A Question Regarding The Founding Fathers and Beer

paging jesskidden........

 

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/27811/77597

 

Here is an article.
http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2012/09/obama-not-the-only-beer-loving-president-in-history/

Here is another interesting one, it is George Washington's hand-written recipe for a small batch beer.
http://exhibitions.nypl.org/treasures/items/show/130

 

Considering they argued extensively about the limits of the Federal government, were broke from fighting the Revolution and had just gotten rid of an overbearing monarchy that told them what they could and could not buy, I kind of doubt they were inclined to use the government to create a brewery.

 

But what a way to finance the effort!

I kinda wish they had. Consider all the BMC money that might now be going to the USA! And.....instead of "a chicken in every pot", politicians could have promised "a six-pack in every fridge"!

 

They wanted to create a national brewery, because they were in boycot of everything Brittish even the beer. James Madison brought it up to congress but was shot down.

 

My point exactly. "Considering they argued extensively about the limits of the Federal government..."

 

Has any homebrewer tried ol' George's brew recipe?

 

They have and said if you make it his way it comes out to 11% and he called this a "small" beer, meaning lower in alcohol...

 

I feel they should brew it and serve it at the White Horse Tavern.

http://www.whitehorsetavern.us/history.htm

 

This flies in the face of reality.The colonies were effectively self governing, the taxes were much lower ( one twenty-sixth as much) than back home and the monarch had little effect.The confrontation was about an attempt to raise money to pay for the 7 year's war and the measures were spread throughout the Empire, not just the 13 colonies.

 

Maybe. But considering that the American colony was self governing and economically independent then the push to autonomy and freedom is a no brainer.

 

True enough, but this was equally the case with Canada etc.America was self governing to the point for example that slavery was accepted despite being illegal in Britain.Things were certainly mishandled in London as there was very little call for independence beforehand.
But history is written by the winners and not always objectively.

 

As with your observations, it doesn't really fly in the face of reality, it simply provides a look at one over-simplified aspect of a complex situation. Both observations are relevant. Neither adequately descirbes the actual complexity of the situation.

 

You can doubt it, but it was discussed. For quite a while a major source of revenue for the government was taxes on alcoholic beverages, hence the "Whiskey Rebellion." Lots of alcohol being made and circulated with out proper taxes being paid the government. So the government took action.

 

Sorry, but the situation in Canada was completely different. The American Colonies were far more developed and unified than the 'work in progress' of what was to become British North America. And 'Resposible Government' didn't hit British North America until after the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions of 1837.

 

The "Madison wanted to establish a national brewery" myth seems to be a relatively recent one - an oft-repeated (thanks the the 'net) exaggeration based on a suggestion in a letter then-President Madison received from the author of The American Practical Brewer and Tanner, Joseph Coppinger. Madison passed the letter onto Jefferson, then retired at Monticello where he - and slave Peter Hemings (brother of Sally) - were experimenting with brewing.

At least that was the extent of the story as told in the pre-craft, pre-internet era in Stanley Baron's Brewed in America- The History of Beer and Ale in the United States (1962) < this Beer Books link conveniently has an excerpt on that very topic.

 

This is departing from beer-specificity so apologies, but it was only a no-brainer in hindsight.

As yokels in an imperial backwater, American colonists of British North America were never more patriotic about being part of the British Empire than they were in the aftermath of the aforementioned Seven Years War (or more specifically its North American component, the French and Indian War). The resistance movement would only grow haltingly as some reacted negatively to the Crown's imposition of new taxes and import duties to pay down the war debt, complained about the Crown's having prohibited Anglo settlement of the newly won lands west of the Appalachians, and freaked out that the Crown declared itself OK with the Roman Catholic presence in Canada (since early Americans tended to hate Catholics a lot more than they hated taxation).

Luckily, beer.

 

A difference, and not a small one, between collecting taxes on alcohol and creating a government-run brewery.