Getting to the White House beehive proved about as tough as expected, which is, to say, damn nigh impossible for a bunch of civilians who make beer or edit a local news website. But our quest to replicate the White House Honey Ale began in earnest Wednesday night with the procurement of the most vital of the ingredients—the honey.
Deep in the bowels of a parking garage at American University, Josh “J.P.” Perry—a member of the D.C. Homebrewers club that is partnering with DCist on this beery endeavor—and I met up with the campus’ apiarian club. Two stories below the atrium of the School of International Service, Eve Bratman, a professor at the graduate program, and about a dozen students harvested racks of fresh honeycomb.
The first step was to remove the waxy top layer, carefully scraped away with a knife or thin chisel, revealing a molten sheet of honey ready to be extracted. Shannon McArdle, a senior who helps oversee AU’s community garden, offered me a slice. The honey was gooey and aromatic, though I was advised to be sure to not swallow the wax, which balled up in my mouth like a tough piece of chewing gum.
One by one, each rack was deposited in a large metal drum topped by a handcrank. With enough turns, the spigot on the side of the drum began to yield that sweet, sticky yellow gold we came seeking.
The dozen or so students gathered in the garage ranged from curious underclassmen to serious green thumbs like McArdle to graduate students just looking for a break.
“Grad school is arduous, and this is something on campus I can do for fun,” said Caroline Schuro, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in international education.
As the racks were processed, the fresh honey filled up a line of mason jars, one of which was earmarked for our new beer-making venture. The White House’s recipe calls for one pound of honey, or about 12 fluid ounces.
Sure, the eventual DCist Honey Ale might not contain the same honey as the brew President Obama has been bottling, but we are proudly using another batch sourced in the District of Columbia. American University’s bees reside in a rooftop garden atop the Mary Graydon Center across the quad.
After the honey harvest, Bratman took J.P. and me to the apiary, where the four hives—codenamed Bee-zantine Empire East, Bee-zantine Empire West, Dal-Bee Lama and, my favorite, Lord of the Stings—were, if not buzzing, at least at a low hum. Up there, McArdle said, the bees pollinate on a garden that includes mint, basil, tomato, sunflower, sage, and other herbs, all of which give AU’s honey quiet savory notes. But the garden isn’t the only place where the bees do their business, he continued. American University’s entire 84-acre campus is an arboretum, giving the bees access to a grand diversity of flora. (Likewise, the White House bees, while largely dependent on Michelle Obama’s garden, often draw pollen from the oaks and maples that canopy downtown D.C.)
Bratman took the lid off Bee-zantine East, revealing a docile hive of drones milling away. Bee-zantine West, however, was much more active. Though Bratman was clad in a mesh face protector, that didn’t stop a small, but ferocious, swarm attacking her when she tried to replace the lid. She took a few stings to her hands and lower arms, eliciting language far bluer than one expects of a college professor.
Still, mission accomplished. DCist Honey Ale has its honey. And the brewing is imminent. The D.C. Homebrewers and DCist will be mixing it all together Saturday at Smith Commons (1245 H Street). (They’ll be doing the beer-making, we’ll be doing the writing.)
Two ingredient notes we should share, though. While most of the requisite non-honey ingredients were available at Three Stars Brewing Company’s home brewing store, the White House uses a different brand of crystal malt than the one sold at D.C’s newest craft brewery. Still, the malt we plan to use will create an ale with a warm, amber glow.
But we did hit a snag with the all-important Windsor dry ale yeast. While not available in any nearby store, we did find it for sale on Amazon—through a third-party seller—and promptly placed an order. However, when we turned the package over to John Lutz, the home brewer who launched the White House petition that resulted in the publication of the beer recipes, he informed us that we were shipped the wrong kind of yeast. But at least they didn’t send us a gun by accident!
