President Barack Obama made good on a bet he'd been challenged to by Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupio back in the FIFA World Cup: in it, the European leader bet Obama an unspecified amount of Belgian beer that his country's team would beat the United States in the tournament's quarter-finals stage.
The wager, which happened through a tweet, had not been acknowledged by the American leader ... until last Friday, when Obama made good on the bet after a shipment of two crates of American-brewed Samuel Adams arrived at the American Embassy in Brussels, with Di Rupio's name on them.
It's no coincidence that Obama makes good on the bet using Samuel Adams, since it's the biggest American-owned craft brewery. The two cases of the Boston Beer Company's goodies appeared to be Octoberfest and the Boston Lager, a classic of the company.
The company's not only the main craft brewer in the country; its common name - used in advertisements - Samuel Adams comes from U.S. historic tradition, as it's taken the name of an American patriot who was famous for his role in the Boston Tea Party, and, according to tradition, was also a malt brewer. So, of course it'd make sense for Obama to make good on the bet with it!
President Obama is actually famous for having gotten his own brewery kit to the White House and starting a new trend: the White House Honey Ale, the presidential house's own beer - the first of its kind, even though Thomas Jefferson is also historically linked to home brewing.
Attached to the beer cases, there was long a note for the Belgian Prime Minister, which read "As Americans, we're always grateful for the partnership with our Belgian allies. Except on the pitch. See you in 2018."
In this perspective, it seems completely normal that Obama made good on his bet in a joyful manner - as he showed last week with a girl who wanted him to be Beyoncé, it is clear the President has a sense of humor.
