George Washington loved a cold one. And now, more than 270 years later, you can have a taste of what inspired him.
A Brooklyn-based, women-owned brewery called Talea Beer Co. has teamed up with the New York Public Library to create the Liberty Lager, an amber lager inspired by Washington’s own handwritten beer recipe from the 1750s.
That recipe is the real deal. Washington wrote it down in a notebook he kept while serving as a colonel in the Virginia militia. The notebook has been at the New York Public Library for years and is now part of the library’s digitized archives.
What Was “Small Beer” Anyway?
Washington’s original recipe was for what people back then called “small beer.” It was a low-alcohol fermented drink, typically between 1% and 3% ABV, that served a very practical purpose.
Eric Brown, Talea’s head of production, explains that clean drinking water was hard to come by in the 18th century. Boiling the water, adding hops, which are naturally antiseptic, and lowering the pH during fermentation made small beer a relatively safe and stable source of hydration. People of all ages drank it. It was likely a staple in both Washington’s army camp and his household.
Brown also notes that in the mid-1700s, beer was still hyperlocal, drunk where it was made. Taverns brewed their own. And at home, it was often women, household staff, and enslaved people who did the brewing, as they performed most of the domestic food preparation of that era.
How the Liberty Lager Is Different
The Liberty Lager is not a copy of Washington’s original. Brown calls it an homage. For one thing, it skips the molasses that Washington’s recipe called for.
Instead, the Talea team used German caramel malts to replicate the amber color of Washington’s beer. They added drum-roasted malts and a base of rustic heritage barley to produce a slight residual sweetness. The result has a medium-plus body with a creamy mouthfeel from natural carbonation.
At 5.5% ABV, it’s also a good bit stronger than the original small beer ever was. The hops used are Saphir, Hallertau Mittelfruh, and Tettnang, all classic German varieties.
Where You Can Find It
The Liberty Lager is available at all five Talea taprooms and at select New York City restaurants and retailers. That includes Wegmans grocery stores, the historic Fraunces Tavern, and beer and cheese shop Malt & Mold.
The release is timed to coincide with the New York Public Library’s summer celebration of America’s 250th birthday on July 4th. Those events include a limited-edition library card, book giveaways, and a weekly release of ticket reservations to see the Declaration of Independence, which will be on display at the library’s flagship location from July 1 through July 7.
And if you want to get as close as possible to what Washington himself actually brewed? Brent Reidy, director of the research libraries at the NYPL, says attendees at some of the library’s 250th anniversary events this summer will be able to sample a near-replica of the original recipe. That’s about as close to 1750s America as any of us are going to get.