Sounds like the brouhaha over President Obama’s private stash of White House homebrew hasn’t fizzled out quite yet. According to Government Executive’s Fedblog, homebrewers are petitioning the White House to disclose the recipe of the President’s Honey Ale. They insist that since the beer was brewed by staff members who are paid with U.S. taxpayer money, we the people deserve to know what goes into it. As of yesterday, that petition only brought 280 of the 25,000 required, which prompted one Reddit-ready beer fan to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to learn the contents of the brew.
Though there are many Executive Order provisions that Obama can leverage to deny the request, we’re guessing that the timing for this particular request is ideal: In the throes of a very heated election season, Obama probably won’t invoke them. Surely ponying up a homebrew recipe would create some fantastic man-of-the-people PR.
Update: We reached out to the Redditor in question, who had this to say about his hopes for the request: “I hope they’ll respond. It seems like a great way for them to connect with the public. It’s a proven methodology, just look at Lady Bird’s pecan pie recipe from the Johnson administration.” He also said you can follow what happens with the request on his Twitter account, @bieringa.
Best Beer-Related FOIA Ever [Fedblog]
So I emailed the White House Office of Public Engagement… [Reddit]
Release the recipe for the Honey Ale home brewed at the White House [We the People]
Earlier: Obama: Homebrewer-in-Chief?
