Obama's Homebrew Makes Its Public Debut In Iowa

For beer fans, the path from casual drinker to homebrewer is a carboy rite of passage. It's a fermenting allure that even presidents, it seems, are not immune to:

Obama is reportedly on the campaign trail with bottles of his White House Honey Ale in tow.

He's even occasionally handing out bottles of his homebrew to supporters. On Tuesday, Obama reportedly gave a bottle of his White House Honey Ale to a customer in a Knoxville, Iowa coffee shop when the subject of America's favorite alcoholic beverage came up.

White House chefs have been making both a light and dark honey ale since early 2011, which coincidentally is around the same time Monticello released a new ale in honor of our most famous homebrewing president, Thomas Jefferson. (The Obamas foot the entire brewing bill, not taxpayers.)

The honey, incidentally, is from Michelle Obama's garden beehive on the South Lawn. Maybe we'll be seeing hops varietals in the White House garden soon?

Unfortunately, the White House beers are not on the retail market, and until now, have been used primarily at White House events. But plant yourself in the right coffee shop on the campaign trail, and you might just get a lucky bottle.

And by all means, bring a few bottles of your own homebrew to share. Because it's a lot more fun to exchange brewing tips with the President than talking about the economy.

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