When we consider the leaders of the American Revolution, we usually think about what they had in common. Most were landed gentry in the colonies — educated, rich white men who owned plantations, slaves and shared a strong English heritage. All, of course, believed that they were cruelly treated by the British government and had the right to form a government of their own.

But they also had something else in common: they made beer.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were all homebrewers. Beer was the common beverage in early America, mostly because, unlike the local water, it was safe to drink.

Because beer was boiled, the brewing process effectively killed any pathogens in the beer that could cause disease. Little was known at the time about yeast (Louis Pasteur did not scientifically define its existence until the 1850s,) but brewers knew that after the wort or liquid made from malted grain cooked in water cooled to approximately room temperature, it would begin to ferment, releasing carbon dioxide and converting its sugars to alcohol. They could then save the yeasty slurry from the beer and use it to ferment their next batch.

George Washington’s favorite beer was porter — a dark ale made with malted barley kiln-dried until it was brown in color, as well as additives like molasses. Probably named for its identification with the British working class, porter was the most popular beer in England in the 18th century. It was also the flagship beer of the first, large British breweries and was widely exported to the colonies and the rest of the British Empire.

Washington made beer (as well as whiskey) at Mount Vernon, and his 1757 recipe for “small beer” or porter is preserved in the archives of his estate today.

Our first president preferred local beer, and often patronized Robert Hare’s brewery in Philadelphia. He became fiercely loyal to American products, and eventually shunned English beer as much as he did British politics.

“We have already been too long subject to British Prejudices,” Washington wrote in a letter to Lafayette in 1789. “I use no porter or cheese in my family, but that which is made in America: both these articles may now be purchased of an excellent quality.”

Thomas Jefferson’s wife, Martha, brewed the family beer at Monticello, and Jefferson took up brewing himself after his wife died and he retired from public office. He designed a brewhouse and beer cellar on his estate, which can be visited today.

President James Madison, the author of our Constitution, actually proposed the establishment of a government-owned brewery and a “Secretary of Beer” for his cabinet (sadly, Congress did not approve). As a congressman, Madison encouraged “the manufacture of beer in every State in the Union” and (unfortunately) levying taxes on American beer and spirits.

The first beer known to have been brewed at the White House was much more recent, however — a honey ale, made by President Obama’s staff for a Super Bowl party last year. A second batch was brewed and bottled for St. Patrick’s Day, and another to serve to a Medal of Honor soldier in September 2011.

As we celebrate Presidents Day, we should celebrate our founders for their vision in creating the United States, and giving us our proud traditions of independence, freedom and representative government. And we shouldn’t forget to also thank them for supporting another important American tradition: fresh, local beer.

Alan Moen of Entiat is the editor of Northwest Brewing News. He is organizing the Great Washington Porter Festival, to be held in Wenatchee at Columbia Valley Brewing on Feb. 17-19.