Our pal Garrett Oliver from Brooklyn Brewery and former Wynkoop brewer Gov. John Hickenlooper have both commented on the recipe and specifically the use of honey in the White House Honey Ale.
From the NYTimes:
Rigorous professionals, Mr. Oliver said, brew with malted barley, adding hops at appropriate times during the process for aromas, flavors and bitterness. An absolute beginner would use a liquid malt extract to which hops have already been added, like baking brownies from a mix — no muss, no fuss. The White House, Mr. Oliver said, has taken the next step, using a malt syrup but adding hop pellets, real hops that are ground up and pressed into pellets to preserve them. Most professional brewers, it should be noted, use hop pellets rather than actual hops.
Most interesting to Mr. Oliver was the White House’s use of honey from its own hives, an ingredient often used by home brewers. “This honey will give its own distinct flavor to the beer, but the sugars in honey will ferment completely, so the honey adds no sweetness,’’ he said.
“And if they need some brewing help,’’ he said, “I am standing by, ready to do my duty for my country.’’
From the Atlantic:
Before he became a politician, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper was a beer entrepreneur. In 1988, having failed at his first career, geology, he founded Denver's Wynkoop Brewing Company. The first brew-pub in the Rocky Mountain West, it helped spawn the national craze for brew-pubs and craft beer that continues today.
The governor has taken a look at the recipes but hasn't had a chance to test them himself, he told me. But he's a bit skeptical based on what he's seen.
"He's using honey in the beer recipes, largely, I think, because they've got an apiary," Hickenlooper noted. "What that does is it makes it a smoother beer. It's none of my business and I don't want to criticize the White House chef, but I think maybe they could use a little less honey. One recipe I'm pretty sure would be better without the honey and the other one I think would be. A little bit less honey would be nice."
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