It’s not totally unheard of for a candidate to base his entire political campaign on beer, but it hasn’t been done since Grover Cleveland made beer along with reducing the free minting of silver the main themes for his 1892 campaign. Cleveland used beer to capture the imagination of the people of the United States as well as the office of President back from incumbent Republican Benjamin Harrison.While I cannot promise to make beer a central theme of my candidacy, I promise to make May 6th an important day in the campaign as I celebrate National Homebrew Day.

Started in 1979 and officially recognized by Congress in 1988, National Homebrew Day connects thousands of homebrewers from around the world as they join together in brewing beer, swapping recipes, and sharing in a simultaneous toast at noon Central Time. This works out quite well for those of us in Ypsilanti because noon Eastern Time on the first Saturday in May is when the City tests their tornado sirens. As you can imagine, toasting during these drills can become quite difficult due to the noise. Many a toast has been ruined because no one could hear or because the sheer volume of the sirens led to people clinking glasses in such a manner that it led to chipping.

The Ypsilanti Brewing Company is where I’ll be enjoying National Homebrew Day as it is an official Big Brew site. The thought behind Big Brew is that beer enthusiasts get together and make as much beer as they can. Said another way, it’s all about teamwork, a theme I hope to make a foundation of my campaign.

This year’s featured recipes include Poor Richard’s Ale, developed by Tony Simmons of the Pagosa Brewing Company in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The second featured recipe is Summer Kölsch, the gold-medal winning beer in the Light Hyrbrid category in last year’s AHA National Homebrew Competition. Finally, the third featured recipe is Fred’s Birthday Beer, a wine-art Canadian Lager Beer. Recipes for all of these selections can be found HERE for both all-grain and extract brewers with the exception of Fred’s Birthday Beer which can only be found in extract form.

I had originally thought about making my Prospect Park Porter, to honor the railroad workers who favored that style of beer, but I already have the ingredients for something else. It will be a game time decision. I also may end up brewing whatever I make in the secrecy of my home so that I can keep one of my great-great-great grandfather’s recipes a secret for another 175 years.

The Ypsilanti Brewing Company is located at 4 West Forest Avenue in the heart of the North Depot Town brewing district.