White House Unveils Secret Beer Recipe

Now anyone with a home-brewing kit can drink President Obama's private beer. The administration gave in today and posted a step-by-step video on how to produce the White House brew, the Washington Post reports. The key ingredients in White House Honey Brown Ale turn out to be amber crystal malt, light malt extract, gypsum, honey, corn sugar, and yeast. But try procuring their fresh honey: It was taken from the South Lawn's first-ever bee hive, according to White House chef Sam Kass.

The recipe was inspired by "a local brew shop," Kass admits, and refined with advice from brewers already working at the White House. "As far as we know the White House Honey Brown Ale is the first alcohol brewed or distilled on the White House grounds," even though George Washington distilled whiskey and brewed beer at Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson fermented his own wine, and there was drinking during Prohibition, writes Kass. The recipe revelation comes after a long public campaign that included a petition and Freedom of Information request. (More White House beer stories.)