It appears home-brewers are thirsty for a taste of presidential beer.

This month, Roseville-based home-brew supply company Northern Brewer released two beer ingredient kits based on the White House’s own home-brews, and customers responded by buying more than 1,000 units online, making them the company’s top-selling beer kits.

“It’s definitely the most successful kit launch in Northern Brewer’s history,” said Chip Walton, a member of Northern Brewer’s marketing team, calling it “crazy.”

President Barack Obama talked up the White House’s homemade beer for weeks before the recipes for the honey ale and honey porter were released Sept. 1. The honey ale is believed to be the first beer ever brewed at the White House.

As soon as the recipes were made public, it was clear home-brewers were interested.

“The day they released the recipe, we had a lot of people come in to the store asking if we had seen it,” said Patrick Tarufel, assistant manager for Northern Brewer’s retail location in St. Paul, where the kits are top sellers.

Staff at Northern Brewer worked quickly and in just a few days their White House Honey Ale and White House Honey Porter kits were on the market.

“The day after Labor Day, we got back in here and it was just bonkers,” Walton said. “People were blowing up the Twitter feed and the Facebook and the emails.”

The White House used simple “old guard” recipes for their home-brew, Walton said. One element that stands out, he said, is the honey used for the beer, which is produced on the White House grounds.

Northern Brewer has adjusted the recipes to match its available ingredients, replacing the White House honey, for instance, with honey sourced from Minnesota, Walton said.

The White House says it has been brewing beer since last year. In a YouTube video released by the White House on Sept. 1, assistant chef Sam Kass said staffers brew the beer in their spare time and the president paid for the equipment and ingredients himself.

“The president, inspired by brew masters brewing in their homes and garages all over the country, wanted to try this out,” Kass said.

Gary Glass, director of the American Homebrewers Association, said home-brewing is growing across the country and the White House’s “foray into brewing beer seems to have stimulated increased attention and interest.”

“Current estimates suggest that approximately 1 million Americans are making their own beer and wine at home — and it’s exciting to count the White House among those,” Glass wrote in an email.

Walton said Northern Brewer is brewing a couple batches of the White House beers, but because the brews take at least four weeks from start to finish, staffers have yet to taste them. Based on the recipes, both “look good,” he said.

Northern Brewer sells its White House Honey Ale and White House Honey Porter kits for about $45 and $37, respectively. Equipment for brewing is sold separately.

This report includes information from the Associated Press. Andy Rathbun can be reached at 651-228-2121.

Follow him at twitter.com/andyrathbun.