OUTRAGE: Did President Obama Drink A Non-Alcoholic Beer In Germany But Pretended It Was A Real Beer?

Getty Image/Goran Gajanin

Earlier this week, President Obama visited Germany for the annual G7 Summit. But while Obama was discussing state business in the Alps, outrage was a-brewing back on the homefront. For some, it’s over President Obama possibly pulling a heater from pack of cigs. For others, it’s not being harsh enough towards ISIS or not having extended enough sanctions against Russia. For myself and other beer lovers of the world, it’s for having the audacity to drink a non-alcoholic beer in Germany, the Fatherland of all great beers.

WTF, Obama? We thought you were cool with beer. You know, REAL beer. Not NEAR beer. Part of your overall claim to Bro-ness is that you BREW HONEY ALE IN THE WHITE HOUSE. How could you betray us by drinking beer for posers?

Via the New York Times:

The president went out of his way to praise the scenery, the weather and the beer, joking in his public remarks in the small town that he was going to ask Ms. Merkel, who was hosting the Group of 7 conference of world leaders at a nearby castle and luxury resort, if the meetings could be held in the village instead, over beer.

“It was a very fine beer,” Mr. Obama told reporters on his way out of the town. “I wish I was staying.”

But it didn’t take long for rumors to begin flying that the beer had been nonalcoholic. The White House dismissed them.

“I’m not aware of what kind of beer the president was served, but I’m confident that he did not order a nonalcoholic beer,” Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, told reporters. “I don’t know what he was eventually served, but I would be very, very surprised if he ordered a nonalcoholic beer, even after an overnight flight on a Sunday morning.”

But on Monday, the Krün municipality’s mayor, Thomas Schwarzenberger, put the issue to rest. He told the news service Deutsche Presse-Agentur that German and United States officials had asked that the guests be given only alcohol-free beer. So that’s what Mr. Obama and Ms. Merkel got.

So was it an O’Doul’s or Sharp’s or St. Pauli Girl N.A? Or is this all just one big political bruhaha? The White House, of course, backtracked big time on the notion that POTUS was drinking a near beer. Via Esquire, where Aaron Goldfarb wrote a fantastic takedown of the bullshit that is non-alcoholic beer:

White House spokesman Josh Earnest denied that, noting, “I’m not aware of what kind of beer the president was served, but I’m confident that he did not order a non-alcoholic beer. I don’t know what he was eventually served, but I would be very, very surprised if he ordered a non-alcoholic beer, even after an overnight flight on a Sunday morning.”

On one hand, it’s pretty chill to have a President enjoy beer as much as you and I do. GWB was a teetotaler and, boy, were though years boring when it comes to presidential booze consumption. But on the other hand, drinking a non-alcoholic beer is almost worse than not drinking at all — You’re either all in or all out. There is no in-between.  A man of principle sticks to REAL beer or just says “nah, trying to watch my waist right now” and orders a Diet Coke. That’s called having a backbone.

What’s in Obama’s hand in the pic above better have been a delicious, authentic German wheat beer brewed in accordance to Reinheitsgebot and not some non-alcoholic travesty. Otherwise, we’ve lost all faith in the Bro-ness of Obama’s legacy.

Brandon Wenerd is BroBible's publisher, writing on this site since 2009. He writes about sports, music, men's fashion, outdoor gear, traveling, skiing, and epic adventures. Based in Los Angeles, he also enjoys interviewing athletes and entertainers. Proud Penn State alum, former New Yorker. Email: brandon@brobible.com