Rivalries bubbled up as 10 lawmakers fermented ties across party lines Tuesday night. But they weren’t squabbling on the House floor — they were brewing it out at Anheuser-Busch’s eighth annual Brew Across America congressional competition.
Five bipartisan teams defended beers they designed themselves, with help from breweries close to home. Missouri Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt and Democratic Rep. Wesley Bell won the cup despite a setback in the brewing process: naming their beer.
The lawmakers settled on “Arch Light Lager” for their winning brew. The naming process roughly mirrored political negotiations in the 119th Congress: a happy Republican and a Democrat pushing for more.
Schmitt said they named their lager after the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and the beer itself was created at Anheuser-Busch’s St. Louis Brewery. Bell argued their beer should’ve had a more playful name like that of Reps. Luz Rivas, D-Calif., and Harriet M. Hageman, R-Wyo., who named theirs “Giddy Up and Peel Out.”
Rivas said they were inspired by horses from Hageman’s home state and oranges from hers. Their ale blended flavors of California navel oranges and Wyoming honey.
Regardless of Bell’s feelings about the final name — he suggested “Missouri Loves Company” — he contended their brew would win the Brew Democracy Cup on taste alone, modeled after classic American beer. He guessed correctly.
The lawmakers had fun playing bartender after a long day of votes, and as the Trump administration says: Drinking is a social lubricant.
The contest comes less than a week after the Trump administration put its rubber stamp on social drinking. The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans shifted away from the old advice restricting alcohol to two drinks a day for men and no more than one drink a day for women. Now the recommendation simply says people should “consume less alcohol for better overall health.”
The new guidance has the backing of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz.
“So alcohol is a social lubricant that brings people together. In the best-case scenario, I don’t think you should drink alcohol, but it does allow people an excuse to bond and socialize, and there’s probably nothing healthier than having a good time with friends in a safe way,” Oz said at a Jan. 7 White House press conference.
Lawmakers seem to be following the new advice.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., was determined to serve Schmitt his signature American dark lager, dubbed the “Hudson Valley Harvest Lager,” much to Schmitt’s apparent dismay. Lawler brewed it with fellow New Yorker and Democratic teammate, Rep. Josh Riley.
“I want to give you a real beer,” Lawler said, handing Schmitt a clear cup filled with his roasted malt that had notes of maple and apples.
“It’s terrible,” Schmitt said, jokingly spitting it out.
The voters for the People’s Choice Award disagreed, and the win came to no surprise to Lawler.
“It’s gonna be a great competition, and I think New York’s gonna kick ass,” Lawler said Tuesday afternoon at the House before the evening contest kicked off at Nationals Park.
His confidence paid off: “I told you!” Lawler exclaimed after the vote was announced, holding the envelope that read the results and pointing to the name of the brewery his team worked with: Baldwinsville Brewery.
The newly appointed brewmasters poked fun at each other. When the cup winner was announced, Lawler yelled: “The system is rigged!”
But Bell got his revenge when he photo-bombed Lawler and Riley holding their award, giving them a thumbs-down.
Despite only two teams winning, everyone at Brew Across America got participation trophies — or rather participation beers that were free to sample (along with an open bar stocked with Anheuser-Busch products, not to mention photo ops with two Dalmatian mascots).
Reps. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., and Sam Graves, R-Mo., served their “Meet in the Middle Mango” IPA, brewed at Four Peaks Brewing Co. Their stand featured a caricature of an elephant and donkey clinking pint glasses.
In another nod to bipartisanship, Reps. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., teamed up with Wicked Weed Brewing to make a light lager they called “Chuck and Tom’s Bipartibrew.”
As part of the contest, Anheuser-Busch issued a $25,000 award to the Manufacturing Institute’s Heroes MAKE America initiative. The program provides certification and career-readiness training with local community colleges to service members, veterans and other members of the military.
The contest was originally scheduled for October, but got moved to January because of the government shutdown.
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