Daily What?! The NYPL Has George Washington’s 1757 Recipe for Beer

We just came across this find at the New York Public Library Manuscripts and Archives Division. It’s George Washington’s “Recipe for Small Beer” from his 1757 notebook.

Here are the instructions:

Take a large Sifter full of Bran Hops to your Taste — Boil these 3 hours. Then strain out 30 Gall. into a Cooler put in 3 Gallons Molasses while the Beer is scalding hot or rather drain the molasses into the Cooler. Strain the Beer on it while boiling hot let this stand til it is little more than Blood warm. Then put in a quart of Yeast if the weather is very cold cover it over with a Blanket. Let it work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask. leave the Bung open til it is almost done working — Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed.

Rest assured that we will be trying this out at the Untapped HQ. If you have a random obsession with President Washington, you can also find his tooth sitting in Fraunces Tavern.

Get in touch with the author @untappedmich. See more quirky NYC facts and discoveries in our “Daily What?!” series. Submit your own via Twitter with the hashtag #DailyWhat.