Much has been made of our second president’s efforts to start a wine industry in the newly formed United States, but it would appear from this article that George Washington did his part to support the nascent brewing industry. Not surprisingly, Washington tended towards porters, most of which he ordered from Robert Hare, a brewer in Philadelphia. Although Washington appears to have purchased a fair amount of beer, there’s also a link to Washington’s own homebrew recipe for those of you who brew. If you want to see the real thing (reproduced above) check out the New York Public Library’s website instead.

Unfortunately, those of you looking for a porter bearing Washington’s name may well have to brew your own. Sam Adams discontinued its George Washington Porter some time ago, and Yards, which brews George Washington Tavern Porter for the historic City Tavern here in Philadelphia, is still at work on a new brewery.

Lincoln may not have been known as a brewer, but he appears to have understood the importance of good beer, as I wrote earlier.

So grab one of your own Porters and hoist it in honor of our first and sixteenth presidents.

image of George Washington’s homebrew recipe from the New York Public Library website

Post from: EveryJoe

A porter for presidents

It’s a little late in the game for a top ten list, but here’s an interesting post from the Brookstone beer bulletin listing some of the top beer stories from last year. As per my earlier post, the biggest news for beer lovers may be the short supply of hops and barley, followed by the loss of Michael Jackson.

In Philadelphia beer news, the possible loss of Yards tied with the opening of Dock Street (which I still haven’t managed to visit, check back next week). Hopefully we’ll keep both.

If you know of another story which deserves to be in the top ten, share it here.

image from www.hillsideliquorstore.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Top beer stories of 2007

It’s the first day of the new year, and Yard’s brewery no longer has a home. Since the photo above shows the status of the brewery as of November 2007, I’m not exactly sure what that means for the future of the brew. For the sake of beer drinkers here in Philadelphia, I hope the future is bright, but I guess we’ll find that out later.

In the meantime, I wish you and yours much great cheer and great beer in the new year.

UPDATE: It occurs to me that I wasn’t exactly clear in the post above – Yard’s is moving, not closing, and the photo is of the new brewery facility. The old Yard’s brewery will become the Philadelphia Brewing Company. The new Yard’s should open in 2008 some time, although the photos on the website are still from November. I’ll be sure to post on the progress as soon as I have more info.

image from the Yards website

Post from: EveryJoe

A new year, a new start