MNN - Mother Nature Network

For brewers on both sides of the political aisle, the release this weekend of the official recipe for White House Honey Ale offered a rare moment of bipartisan “Cheers!”

 

Since the middle of August, beer enthusiasts have been pressuring the administration to release the “secret recipe” via signatures on the official White House site and a more formal Freedom of Information Act request.

 

“In keeping with the brewing traditions of the founding fathers, homebrewers across America call on the Obama administration to release the recipe for the White House home brew so that it may be enjoyed by all,” the petition reads.

 

While the Obama administration has been enjoying White House Honey Ale (incidentally, the first beer ever brewed in the White House) since the 2011 Super Bowl, interest in the beverage did not erupt publicly until the president brought some with him on the campaign trail this summer.

 

“I think I’ve only tried the light, and it’s quite refreshing,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said during a recent stop.

 

Carney had previously tweeted that the White House would only release the recipe if the beer petition reached the required 25,000 signatures (it currently stands at just over 12,000), but it appears that the interest was too great for them to wait.

 

“With public excitement about White House beer fermenting such a buzz, we decided we better hop right to it,” quipped Assistant White House Chef Sam Kass.

 

Kass goes on to detail two recipes for the masses, White House Honey Ale and the White House Honey Porter. As indicated by their names, both beers include generous servings of honey made by the bees kept in Michelle Obama’s South Lawn garden.

 

“Since our first batch of White House Honey Brown Ale, we've added the Honey Porter and have gone even further to add a Honey Blonde this past summer,” he writes. “Like many home brewers who add secret ingredients to make their beer unique, all of our brews have honey that we tapped from the first ever beehive on the South Lawn. The honey gives the beer a rich aroma and a nice finish but it doesn't sweeten it.”

 

Naturally, reaction to the recipes was met with excitement across the Internet, likely spiking a renewed interest in homebrewing.

 

“Hopefully most of us can just put politics aside and say that it's pretty damn cool that the White House is homebrewing and sharing recipes,” wrote one commenter on the social site Reddit. “Now I just need to get my hands on 1lb of White House honey...”

To see some behind-the-scenes footage of the White House brewing process, check out the video below. Also, for those who have suggestions on how the brewing process might be improved, feel free to leave them in the comments!