Ale To The Chief: White House Releases Beer Recipes

The Freedom of Information Act has finally been used for a worthy cause. Thousands of people signed a “We The People” petition asking the White House to unveil its secret beer recipes and today in a blog post entitled “Ale to the Chief,” the White House did just that.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney promised last month that the white house beer recipes would be released if the petition reached 25,000 signatures. President Obama also promised to release the recipes during an AMA on Reddit.

Obama said:

“(The recipe will) be out soon! I can tell from first hand experience, it is tasty.”

In the “Ale To The Chief” blog post, Sam Kass, the White House Assistant Chef and the Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives, writes:

“Inspired by home brewers from across the country, last year President Obama bought a home brewing kit for the kitchen. After the few first drafts we landed on some great recipes that came from a local brew shop. We received some tips from a couple of home brewers who work in the White House who helped us amend it and make it our own. To be honest, we were surprised that the beer turned out so well since none of us had brewed beer before.”

Kass says that the White House Honey Brown Ale was the first beer ever brewed on White House grounds. Thomas Jefferson made wine at the White House but not beer. George Washington brewed beer but he did it at at Mount Vernon and not at the White House.

Here’s a video about beer brewing from the White House.

And here are the White House beer recipes.