Gov. John Hickenlooper Draws On His Brewer History, Questions Use Of Honey In White House Beer

Democrat John Hickenlooper may be one of the nation's most popular governors, but he's not a very sweet guy... when it comes to beer, that is.

On Wednesday the Colorado governor and former brewer was featured in an Atlantic article questioning the amount of honey used in the White House's recently disclosed -- via a Freedom of Information Act request -- beer recipe.

In the article, Gov. Hickenlooper elaborated:

He's using honey in the beer recipes, largely, I think, because they've got an apiary. What that does is it makes it a smoother beer. It's none of my business and I don't want to criticize the White House chef, but I think maybe they could use a little less honey. One recipe I'm pretty sure would be better without the honey and the other one I think would be. A little bit less honey would be nice.

The light and dark beers feature honey from First Lady Michelle Obama's White House beehives, and are believed to be the first beers actually brewed in the White House.

Though Hickenlooper also disclosed that he has not actually tried the beer developed by White House Chef Sam Kass, he very likely knows what he's talking about since he founded Denver's Wynkoop Brewing Company, Denver's first craft brewery and the state's first brew-pub.