The Fourth of July is celebrated across the United States in honor of the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress. Since the first rager that marked our severing ties with the British Empire, drinking has always been separate from the festivities. Today, that day is most often celebrated with a barbecue in the yard, fireworks and, of course, beer. We have a long history of beer lovers in our highest government offices, and those original founding fathers would be proud of how far we’ve come.
George Washington
Lion Bridge Brewing Co. | Compensation
Our first president wrote a recipe for “little beer” on the back of a soldier’s notebook, and luckily that recipe survives today. While Blue Point Brewing once made a modern copy called a 3.6% Colonel Brown Ale, and Coney Island Brewing made its Fortitude’s Founding Father Brew in collaboration with the New York Public Library, neither is still in production. However, Lion Bridge Brewing Company produces an English mild ale with a sessional ABV of 4.5%. He also won two gold medals at the GABF in 2014 and 2016.
Thomas Jefferson
Yards Brewing | Jefferson’s Golden Ale
Thomas Jefferson, our third president, was very fond of beer. When he retired from politics, he took over the homebrewing that his wife Martha had been doing for decades in Monticello. They had a spring and fall brewing season and led to an informal brewing school. Jefferson constantly had people asking to know his beer recipe and brewing practices. We would allow friends to send servants and slaves to learn from his brewers, Joseph Miller and Peter Hemings. Yards Brewing in Philadelphia has a copycat recipe, their Jefferson Golden Ale in their Revolutionary Series.
James Madison
Yuengling Brewing | Yuengling Lager
James Madison believed so deeply in the brewing culture in America that he wanted to create a national brewery that would be run by the government. He probably proposed a ‘beer secretary’ along with the new cabinet post, trying to ensure that the new interest in brewing was cultivated and that America was no longer reliant on imports. This is why he passed the “Tariff Act of 1789. To see also : The Texas GOP has adopted a resolution rejecting the 2020 election results.” hoping to shift the advantage in favor of American brewers. Cheers to Madison. Yuengling is perhaps the closest thing to a national brewery we have, as it was founded in 1829 and is still family owned and operated.
Franklin Pierce
Samuel Adams | Utopias
Some historians might call Pierce our drunkest president. Having a known penchant for drinking during his time in the House and Senate, he tried to take on his wife’s passion for the temperance movement when they married. See the article : Appeal by Secretary Blinken with Colombian President-elect Petro – United States Department of State. However, when Democrats failed to endorse him for re-election, he reportedly declared, “What can a former president of the United States do but get drunk?” He died at the age of 65 from cirrhosis of the liver.
Woodrow Wilson
Two Roads Brewing | Conntucky Lightin’
While Wilson may have tried to veto the Volstead Act of 1919, he was president when the sober decade that was Prohibition came crashing down on America. The illegal act of making any kind of alcohol has pushed the long-standing tradition of making moonshine for yourself into full swing. This may interest you : “Hold For The President Of The United States”. Wilson was still known for stockpiling alcohol around the White House and even for weekly drunken poker games. So he’d appreciate this moonshine-inspired bourbon beer.
Franklin Roosevelt
21st Amendment Brewery | Brew Free or Die IPA
Thirteen years later Roosevelt came to save us all. “I think this would be a good time for a beer,” Roosevelt famously said on March 12, 1933, in one of his first fireside chats. He soon signed the Beer and Wine Revenue Act allowing 3.2 percent beer and wine in April 1933, then helped push through the 21st Amendment in December making it legal to drink again. As the man who pushed through repeal, it seems only fitting that he gets a beer from the Brewery named after the act. Happy Days Are Here Again was his campaign song and he certainly delivered on that promise.
Grover Cleveland
Carton Brewing | Boat Beer
Grover liked to drink beer, and a lot of it. During the campaign, he promised to stick to four beers a day. However, he found it too difficult and simply switched to drinking from a bottle instead of a pint. He didn’t seem to drink to get drunk, but just for the pleasure of the taste. So I’m sure he would enjoy a pint, stein or growler of this very popular ale from his home brewery, Carton Brewing.
John F Kennedy
RAR Brewing | Marylan
Lyndon B Johnson
Jester King Brewery | Maple Bourbon Barrel-Aged Nocturn Serenade
Although Johnson was known for drinking Pearl Beer around his ranch, he also loved a good whiskey. In 1964, he gave his presidential seal to make Bourbon the official spirit of the United States. Just an hour from his ranch in Texas is another ranch where Jester King Brewery is located. Johnson would certainly approve of the beautiful 165-acre ranch and this Maple Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout.
Richard Nixon
Warhorse Brewing Co. | Tricky Dick Stole My Beer
Nixon was president when we impeached the man and ended the draft, and he had many other policies he would have preferred to be associated with. But instead he will forever be synonymous with scandal. Watergate was Tricky Dick’s downfall, and even though he liked expensive wines, he probably would have drunk this beer just for its ratings.
Jimmy Carter
Pilot Project Brewery | Any Beer
Sam is not much of a drinker, except for the occasional glass of white wine. Carter was known for deregulating the beer market which allowed craft breweries to have room to thrive while big beer was so dominant. In addition, he legalized home brewing at the federal level in 1979, so that up to 100 gallons of beer could be brewed per person.
Today, with the craft beer market so saturated, it can be extremely difficult to get a foothold. But Chicago’s Pilot Project Brewery gives brewers a head start, offering a place to fine-tune recipes for the public before they go full-fledged. This brewery incubator looks like a place where community meets entrepreneurial endeavors, a place Carter would like to see.
Barack Obama
8th Wonder Brewery & Distillery | Premium Goods
With so many beer lovers becoming presidents, it’s hard to believe that our 44th president needed beer to actually be brewed in the White House. Brewed with the help of a White House chef, Obama brewed three beers, including a “White House Honey Ale” made with honey from beehives located on the estate’s south lawn. He even received a lifetime membership in the Home Brewers Association.
Although the beer did not fall under any clause of the BJCP, it was said to closely resemble a Belgian Dubbel. No commercial brewery seems to have made a copy, like Washington and Jefferson, 8th Wonder makes a Honey Dubbel that would probably give you an idea of what it tastes like.
