Washington Cheer

Rummer that was used to serve beer at Mount Vernon.

Beer was a favorite drink of George Washington, as it was for many people living in eighteenth-century America. According to visitor Joshua Brooks, both beer and porter were among the beverage choices offered during a Mount Vernon dinner in 1799. A clergyman who knew Washington during the presidency recorded that he habitually "had a silver pint cup or mug of beer, placed by his plate, which he drank while dining. “Many years later, Martha Washington's grandson noted that Washington generally "drank a home-made beverage" at dinner, which was probably a reference to beer brewed on the estate.

Washington not only drank beer himself, and had it served it to his guests, but it was also one of the items provided for voters when he was a candidate for political office. Washington's 1758 election to the House of Burgesses cost him 39 pounds, 6 shillings, a sum, which bought him "a hogshead and a barrel of punch, thirty-five gallons of wine, forty-three gallons of strong beer, cider, and dinner for his friends."3

In fact, virtually everybody, of all ages and social classes at Mount Vernon drank beer as a matter of course during this time period. George Washington noted in a letter to one of his farm managers that his white servants customarily received a bottle of beer a day, with each bottle containing one quart of liquid.

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