A Presidential History of Beer
The average American voter is said to vote for the candidate they would most likely want to sit down and have a beer with. Whether this little snippet we hear every election cycle is true or not, what is in fact real, is that we have had a handful of Presidents who are also in the annals of beer history. Some brewed beer, some created barley recipes for beer, and some signed landmark legislation that affected the trajectory of America’s favorite beverage. So let’s put politics aside for a second and celebrate the select few leaders of the free world who have a place in beer history.
Last Page from the Colonel Washington’s military notebook with his small beer recipe. Image courtesy New York Public Library Archives.
George Washington - In 1757, when our first President was a colonel in the Virginia Militia, he wrote down a recipe for a “Small Beer” on a page of his military notebook. Small Beer, was a term used for beer that was of light strength and was more commonly drunk for its sanitary & sustenance purposes by men, women, & children. This recipe survives to this day and many homebrewers & one (that we know of) commercial brewery brew this beer today. Here is Washington’s instructions from his notebook:
“To make Small Beer,take a large sifter full of bran hops to your taste. Boil these 3 hours. Then strain out 30 gallons 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 till it is little more than blood warm. Then put a quart of yeast if the weather if 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 till it is almost done working. Bottle it that day, week it was brewed.”
Thomas Jefferson’s plan and elevation for a brewhouse. Image courtesy of Monticello.
Thomas Jefferson - During his presidential years, Jefferson was known as a wine lover, most likely from all that time he spent in France. However, giving credit where credit is due, Martha Jefferson was brewing beer at home for many years (a very common practice in the early United States). When Jefferson left office and began his grand plans for Monticello, it would seem that the brewing bug bit him as he first brewed a batch in the kitchen and later began growing his own hops and barley to malt on site. Jefferson designed and built a brewhouse on the property, however, the exact location is lost to history as it is no longer standing.
James Madison - Our fourth president loved beer, like really loved beer. Madison wanted to create the National Beer Brewery in 1809 and appoint a Secretary of Beer to the cabinet (how cool would that job be!). Needless to say, Congress didn’t approve. Madison also wanted to protect domestic beer by placing tariffs on foreign imports.
Franklin Roosevelt - On March 12, 1933, the United States longest serving president marked the day with, “I think this would be a good time for beer”, as he signed the Beer-Wine Revenue Act which then led to full repeal of prohibition in December 1933 with the adoption of the 21st Amendment.
Jimmy Carter - Our peanut farmer president goes down in beer history with the legalization of homebrewing again in 1979. An oversite with the repeal of Prohibition led to all alcohol being taxed, which effectively put the kibosh on home brew. Thankfully, Carter rectified that and with this legislation, a new era of beer and brewing began to sire in the United States leading to the boom in both home brewing and the now massive craft beer market.
Barack Obama - It took until 2011 until a beer was actually brewed at the White House. Obama purchased a homebrewing kit with his personal funds in conjunction with White House chef Sam Kass. They learned the brewing basics and concocted a Honey Ale and Honey Porter using honey from the White House’s South Lawn apiary (bee hives). In 2012, a petition for the White House to release the recipe was accepted by our 44th President and now the recipe is available to all to recreate.
Honorable Mention - Ronald Reagan: In 1984, on his presidential campaign, the President and Nancy made a four day trip to Ballyporeen, Ireland (Reagan’s ancestral home), in which they visited O’Farrell’s Pub. The O’Farrell family later renamed the entire pub in his honor. In 2004, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation purchased the then closed pub from the O’Farrell’s and boxed it up piece by piece, fixtures and all, to be moved to California where it was reassembled within the library and now serves as a snack bar for visitors and a functioning bar during private events.
The rebuilt Ronald Reagan Pub at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Image courtesy of Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.
The history of beer is forever entwined with the history of the United States all the way to the White House. This list of Presidents of course honors those that made a significant contribution to beer in America, however, many more Presidents shared the love for beer, with some very witty quotes about it coming from some. Abraham Lincoln is famous for saying, “If given the truth, [the people] can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts—and beer.” So on this Presidents day, let's set aside our political differences and sit down to raise a pint to our leaders of the free world who helped advance beer and brewing throughout our nation's history.