WASHINGTON: "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy," America’s founding father Benjamin Franklin is apocryphally quoted as saying. And so in the spirit of things, the Obama White House released over the weekend recipe for a Presidential potion that is evidently keeping the US chief executive ale, hearty, and in tune with the drinking classes, and perhaps the voting masses.

The surprising and frothy White House disclosure came over Labor Day weekend (which in the US is the first Monday in September) in the midst of an election campaign where Obama is already seen to have an edge in connecting with the Average Joe six-pack. His opponent Mitt Romney does not drink alcohol because of his Mormon faith, but the White House was all too ready throw light on President "Beer-ack" Obama’s lager-than- life image as a regular guy who loves an occasional drink.

Under the declamatory headline "Ale to the Chief: White House Beer Recipe ," the Presidential blog on Saturday related the story of Obama’s beer push, explaining that "With public excitement about White House beer fermenting such a buzz, we decided we better hop right to it."

Apparently, inspired by the growing trend across the country of cranking out micro-brews at home, President Obama last year bought a home brewing kit for the White House kitchen. After the first few drafts, the President and his kitchen cabinet landed some great recipes that came from a local brew shop. They also received some tips from a couple of home brewers who work in the White House who helped them "amend it and make it our own."

"To be honest, we were surprised that the beer turned out so well since none of us had brewed beer before," the blog revealed. Word that the Obama White House was brewing its own hooch leaked out when the President handed out a bottle with the White House label to a beer-swilling supporter during a road tour in Iowa.

By then, it was already known that Obama is something of a beer-head, bar none. He had even held a "beer summit" at the White House early in his term to defuse a racial spat between a cop and a university professor. He also had a beer bet with British Prime Minister David Cameron last year over a US-England soccer game (the match was a 1-1 tie and so they swapped American and British beers).

Soon, there was a clamor for more -- both the White House beer and the recipes -- from the beeristas. On Labor Day weekend, the secret spilled out of 1600, Pennsylvania Avenue.

According to the White House, the Presidential Honey Brown Ale is the first alcohol brewed or distilled on the White House grounds. George Washington brewed beer and distilled whiskey at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson made wine at Monticello but there's no evidence that any beer has been brewed in the White House, according the Presidential blog. There was also the issue of prohibition (between 1920 and 1933) and puritanism (intermittently), although the Obama White House stiffly maintained that "we do know there was some drinking during prohibition."

White House chef Sam Kass said since the first batch of White House Honey Brown Ale, a Honey Porter and a Honey Blonde has been added to the collection this past summer.

So what’s the buzz behind the White House brew? That’s a no-brainer. "Like many home brewers who add secret ingredients to make their beer unique, all of our brews have honey that we tapped from the first ever bee-hive on the South Lawn. The honey gives the beer a rich aroma and a nice finish but it doesn't sweeten it," Kass revealed.

The White House bee-hive, which also created a buzz when it was first hosted on the South lawn, is mounted on a tall stool to prevent Bo, the First Dog, from sniffing at it. Evidently, it now provides a high to others in the White House.