Thomas Jefferson and Beer

Photo via Wikipedia

As we continue on our journey through Yards Brewing's Ales of the Revolution sampler pack, our next look into beer history involves Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson is my favorite president in the wide history of our country (I know some of you are surprised that it's not Abraham Lincoln, knowing how much of a Civil War geek I am). Lincoln even thought of Jefferson as one of our most important political figures too!

Jefferson is famous for leading the Louisiana Purchase, which involved big and powerful government. Something that he was strongly against. in essence, he took a major step across the isle. In my opinion, it's one of America's boldest, yet moderate move in political history.

He was also known as bit of an eccentric, which makes him one of my favorite individuals in history as well. He hated his birthday, had somewhat of a clock obsession and even had his bed built into the middle of a wall. Monticello still remains as one of the top tourist attractions on the East Coast, today.

As Benjamin Franklin did, Jefferson actually preferred wine to beer. He actually didn't completely turn to beer until some point in his retirement when he actually ran out of wine and spirits. It was around this time that the War of 1812 was going on. So, embargoes and such meant that winos in the states had less and less of their favorite beverage. Jefferson's wife actually began brewing decades before he did (at least according to what I've read over the years).

Sometime in the early 1800's Jefferson had a beer cellar and brewing room built at Monticello in order to help him produce his beer at a bigger scale. Monticello.org has an entire section devoted to Jefferson and beer. This post simply just doesn't do it justice.

The Tavern Ale that I reviewed yesterday isn't the only Jefferson-related beer out there. Starr Hill Brewery teamed up with Monticello in making Monticello Reserve Ale. This beer is definitely on my list of beers to locate and try. It's a little different from the Tavern Ale recipe since corn and wheat are used in the malting process.