Porter, Ale, and Presidential Booze

As you may have heard recently, President Obama has opened up a brewery in the White House. Passing out bottles of "White House Honey Ale" along the campaign trail (made with honey from Michelle's own garden beehive!) is a big change in policy from the teetotaling George W. Bush days, and will likely be publicly frowned upon by opponent Mitt Romney and other politicians who (as far as we know) abstain from drinking. Regardless, it restarts a trend begun by the founder of our nation himself: George Washington.

The History

November 25, 1783: It is Evacuation Day--the very last British troops have departed from Manhattan, and the United States of America is finally an unoccupied nation. General Washington stops at the Bull's Head Tavern (located in what will become known as the Bowery) for a drink--a draught of ale. That drink, which was famously used to toast the end of the war, also represented a serious problem fledgling America would have to solve in order to survive--economic autonomy.

At the time, the US had not grown accustomed to supplying its own goods. While anger at the taxes charged for Great Britain's wares was a primary cause for the war in the first place, a substitute had not yet been found to provide for the new nation as a whole. Add to this a restriction not only on exports to Britain, but trade with its sugar colonies in the Caribbean, and the new sovereign government was immediately faced with its first significant economic crisis.

Washington, who had always been a fan of beer (he even brewed his own, and a 1757 porter recipe from a journal can be found in the collection of the New York Public Library), began catering to local brewers in the years leading up to his inauguration, becoming a frequent customer of Robert Hare, a Philadelphia porter maker believed to be America's first. In a January 29, 1789 letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, Washington noted that "We have already been too long subject to British prejudices. I use no porter or cheese in my family, but such as is made in America; both these articles may now be purchased of an excellent quality." Of the two, it appears the future president aimed to make his brew of choice the mascot product for the nation's first official "buy American" policy. Martha Washington, journeying to meet her husband in Wall Street's Federal Hall a few months later, catered to this new trend while entertaining guests in Philadelphia. In addition to Portuguese Madeira, French champagne and claret, and a single bottle of Taunton Ale (perhaps one die-hard Tory VIP was in attendance?), there were 10 bottles of American porter and two bottles of crab apple cider; along with a local favorite, Fish House Punch.
By this time, every ratification ceremony and Independence Day celebration was marked with American porter. Slogans such as "Home brew'd is best" and "Ale, proper drink for Americans" decorated the festivities. Washington continued to cater to Hare's business after assuming the presidency, and his personal secretary arranged for shipments to be sent to Mount Vernon in 1790, calling it "the best Porter in Philadelphia."

Many other presidents continued bringing liquor of various sorts to the White House--from wine in Jefferson's day to FDR's martini fixin's to Bill Clinton's Grey Goose Vodka. (Jefferson also tried his hand at brewing--but not until after leaving office and returning to Monticello.) But the most fascinating thing about Obama's venture, apparently begun at the start of this year, is that the ale is made inside the White House itself--using a homebrewing kit purchased with the president's own funds. This means Obama has created the first presidential brewery.
Will it last? If Romney is elected in November, probably not. But the move, and Obama's eagerness to make deals, gather campaign cash, and watch Super Bowls over his own drink may once again place America's now celebrated microbreweries in the spotlight--a shining beacon of entrepreneurial success among yet another significant economic crisis.

Primary Sources: www.beerhistory.com, www.ushistory.org, Reuters, and Wikipedia.