George Washington Drank Beer
George Washington brewed Beer! Actually back in his day they brewed Beer for sustenance. You see they didn’t have a quickie mart or 7-11 where they could fill up with a red bull and a gallon of Poland springs water. Old George didn’t have a state of the art water filtration system in his town. More likely the water came from the same river that the troops took a tinkle. So, what is a General of the Revolutionary army to drink on a hot summer day on the battle field? Well let me answer that my fellow plebes, BEER! Weak, watery beer, but beer nonetheless. Beer dates back to sometime around 10,000 BC, but for our purposes we will start with George. Jefferson brew his own Beer as well. I have been told that his recipe is pretty good actually and let’s not forget good old Benjamin Franklin who was quoted saying, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
America’s Love for Beer continued after our revolutionary beginnings until the late 1800’s when the industry peaked with over 4000 local breweries around the country. That means we had a brewery in almost every medium sized town back in the day. The beer styles varied but were mostly English inspired ales. At least until the mass migration of Germans in the late 1800’s bringing their lager styles. These were the hay days of American Beer. Rationing from a couple of world wars, prohibition, and Beer accountants advising the use of corn and by the early 1900’s we were stuck with only five major breweries and tasteless watered down beer. Don’t get to sad yet, In the 70’s Fritz Maytag reopened an old California Brewery by the name of Anchor and started making steam Beer. He inspired a lot of people and four decades later we are back in the middle of a beer heyday. Malt, hops, and yeast the flavors, textures, aromas that these three simple ingredients can create are endless. We at the Birdsall House cannot wait to take you on a journey to the past and into the future with the most incredible beverage in the world, BEER!
-Johnny