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Can you believe it? America’s first President was a fan of beer at breakfast...
The first President of the United States of America was a great beer drinker. Above all, he loved a dark English beer called Porter.
But he loved to experiment too. He was, in fact, the author of a manuscript, now kept at the New York Public Library, which includes his personal recipe for ‘small beer’, or beer with a low alcohol content, which in the past was even drunk at breakfast, and of which Benjamin Franklin and William Shakespeare were also fans.
The President’s ‘small beer’ was based on bran and hops, boiled for three hours. After being left to cool (Washington tested its temperature by dipping his finger into it, moving on when in no longer burnt) molasses was then added, and once the mixture had cooled completely, all that was left to do was add yeast and leave it to rest for 24 hours.
You can find George Washington’s original recipe here.
