Ed. Note: There's been a lot of buzz online recently about the recipe for the White House Honey Ale and White House Honey Porter, including a popular petition on We the People, the White House's online petition platform. 
 
 With public excitement about White House beer fermenting such a buzz, we decided we better hop right to it. 
 
 Inspired by home brewers from across the country, last year President Obama bought a home brewing kit for the kitchen. After the few first drafts we landed on some great recipes that came from a local brew shop. We received some tips from a couple of home brewers who work in the White House who helped us amend it and make it our own. To be honest, we were surprised that the beer turned out so well since none of us had brewed beer before. 
 
 As far as we know the White House Honey Brown Ale is the first alcohol brewed or distilled on the White House grounds. George Washington brewed beer and distilled whiskey at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson made wine but there's no evidence that any beer has been brewed in the White House. (Although we do know there was some drinking during prohibition…) 
 
 Since our first batch of White House Honey Brown Ale, we've added the Honey Porter and have gone even further to add a Honey Blonde this past summer. Like many home brewers who add secret ingredients to make their beer unique, all of our brews have honey that we tapped from the first ever bee-hive on the South Lawn. The honey gives the beer a rich aroma and a nice finish but it doesn't sweeten it. 
 
 If you want a behind the scenes look at our home-brewing process, this video offers some proof. 
 
 So without any further ado, America – this one's for you: 
 
 Download a printable PDF of both recipes. 
 
 White House Honey Porter 
 
 Ingredients 
 
 2 (3.3 lb) cans light unhopped malt extract 
 
 3/4 lb Munich Malt (cracked) 
 
 1 lb crystal 20 malt (cracked) 
 
 6 oz black malt (cracked) 
 
 3 oz chocolate malt (cracked) 
 
 1 lb White House Honey 
 
 10 HBUs bittering hops 
 
 1/2 oz Hallertaur Aroma hops 
 
 1 pkg Nottingham dry yeast 
 
 3/4 cup corn sugar for bottling 
 
 Directions 
 
 In a 6 qt pot, add grains to 2.25 qts of 168˚ water. Mix well to bring temp down to 155˚. Steep on stovetop at 155˚ for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 2 gallons of water to 165˚ in a 12 qt pot. Place strainer over, then pour and spoon all the grains and liquid in. Rinse with 2 gallons of 165˚ water. Let liquid drain through. Discard the grains and bring the liquid to a boil. Set aside. Add the 2 cans of malt extract and honey into the pot. Stir well. Boil for an hour. Add half of the bittering hops at the 15 minute mark, the other half at 30 minute mark, then the aroma hops at the 60 minute mark. Set aside and let stand for 15 minutes. Place 2 gallons of chilled water into the primary fermenter and add the hot wort into it. Top with more water to total 5 gallons if necessary. Place into an ice bath to cool down to 70-80˚. Activate dry yeast in 1 cup of sterilized water at 75-90˚ for fifteen minutes. Pitch yeast into the fermenter. Fill airlock halfway with water. Ferment at room temp (64-68˚) for 3-4 days. Siphon over to a secondary glass fermenter for another 4-7 days. To bottle, make a priming syrup on the stove with 1 cup sterile water and 3/4 cup priming sugar, bring to a boil for five minutes. Pour the mixture into an empty bottling bucket. Siphon the beer from the fermenter over it. Distribute priming sugar evenly. Siphon into bottles and cap. Let sit for 1-2 weeks at 75˚. 
 
 White House Honey Ale 
 
 Ingredients 
 
 2 (3.3 lb) cans light malt extract 
 
 1 lb light dried malt extract 
 
 12 oz crushed amber crystal malt 
 
 8 oz Biscuit Malt 
 
 1 lb White House Honey 
 
 1 1/2 oz Kent Goldings Hop Pellets 
 
 1 1/2 oz Fuggles Hop pellets 
 
 2 tsp gypsum 
 
 1 pkg Windsor dry ale yeast 
 
 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming 
 
 Directions ||||| White House Honey Brown Ale, believed to be the first beer brewed on the White House grounds, includes light malt extract, amber crystal malt, honey, gypsum, yeast and corn sugar. 
 
 The recipe was released Saturday while President Barack Obama was campaigning in Iowa. 
 
 Obama has been talking about the White House brew for weeks, but he and other officials had refused to disclose details of how it’s made, despite an online petition and repeated questions from reporters. Obama even took a question on the beer recipe during a chat with the website Reddit. 
 
 Obama and his team frequently talk about the president’s fondness for beer, and Obama has been photographed many times downing a beer, including an appearance at the Iowa State Fair last month. 
 
 Being identified as a beer drinker is an easy way for Obama to connect with voters and serves as a not-so-subtle reminder that his Republican rival Mitt Romney, a Mormon, doesn’t drink. 
 
 Obama even held a “beer summit” after a white police sergeant arrested black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates as he tried to get into his own home. 
 
 White House press secretary Jay Carney announced the beer recipe on Twitter, linking to a blog post entitled “Ale to the Chief” that included a video on the brewing process. The White House was careful to say the president paid for the materials used in the beer-making himself. 
 
 “With public excitement about White House beer fermenting such a buzz, we decided we better hop right to it” and release the recipe, wrote White House chef Sam Kass, who brews the beer in the White House kitchen. 
 
 The White House included recipes for both the honey ale and a honey porter, both of which are brewed at the White House. 
 
 In the video, Kass is seen drinking the honey ale. 
 
 “That is one incredible beer if I do say so myself,” Kass says, smiling. “America, I wish everybody could taste this but we don’t quite brew enough.” 
 
 ___ 
 
 Online: 
 
 White House beer recipe: http://tinyurl.com/97tucgz 
 
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 Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC 
 
 Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
– 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.