WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has become one of the first modern day U.S. presidents known for enjoying a cold beer that is brewed and tapped right at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Obama aides on Tuesday confirmed the small brewery during a three-day re-election campaign tour across Iowa. An official admitted the Obamas have their own alcoholic beverage made and kept in stock at the White House.

Revelations about the White House beer came to light after the president gave a bottle of it to a patron at a coffee shop he was visiting in Iowa. The gift prompted the press corps traveling with Obama to ask for more details and White House spokesman Jay Carney was peppered with questions about the first family's beverage of choice.

"There is a home brew, if you will, at the White House," Carney told reporters.

The beer, named White House Honey Ale, comes in both a light and dark variety. The honey portion of the drink is taken from first lady Michelle Obama's garden beehive.

"I think I've only tried the light, and it's quite refreshing," Carney confessed, although he admitted that he wasn't a beer aficionado.

Pressed for further details of the beer, Carney said: "I have exhausted my knowledge about this subject. Usually, when someone hands me a beer I don't ask how it was made, I just drink it."

(Reporting By Margaret Chadbourn; editing by Christopher Wilson)