White house beer

[DaBills]

Thanks newmanwell I had no idea how to do this. They look snazzy!

 

[chrisdaman77]

I got them sent to my e-mail today. There are two recipes: White House Honey Ale and White House Honey Porter. Enjoy!

Here's the e-mail:

Ale to the Chief: White House Beer Recipe

By Sam Kass, White House Assistant Chef and the Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives

With public excitement about White House beer fermenting such a buzz, we decided we better hop right to it.

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.

As far as we know the White House Honey Brown Ale is the first alcohol brewed or distilled on the White House grounds. George Washington brewed beer and distilled whiskey at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson made wine but there's no evidence that any beer has been brewed in the White House. (Although we do know there was some drinking during prohibition&hellip

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. 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 bee-hive on the South Lawn. The honey gives the beer a rich aroma and a nice finish but it doesn't sweeten it.

If you want a behind the scenes look at our home-brewing process, this video offers some proof.

Video Link: http://youtu.be/dygQrX8FI3Q

So without any further ado, America – this one's for you:

White House Honey Porter

Ingredients

2 (3.3 lb) cans light unhopped malt extract
3/4 lb Munich Malt (cracked)
1 lb crystal 20 malt (cracked)
6 oz black malt (cracked)
3 oz chocolate malt (cracked)
1 lb White House Honey
10 HBUs bittering hops
1/2 oz Hallertaur Aroma hops
1 pkg Nottingham dry yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar for bottling
Directions

In a 6 qt pot, add grains to 2.25 qts of 168˚ water. Mix well to bring temp down to 155˚. Steep on stovetop at 155˚ for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 2 gallons of water to 165˚ in a 12 qt pot. Place strainer over, then pour and spoon all the grains and liquid in. Rinse with 2 gallons of 165˚ water. Let liquid drain through. Discard the grains and bring the liquid to a boil. Set aside.
Add the 2 cans of malt extract and honey into the pot. Stir well.
Boil for an hour. Add half of the bittering hops at the 15 minute mark, the other half at 30 minute mark, then the aroma hops at the 60 minute mark.
Set aside and let stand for 15 minutes.
Place 2 gallons of chilled water into the primary fermenter and add the hot wort into it. Top with more water to total 5 gallons if necessary. Place into an ice bath to cool down to 70-80˚.
Activate dry yeast in 1 cup of sterilized water at 75-90˚ for fifteen minutes. Pitch yeast into the fermenter. Fill airlock halfway with water. Ferment at room temp (64-68&#730 for 3-4 days.
Siphon over to a secondary glass fermenter for another 4-7 days.
To bottle, make a priming syrup on the stove with 1 cup sterile water and 3/4 cup priming sugar, bring to a boil for five minutes. Pour the mixture into an empty bottling bucket. Siphon the beer from the fermenter over it. Distribute priming sugar evenly. Siphon into bottles and cap. Let sit for 1-2 weeks at 75˚.
White House Honey Ale

Ingredients

2 (3.3 lb) cans light malt extract
1 lb light dried malt extract
12 oz crushed amber crystal malt
8 oz Bisquit Malt
1 lb White House Honey
1 1/2 oz Kent Goldings Hop Pellets
1 1/2 oz Fuggles Hop pellets
2 tsp gypsum
1 pkg Windsor dry ale yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar for priming
Directions

In an 12 qt pot, steep the grains in a hop bag in 1 1/2 gallons of sterile water at 155 degrees for half an hour. Remove the grains.
Add the 2 cans of the malt extract and the dried extract and bring to a boil.
For the first flavoring, add the 1 1/2 oz Kent Goldings and 2 tsp of gypsum. Boil for 45 minutes.
For the second flavoring, add the 1/2 oz Fuggles hop pellets at the last minute of the boil.
Add the honey and boil for 5 more minutes.
Add 2 gallons chilled sterile water into the primary fermenter and add the hot wort into it. Top with more water to total 5 gallons. There is no need to strain.
Pitch yeast when wort temperature is between 70-80˚. Fill airlock halfway with water.
Ferment at 68-72˚ for about seven days.
Rack to a secondary fermenter after five days and ferment for 14 more days.
To bottle, dissolve the corn sugar into 2 pints of boiling water for 15 minutes. Pour the mixture into an empty bottling bucket. Siphon the beer from the fermenter over it. Distribute priming sugar evenly. Siphon into bottles and cap. Let sit for 2 to 3 weeks at 75˚.

Can't wait to brew them!

Same here. Now have to sneak on to the white house grounds and get some honey

 

[DaBills]

Damn it, Obama! Now I've got two more beers to brew.

Haha right on! I can't wait to get into all grain to try that one someone posted.

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

TimpanogosSlim, thanks. You da man!

Thanks. But it's just a rough draft. You may want to stay tuned to see what others have to say about the recipe.

Here's what i came up with for the Honey Ale. Selected "specialty beer" because it's out of style for everything. It's like a really heavy cream ale.


Edit: Removed rough draft. Try this version instead.

 

[bottlebomber]

Same here. Now have to sneak on to the white house grounds and get some honey

It may be easier to infiltrate the First Lady at Martha's Vineyard...

 

[Qhrumphf]

A friend and I are going to brew the Honey Ale in a couple weeks. He's gonna run the numbers based on his system, but we're looking at 9ish pounds base malt. We're debating using US 2-row or Maris Otter (without knowing the extract, I'm guessing either Briess or Muntons based on the weights given). We're also close enough that getting some honey from a local farmers market should be fairly close to the White House honey.

We were also debating what "amber crystal malt" means. I don't think it's amber malt. We're thinking a mid-range Crystal. Probably going with C60L.

 

[amandabab]

We were also debating what "amber crystal malt" means. I don't think it's amber malt. We're thinking a mid-range Crystal. Probably going with C60L.

as English as the rest of the recipe is, I'm assuming English amber/medium/crystal-II crystal malt

40L to high-50L, usually topping at 57
any American 40 or 60 rating or a mix of the two will get you close
(two cultures separated by a common language)

 

[Qhrumphf]

as English as the rest of the recipe is, I'm assuming English amber/medium/crystal-II crystal malt

40L to high-50L, usually topping at 57
any American 40 or 60 or a mix of the two will get you close

I had actually suggested English 55L/medium crystal. He's already got plenty of American 60, so that'll be close enough.

 

[DaBills]

Page seven of this thread is very civil and helpful. Kudos to all of you!

 

[Qhrumphf]

I'd also put it closer to an underhopped ESB than a heavy cream ale.

 

[WaltStarr]

I, for one, am VERY GLAD this was an extract recipe. Not all of us have the time, money, and space to devote to all grain (yet) and doing this as an extract recipe will only serve to get a few more people into the hobby.

Kudos to the White House staff for all the effort they put into this.

 

[govner1]

Well you can always convert AG recipes to extract so no big deal!

 

[DaBills]

I, for one, am VERY GLAD this was an extract recipe. Not all of us have the time, money, and space to devote to all grain (yet) and doing this as an extract recipe will only serve to get a few more people into the hobby.

Kudos to the White House staff for all the effort they put into this.

Yeah I felt the same way.

Well you can always convert AG recipes to extract so no big deal!

Absolutely correct, didn't really think of this.

 

[BrotherGrim]

Obama is not my candidate, but he is our President. I am glad to see brewing in the national spotlight, as I still live in a state that hasn't gotten around to removing the homebrew laws. Maybe this will give the state legislature the confidence to alter our laws without feeling like they are inviting national repercussions.

Either way, it's homebrew and it's probably quite tasty.

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

I'd also put it closer to an underhopped ESB than a heavy cream ale.

To-MAY-to, to-MAH-to.

But yeah, that was my first thought. It's an ES. No B.

 

[DaBills]

Obama is not my candidate, but he is our President. I am glad to see brewing in the national spotlight, as I still live in a state that hasn't gotten around to removing the homebrew laws. Maybe this will give the state legislature the confidence to alter our laws without feeling like they are inviting national repercussions.

Either way, it's homebrew and it's probably quite tasty.

Thanks for the thoughtful post. Amazed that homebrew laws are still in effect in some places.

 

[petie]

I was fixin to make a honey ale for my wife. Looks like I'll be tryin this one in a couple weeks.

 

[DaBills]

I was fixin to make a honey ale for my wife. Looks like I'll be tryin this one in a couple weeks.

Cool, let us know how it turns out. I'll be getting around to it eventually, but I have 8 brews lined up before this one. Good problem to have

 

[WaltStarr]

I was fixin to make a honey ale for my wife. Looks like I'll be tryin this one in a couple weeks.

I'll be making a batch in the next couple of weeks, too.

 

[SouthBay]

Re: honey.

Any guesses as to which type of honey might be closest? Something from the farmers market? Maybe just plain clover honey?

Also, i'm guessing they meant 10 AAU on the porter?

 

[ReeseAllen]

Here's my stab at converting the honey ale to AG...sounds like it's gonna come out too sweet. I'm torn as to what to do about the hops...add more bittering hops to up the IBUs and balance it better, or just brew it as close to the official recipe as possible for authenticity...

http://hopville.com/recipe/1645107

 

[onthekeg]

How many newbs will be here asking advice to brew beer now? It will be like Christmas in September, plus we have the pumpkin beers, winter warmers, festbiers and barleywine questions to answer now.

Oh and I forgot about hop harvest, and grain prices...

 

[passedpawn]

I think this is very cool. I think it is very good for the homebrew community. And shame on those members of this forum that went into a RANT every time another homebrewer came on here and said the same.

SHAME ON YOU you guys who ranted when someone posted an excited thread about this.

I'm proud to part of this tradition. Woot for the homebrewers.

 

[DaBills]

I'll be making a batch in the next couple of weeks, too.

Let us know how it goes/tastes!

 

[DaBills]

Re: honey.

Any guesses as to which type of honey might be closest? Something from the farmers market? Maybe just plain clover honey?

Also, i'm guessing they meant 10 AAU on the porter?

Well from what I know (spent a day helping a beekeeper) bees will start with the pollen closest to the hives and work their way out but they can go very far from the hive in order to find what they're looking for. So they would have a wide variety of different pollens from the D.C. once they ran out of pollen on the Whitehouse grounds. I worked at a farm that sold blueberry honey but the beekeeper said this was BS because after the pollen was gone those bees went all over the countryside and got pollen from all types of different flowers.

I would just get some local farmer honey. You'd be keeping your money local and getting a wide variety of pollen from around the farm. I would avoid anything from China or elsewhere.

 

[DaBills]

Here's my stab at converting the honey ale to AG...sounds like it's gonna come out too sweet. I'm torn as to what to do about the hops...add more bittering hops to up the IBUs and balance it better, or just brew it as close to the official recipe as possible for authenticity...

http://hopville.com/recipe/1645107

Right on man. Looks cool. Not doing AG yet but want to do this when I start. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[DaBills]

How many newbs will be here asking advice to brew beer now? It will be like Christmas in September, plus we have the pumpkin beers, winter warmers, festbiers and barleywine questions to answer now.

Oh and I forgot about hop harvest, and grain prices...

The more the merrier

 

[DaBills]

I think this is very cool. I think it is very good for the homebrew community. And shame on those members of this forum that went into a RANT every time another homebrewer came on here and said the same.

SHAME ON YOU you guys who ranted when someone posted an excited thread about this.

I'm proud to part of this tradition. Woot for the homebrewers.

Surprisingly the positives have outweighed the negatives. Generally people are being pretty mature and sticking to the beer side of things. I love your enthusiasm!

 

[Zuljin]

Haha right on! I can't wait to get into all grain to try that one someone posted.

I'll do it extract since that's how they do it.

Re: honey.

Any guesses as to which type of honey might be closest? Something from the farmers market? Maybe just plain clover honey?

Also, i'm guessing they meant 10 AAU on the porter?

Looking at pictures of the White House gardens, they have wide variety of flowers. I'm thinking a wildflower honey should work.

I see the lme they use is in a bag. I've seen jugs and cans. Who packages their lme in a bag? And how many will do it now?

 

[Heckle]

I am glad to see brewing in the national spotlight, as I still live in a state that hasn't gotten around to removing the homebrew laws. Maybe this will give the state legislature the confidence to alter our laws without feeling like they are inviting national repercussions.

Hopefully your state and all others who still ban homebrew will take this as a gentle nudge to change their laws.