While everyone claims to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, one thing is for sure and that is you should be drinking green beer! Though I may not be truly Irish due to my English heritage. I find it fun to celebrate other traditions from all around the world and of course, on St. Patty's Day, everyone is part Irish!
The tradition of drinking green beer on St. Patty's Day has been around for a while, though nobody really knows for exactly how long. According to a book called Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History there’s a centuries-old Irish custom known as “drowning the shamrock” that involves people adding green shamrocks to their beers on St. Paddy’s Day. While other's say it was first made in 1914 by Dr. Thomas Curtin who was a coroner's physician and eye surgeon that made the first green beer during a St. Patrick's Day party in the Bronx. But no matter where the origin of creation was, one fact remains and that's the tradition of drinking green beer on St. Patty's Day.
So whether this is your first St. Patty's Day or you're a seasoned veteran, here you'll find the recipe you need in order to make your own green beer on St. Patty's Day!
The Recipe
First things first: The beer!! If you really want to get a nice, bright, green-colored beer, you will need a light colored beer. Apologies to all you stout drinkers and hazy IPA lovers, but lighter beers facilitate the change in color much better, and you'll have a much better-looking result.
Secondly, you are going to need food coloring -- but not just any old food coloring, green food coloring, as blue will not work as a clever alternative. This is because adding blue to yellow-hued beer will result in a turquoise colored beer.
Grab a pint glass and add 3-5 drops of green food coloring. Make sure to add the coloring first and the beer after! Slowly pour the beer into the pint glass and watch the color mix as the beer goes in. If you want the coloring more vibrant add a drop or two more of food coloring.
Alternative Green Beer
If you're not up for the challenge of making your own home made green beer or you just simply don't like the taste of most light beers out there, you need not to worry. Not Your Father's Mountain Ale is a citrus brew that comes in a nice green bottle as shown below.
Not Your Father's Mountain Ale appears to be Mountain Dew made into beer. When poured it almost looks like Mountain Dew, with the same little fizz. It also even kinda smells like Mountain Dew as well and taste pretty spot on, with a slight alcohol/malty finish.
So if you like Mountain Dew, cheers because this brew is for you.
Not into Green Beer?
Does the sight of green beer just turn you off? Thats Ok. The Nitro Irish Stout pours an almost black color and smells of chocolate and roasted malts. It tastes of roast malt, light chocolate, coffee, light sweetness and the finish is dry with a roast linger. So if you're looking to celebrate St. Patty's Day but don't want to partake in the green beer tradition then this is the beer for you.
