By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
NORTHAMPTON - When he heard President Barack Obama's plan for a "beer summit" to smooth over a recent dispute between a white Cambridge police officer and a black Harvard professor, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal decided to write the president a letter requesting that the cold ones come from a Massachusetts brewery.
The Springfield Democrat said he sent Obama a letter Wednesday suggesting that Boston Beer Co.'s Samuel Adams be served at his meeting tonight with Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley.
"The incident happened in Massachusetts so we need to defer on that basis to serving up a Massachusetts beer," Neal said.
On July 16, Crowley arrested Gates at his home for disorderly conduct while investigating a report of a burglary. Gates, one of the nation's pre-eminent African-American scholars, accused Crowley of racial profiling. Although all charges against Gates have since been dropped, Obama decided to have the two men meet over a beer at the White House in an attempt to quell a charged nationwide response.
As word of the meeting spread, the big question became what kind of beer would be on the menu. According to published reports, Obama plans to have Bud Light, Gates will have Red Stripe and Crowley has requested Blue Moon.
In his letter to Obama, Neal said he suggested a number of in-state breweries, including Boston's Harpoon Brewery, the Northampton Brewery, Pioneer Brewing in Sturbridge and South Deerfield's Berkshire Brewing Co., where production manager Chip DeForest said he thinks beer drunk while settling a local debate should definitely come from an in-state brewery.
"I would recommend they drink our Steel Rail E.P.A., which is our flagship beer," DeForest said. "It is an American extra-pale ale and it is a classic American ale that everyone can drink."
Whether or not he could have a cold case at the White House in time for tonight's meeting, DeForest said, would depend on how quickly FedEx could get it there.
Randy Wood, general manager of the Northampton Brewery on Brewster Court, said he would be in his car heading to Washington the second he got word that the president needed beer.
"If you had two of our beers there, I would start with our Nonotuck I.P.A., which is a bitter beer, because it sounds like there was some bitterness between them," Wood said. "And then what comes to mind for smoothing things out would be our Imperial Stout, which is really strong and has a really nice smooth flavor."
Although the Amherst Brewing Co. on North Pleasant Street wasn't among the suggested micro-breweries in Neal's letter, manager Clayton Leonard said he would offer the men a Cascade I.P.A. to drink while hashing out their problems.
Another local brewer, Dennis Bates of Southampton's Opa Opa Brewing Co., said if he was given a choice, he would recommend Obama try the company's award-winning Red Rock Amber blend.
The meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m., is expected to take place at a picnic table outside of the White House.
"The letter arrived at the White House today, so the president should have plenty of time to get some of our beer there," Neal said.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.
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