Paint the White House Amber

Another election season’s ended.  Whether you’re happy with the results or devastated, we can all breathe a sigh of relief that the attack ads, speculation, & other hoopla will soon have left our collective consciousness.  Once the dust had settled at the polls, my thoughts turned to where they usually do: beer.  I thought of the Yards Brewing’s Ales of the Revolution, a series of beers inspired by the original recipes of George Washington & Thomas Jefferson, & reflecting the value ascribed to brewing by our founding fathers.  Speaking of founding fathers, I’m reminded of the photo of Jim Koch, founder of the Samuel Adams brand of beer & a groundbreaker in today’s craft beer movement, standing in front of the White House in 1987, a Boston Lager in each hand.  Two years after starting the Boston Beer Company, Koch was invited to the White House by Ronald Reagan, & ever since, Samuel Adams has been served at the White House, Camp David, & Air Force One.

As craft beer emerges to more prominence in the marketplace & our culture in general, it’s no accident that it seems to have carved a niche in today’s White House.  Whether you’re a true-blue Democrat or a red-blooded Republican, it’s safe to say that President Obama is one of the most beer-friendly commanders-in-chief in recent history.  Beer geeks everywhere were abuzz over the “beer summit” in the summer of 2009, when the proposed approach to conflict resolution was to sit down & talk it out over beers.  The on-line forums were full of curiosity & speculation over which brews the men would choose (& a little disappointment that they weren’t something a little more interesting).  During the Steelers’ last Super Bowl attempt, beers from each teams’ home state were sent to the White House - Green Bay was represented by Hinterland Brewing, &, despite a Hail Mary by locals East End, the Steelers’ symbolic brew was Yuengling.  And homebrewers everywhere are agog that White House chefs are now brewing not one, but three beers:  a brown ale, porter, & blonde ale, all made with honey from the White House beehive.  This is the first record of brewing on actual White House grounds, though historians are quick to point out that Washington brewed & distilled at Mt. Vernon & Jefferson made wine at Monticello.

Brewers themselves are taking politics as a cue, too, with Avery’s release of Ale to the Chief, a double IPA, & Blue Point’s tongue-in-cheek Entitlement Porter.   Again, regardless of your own persuasion, please realize that this is not an endorsement, but an observation that craft beer is on the rise, to the point that it’s taken a place in the highest office in our nation.  And that’s a message that fans of good beer everywhere can approve.