5 Best Things You Didn't Know About Green Beer for St. Patrick's Day

Green beer, whether you like it or not, is a mainstay of St. Patrick's Day festivities. The history of Green beer is actually pretty interesting, even though some bars may use it as an opportunity to serve inferior brews. These five facts about this festive mixture may surprise you.

1. Ireland is not where the custom of sipping green beer on St. Patrick's Day originated. The vibrantly hued beer was created in the United States.
2. An M.D. created the first green beer: Dr. Thomas Curtin, a coroner's physician and eye surgeon, first colored beer for an annual St. Patrick's Day celebration at the Schnerer Club of Morrisania in the Bronx. In an article from The Evening Independent in 1914, the doctor remains vague about his recipe, only detailing "a drop of wash blue in a certain quantity of the beer." We know it was paired with a big dinner, too.
3. According to the first volume of Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History, there's a centuries-old Irish custom known as "drowning the shamrock," in which drinkers literally add green shamrocks to their beverages on St. Patrick's Day. That could have been the great doctor's inspiration.
4. When using blue food coloring, the best green beer is produced. Curtin used a powdered iron called "wash blue," which is meant to whiten clothing. Because blue food coloring balances the light beer's inherent yellowish hue, it continues to produce the best results today.
5. Despite its reputation, some serious brewers have dabbled in green beer. Dogfish Head and Captain Lawrence in New York both used spirulina, a blue-green algae, as a colorant.

Make your own green beer by adding a drop of green or blue food coloring at a time to a light beer, such as a blonde, pale ale, or Pilsner. Or, while paying attention to the flavor, test the natural color of matcha, green plants, or candies.

Enjoy your St. Patrick's Day drinks with our recipes for Irish soda bread, corned beef, dingle pies, and more, whether you prefer Irish whiskey, green beer, or a dark Guinness.