Benjamin Franklin and Booze: The Beer Quote He Never Said and the Punch He Really Made
Benjamin Franklin did not say that beer proves God loves us and wants us to be happy. Philadelphia’s favorite founder has plenty of excellent material on his record, but that famous beer line belongs in the historical lost-and-found.
The real story is even more Franklin. It involves wine, rain, a London printing shop, an industrial quantity of milk punch and a man who could turn a drinking observation into a small lecture on nutrition. Philly Crawling appreciates this particular corner of history because it contains drinks, mischief and an important reminder: never trust a quote just because it looks handsome on a pint glass.
The famous beer quote was really about wine
The Franklin Institute’s guide to things Benjamin Franklin never said traces the mix-up to a letter Franklin wrote in French around 1779 to the economist and writer Andre Morellet. Franklin was discussing wine and the rain that nourished vineyards. His playful conclusion was that this transformation showed divine affection for human happiness.
At some point, popular culture gave wine the evening off and put beer in its place. The shorter version fit nicely on bar signs, shirts and novelty glassware, so it traveled far. Franklin remained attached to it because history loves a celebrity endorsement, even when the celebrity never signed the paperwork.
This does not mean Franklin objected to a good drink. It means the evidence deserves the first round.
Franklin once made water look extremely competitive
In his autobiography, Franklin remembered working in a London printing house where many employees drank strong beer throughout the day. One coworker reportedly consumed six pints across his shift because he believed beer supplied the strength needed for physical work.
Franklin drank water and argued that bread offered more useful nourishment for the money. He then carried heavy trays of type up and down stairs with enough ease that his coworkers nicknamed him the “Water-American.” You can read the episode in Franklin’s autobiography, which reveals a version of the founder who was part printer, part workplace wellness committee and fully prepared to make his case before breakfast.
The anecdote also gives the beer quote myth a wonderful twist. The man supposedly immortalized as beer’s greatest publicist once used basic math and a display of upper-body strength to argue for water.
Then there was the milk punch
Franklin’s beverage history was not all hydration and sensible snacks. In 1763, he sent his friend James Bowdoin a recipe for clarified milk punch. The surviving recipe in the Massachusetts Historical Society collection calls for brandy, lemon, sugar, nutmeg, water and hot milk.
It also begins with 44 lemons and six quarts of brandy. Franklin did not develop this for a quiet Tuesday on the sofa.
The citrus causes the milk to curdle, and straining removes the solids while smoothing the drink. The finished punch is clear rather than creamy and keeps much longer than fresh milk. The process sounds alarming halfway through, which is also true of several important experiments.
Franklin was sharing an established punch style rather than claiming to invent it. Still, the letter shows his practical attention to ingredients, method and serving a crowd. He wrote a cocktail recipe the way an experienced host writes directions for the person who will be asked to make another batch.
Follow Franklin’s funnier side through Old City
These stories feel especially at home in Philadelphia because Franklin’s working life remains visible around Old City. At Franklin Court, visitors can explore the outline of his former home, the Benjamin Franklin Museum and a printing office with reproduction 18th-century presses.
Then the research can continue in a comfortable chair. On the Philly Crawling Liberty Pub Crawl, an expert local guide leads adults to four Old City bars and shares hidden and hilarious stories about Franklin, revolutionaries and the city they knew. The crawl runs daily at 3:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. and lasts 2 hours and 15 minutes. Drinks are available for purchase at each stop, and all guests must be 21 or older.
The point is not to turn every drink into a footnote. It is to enjoy the places where Philadelphia’s past becomes human again, complete with big personalities, questionable decisions and stories that survived because people kept retelling them.
Raise a glass to the verified version
Franklin left enough real wit, experiments and recipes that he does not need borrowed lines. The wine letter is funnier in context, the Water-American episode is delightfully smug and the milk punch recipe could stock a very committed party.
So admire the pint glass quote as decoration, then share the correction with confidence. For more Philadelphia history with its wig slightly crooked, join Philly Crawling in Old City. We will supply the stories. Your choice of drink remains entirely up to you.