{"id":255125,"date":"2026-06-04T12:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T12:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/255125\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T12:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T12:30:11","slug":"america-250-new-york-public-library-brings-back-george-washingtons-269-year-old-beer-recipe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/255125\/","title":{"rendered":"America 250: New York Public Library brings back George Washington\u2019s 269 year old beer recipe"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Public Library (NYPL)<\/a> served up a piece of history Tuesday with a more than 200-year-old beer recipe developed by none other than George Washington.\n<\/p>\n

The Library partnered with local, woman-founded Talea Beer Co.<\/a> to recreate Washington\u2019s 1757 recipe for \u201csmall beer,\u201d a low ABV brew used to refresh his garrison of troops during the Seven Years War.<\/p>\n

Meredith Mann, \u200ainterim curator of manuscripts at NYPL, said that while Washington\u2019s beer wasn\u2019t exactly the height of brewing excellence as we think of it today, the drink is still relevant more than 200 years later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aI think that low ABV is having a comeback,\u201d Mann said. \u201cSo I don\u2019t know if Washington\u2019s particular recipe will resonate with modern palettes or modern drinkers, but it\u2019s definitely a trend that we\u2019re noticing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mann\u2019s assessment was accurate: Washington\u2019s beer is not what someone today would choose to gather with friends or celebrate a Knicks playoff win. But it played an important role in the historic conflict, protecting soldiers from waterborne diseases such as dysentery.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aThe thing that\u2019s different about his recipe is that it\u2019s actually for small beer,\u201d Mann said. \u201cSo it was a low ABV version that you would drink less for enjoyment or to become intoxicated and more for having a reliable drink during a time when water was risky and not necessarily potable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The important role of George Washington\u2019s beer
\n\"MediaMedia gathered at the public library\u2019s flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Bryant Park to try the historic beer and learn the history behind the patriotic brew. Credit: Sadie Brown<\/p>\n

During its time, Washington\u2019s beer served an important role. Water was often contaminated with bacteria and could cause severe diseases like dysentery, potentially proving fatal to those who drank it. Military forces like those Washington commanded could be crippled by water sources contaminated with disease.<\/p>\n

Brewing \u201csmall beer\u201d was one way to ensure that soldiers had a safe source of hydration. The recipe required only about a day\u2019s worth of fermentation to make it potable, ensuring that Washington\u2019s garrison of soldiers had a safe source of hydration.<\/p>\n

The recreated historic brew had a fuller body than contemporary beers, perhaps due to the high molasses content. The recipe called for 3 gallons of molasses per 30 gallons of water and Talea brewers chose to use baking molasses, which has a higher sugar content than other forms of the sugar cane derivative. It also had a distinctive tartness that dissipated on the finish, bringing forward notes of bread and oats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Efforts to recreate the vintage beer pay homage to America\u2019s 250th birthday<\/a>, which will see enormous celebrations this summer across the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Talea\u2019s \u200ahead of production, Eric Brown, said that brewing the original recipe required turning away from more modern technology and brewing methods, instead focusing on finding ingredients that were as historically accurate as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was much more similar to how you might brew in your garage or how it would\u2019ve been brewed back then,\u201d Brown said. \u201cAnd also just sourcing the ingredients because today\u2019s molasses is not the molasses of 250 years ago. So having to put on our beer historian hats and think about what actually would\u2019ve been available to him when he was making beer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TaleaTalea co founders, Tara Hankinson and LeAnn Darland toast to the release of their new beer, the Liberty Lager, an amber lager developed in conjunction with the New York Public Library honoring a more than 200 year old beer recipe from founding father George Washington. Credit: Sadie Brown<\/p>\n

Talea\u2019s cofounder, Tara Hankinson, told amNewYork that the Brooklyn-born brewery was excited to take on the historic challenge with the NYPL.<\/p>\n

\u200a\u201dThey approached us, and they\u2019re such an institution and we love a creative challenge,\u201d Hankinson said. \u201cAnd I think brewing a beer recipe from 269 years ago is definitely a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Talea and NYPL will not be serving Washington\u2019s original recipe to the public, the local brewery concocted its own \u201cLiberty Lager\u201d inspired by the nation\u2019s first president\u2019s home brew.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The more commercially palatable amber lager will be available at local retail locations and at Talea\u2019s five taprooms around the city. The brew company also plans on hosting history-themed trivia nights and even a book lovers\u2019 dating event in honor of its partnership with the library.<\/p>\n

Thirsty New Yorkers can enjoy the Washington-inspired, Liberty Lager through the end of July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Public Library (NYPL) served up a piece of history Tuesday with a more than 200-year-old…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[33453,8978,3759,8009,40550,881,9,11,10,24621,96190,99358,904],"class_list":["post-255125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america-250","tag-beer","tag-bryant-park","tag-eat-and-drink","tag-fourth-of-july","tag-history","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-public-library","tag-nyc-summer","tag-talea-beer-co","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}