President Obama has made history once again by becoming the first President to brew beer at the White House.  This is the first time in history that there has been a microbrewery at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the aptly named “White House Honey Ale” was brewed using the White House garden beehive, which is another first for the Presidency, bees being kept at the White House.  President Obama recently sat with Sgt. Dakota Meyer and the two enjoyed a couple of pints of White House Honey Ale before Sgt.  Meyer was  presented with the Medal of Honor.

Unfortunately the Obama’s have no intention to market the ale, the only way to obtain one would be to become and American war hero or get invited to the White House on Superbowl night.   The recipe for the ale is being kept secret with the Washington Post reporting just one teaser “over a pound of honey goes into that brew”.  That’s a lot of honey.  Imagine if the Obama’s changed their mind about selling their ale? There would be worldwide interest.

If you have any comments feel free to leave them in our comments section below or join in the conversation on our Facebook page.

Sources:
Beer fit! – www.sciencedaily.com
Beer healthy – www.askmen.com
Beer body – www.one-earth.com
Beer mind – www.medicinenet.com
Beer mad – www.rcpsych.ac.uk
Beer belly – www.askmen.com
Beer droop – www.ezinearticles.com
Beer fatal – www.drinkaware.co.uk

If you have any comments on todays blog post you can leave a comment below, or join in the discussion on our Facebook page.

Recently BITE staff learned that the one of the worlds oldest known recipes, written on a clay tablet, 4000 years ago in Mesopotamia is a recipe for beer.  Not just any beer, a sacred beer given to them by their Sumerian god Enki.  (Source The Beer Institute.) Proving that (tongue in cheek) god, under whatever guise is probably a real ale drinker. The story of the clay tablet beer recipe was first reported in 2009, making this old news to BITEs serious beer patrons.  But that didn’t stop us from searching out some more beer facts for you…

Did you know?

1. The Babylonians were also keen beer drinkers, so much so that it was decreed by king Hammurabi that any person who brewed a bad batch of beer should be drowned in it as punishment. (Source Beer Advocate.)

2. Old English drinkers had whistles baked in the rim of ceramic cups, which they blew to order refills; hence the phrase “wet your whistle”.  (Source Family Brewers.)

3. On Monday 17th, 1814, at the Meux Brewery London, faulty equipment caused some 1,224,000 litres of beer to spill onto the streets of London, 9 people died in the beer tsunami, and it’s noted that gentleman died some days later from alcohol poisoning having valiantly tried to drink the streets of St Giles dry. (Source BBC History.)

4. Cenosillicaphobia – is the fear of empty an glass, obviously if you are gripped by this terrible affliction – stay near the bar, let the bar person know you are a sufferer and he/she will do their best to keep you topped up. (Source Hoppsy.)

5. The bubbles in Guinness (and beer) defy the laws of physics and float downwards.  Caused by pressure, widget black magic and drag on the sides of the glass it appears as if the bubbles in a pint of Guinness do travel downwards, if you could do a cross section of a pint though, you could see that bubbles in the centre of the glass rise normally. (Source Express.)

6. There are also 19 different variations of Guinness. (Source BeerFestBoots.)

7. In a world where everything could potentially give you cancer, it’s nice to hear that beer contains xanthohumol, an antioxidant only found in hops – known to help fight the development of cancerous cells, research is continuing so hold off turning your entire diet to beer just yet. (Source Metrolic.)

8.  The worlds oldest working brewery is Weihenstephan Abbey, Bavaria, the brewery – no longer a monastery has been making beer since 1040. That’s close to a thousand years of brewing and still no sign sign of last orders.  (Source Wikipedia.)

9. Jack Woodwards’s last wish was honored when his ashes were buried in the pub where he had spent many hours nearly every day of his life. The former landlord’s remains lie beneath a flagstone in the bar at the Boat Inn in the village of Stoke Brunne, Northhampshire, with a plaque saying: “Stand here and have a drink on me.” (Source Alcademics.)

10. Bass – The familiar red triangle of Bass Brewery (Bass Ale) is actually one of the world’s oldest trademarks, registered in 1875. The triangle continues to be used to this day. (Source Wikipedia.)

We’d love to hear if you have any interesting beer facts feel free to let us know in our comments section below, or by joining the discussion on our Facebook page.  Cheers!

There could be a great many things that are tipping their hat to just how auspicious the Real Ale industry is looking right now.   In the last four years microbreweries have been on the rise and some have received huge media notoriety.  A top British comedian chanting “all hail the ale” to packed audiences who’d previously never even considered ale as an option. Perhaps the rebirth of British tradition and all things British thanks to national events such as the Royal Wedding. Then there’s the reacceptance of cider as ‘hip and trendy’ by drinkers on their search for an alternative ‘hip and trendy’ beverage. As a nation we’re also much more environmental, we actively look for greener or locally sourced produce, it’s fashionable.  But don’t shun consumerism entirely; Real Ale popularity could also be attributed to the extension of Real Ale shelves in supermarkets and greater exposure by supermarkets to new or potential Real Ale drinkers.

Cast off your criticism for a second about how supermarket Real Ale is not ‘Real Ale’ due to its conditioning.  Two of the biggest supermarkets in the UK have reported rises in Real Ale sales for the past three years.  And let’s be honest, those supermarket Real Ale shelves (back from extinction) look physically attractive with their adorning decorative, embossed, gold trim labels telling stories as if each bottle was a novel, tales of dragons, kings, goblins, knights, bulldogs, ferrets, badgers, and bananas(?) to name a few. You don’t get that spirit of tradition or spark of imagination when you walk through the repetitive, uniform, imported fizz keg aisle.  Despite Camra’s ranting that supermarket booze is destroying the economy of pubs, Real Ale in supermarkets is cheap, if you want to try something different and you don’t like it, your wallet is not damaged in the process of you enjoying yourself.

So, supermarket Real Ale could be the first step in a blossoming affair with ale for some men and women, who will hopefully pass on the baton of responsibility to their sons/ daughters, keeping the tradition of British Real Ale alive for years to come.  It is though, probably down to consumerist attitude, people buy more Real Ale in the moments fad, and supermarkets reflect our desires with bigger and wider stocks.  This could then switch to an adverse effect as we become so aware of real ale that we become uninterested in it and ale once again begins to disappear from shelves, … sparking another “bring back the ale” campaign and so, the dog begins to chase it’s tail once more.

Do you buy real ale from supermarkets? What’s your favourite ale from supermarkets? Have you ever gone to a supermarket just to buy real ale? Have you ever knocked a bottle over in an aisle and had to suffer the embarrassment of everyone standing and staring?  Let us know as usual in our comments section below or by visiting our Face book page.