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Experts Weigh In On White House Beer Summit

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Jul 30, 2009 8:38 pm US/Eastern

Experts Weigh In On White House Beer Summit

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― The President, a professor and a police officer met for what Mr. Obama called a "teachable moment."

They shared a brew near the White House rose garden.

It may be history making - the beverage is certainly historic.

At Brews Brothers on Mt. Lebanon Boulevard the shelves are stacked with pilsners, lagers, ales and stouts.

Beer is believed to be the oldest of all alcoholic beverages, providing a buzz for humankind as early as 4300 B.C.

There are more than 20,000 brands of brew in the world and 180 styles.

"Our forefathers were actually home brewers - some of them were - and a lot of our decisions on becoming America was based on beer," Doug Derda says.

Because of that history, Derda, who produces a podcast, "Should I Drink That.com," believes that the President is on the right track.

"The way I see it, Obama thought it worked back then - it's probably gonna work now," he said.

Doug is less sure about the President's choice. He'll likely be lifting a Bud Light.

"I figured he would pick something American. But not that one - not Bud Light," he said.

Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates' ordered a frosty Jamaican Red Stripe.
"It is a decent lager - so if you're going to pick one - it's pretty popular," Derda said.

And Cambridge Mass. police Sgt. James Crowley's beer of choice was Blue Moon.

"The way I see Blue Moon is Coors Light drinkers wanting to feel fancy," Derda added.

But what about doing fence mending over a few brewskis about a controversial arrest of Professor Gates by Sgt. Crowley plus the President adding fuel to the fire charging that police acted "stupidly."

"I think to have it in an informal setting like this where you can kick back, have a beer, and talk about issues is the maybe we should have our dialogue on race," Dr. Laurence Glasco, a history professor at the University of Pittsburgh, said.

Glasco says Bill Clinton's previous forays into race relations failed because they were too formal.

He hopes the trio at the White House sets a new model.

"It's not what any conclusion about who's right - who's wrong, a finger to point in which direction - it's can we have a reasoned, informal, but yet serious and meaningful discussion," he said.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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