Thomas Jefferson was known for a predilection towards French cuisine, but beer and cider, not wine, took center stage at the president’s dinner table.
Jefferson was just one of many leaders from George Washington to Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Barack Obama with a pronounced love for beer. Whether it be from the presidents’ own brewing endeavors, the White House itself or established breweries, the beverage is almost as presidential as the holiday. But the beers consumed by our founding fathers were far different from today’s varieties.
That’s not to say, however, that those early presidential tipples have completely disappeared.
In 1999 the City Tavern in Philadelphia approached local Yards Brewing Co. to bring bygone beers from our early presidents into the now as part of the historic restaurant’s restoration. The tavern wanted to ensure that all items on its menu held true to the colonial era.
Yards got ahold of some of the founding fathers’ original recipes using the Tavern’s help, and the brewery’s “Ales of the Revolution” series, which is still sold on draft at the City Tavern today, was born… CONTINUE READING AT ALL ABOUT BEER
