing on the first ever presidential beehive on the South Lawn for its fresh, signature flavor, Obama’s kitchen staff last year started serving up a golden honey ale and a dark honey porter.
The honey gives the beer a rich flavor, but doesn’t sweeten it, according to the master brewer.
The president began making the first alcohol ever brewed on White House grounds in 2011 after buying a home brewing kit. Obama — who famously hosted a White House beer summit in 2009 to help diffuse racial tensions between Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and a Cambridge, Mass. police officer who arrested him — first served his homemade beer, a honey ale, to guests at their Super Bowl party in March 2011.
“To be honest, we were surprised that the beer turned out so well since none of us had brewed beer before,” White House Chef Sam Kass said in a blog post. “As far as we know the White House Honey Brown Ale is the first alcohol brewed or distilled on the White House grounds. George Washington brewed beer and distilled whiskey at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson made wine but there’s no evidence that any beer has been brewed in the White House.”
A behind-the-scenes video released by the White House Saturday shows the kitchen staff brewing and bottling the beer.
The White House kitchen staff has since released the recipes for the two brews so Americans everywhere can drink as the president would.
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