When I woke up today (March 17th… Paddy’s Day) I knew that I was going to laugh in the face of craft beer “culture”. I knew that at some point I was going to drink a beer that was an abomination in the traditional craft beer sense of the word. Yet, as I put on my green hoodie, and I walked past the leprechaun traps that my kids, my wife, and I set the night before, I couldn’t help but smile… Paddy’s Day was finally here.

In an article over on their website, Hoperatives made the call for us to “Just Say No… To Green Beer”. While I think I might get where they’re coming from, I can’t help but feel that they’re also missing the point… and maybe might be even calling folks like me out – you know… those of us who LOVE to celebrate this quasi-holiday in spectacular drinking fashion.

We have to talk about this.

The History, And How We Got Here.

Saint Patrick’s Day wasn’t always about green beer and leprechauns… in fact, at one time it was a day to feast and to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland. There were plenty of legends that surrounded Saint Patrick himself that made folks feel the need to celebrate him, however, as it usually goes… we as Americans took it and ran with it. In 1737 Boston held its first St. Patrick’s Day parade, New York following in 1762, and before you can even mention driving snakes out of a country… Paddy’s Day was very American.

Chicago first dyed their river green in 1962, and it was a clear picture of where things were going. Over the top doesn’t even begin to describe what we were doing, but for the most part, it came from a good place. One of the great joys of this country is that we’re all a little bit of everything. That’s why things like Paddy’s Day, Cinco De Mayo, or Oktoberfest take off in the way that they do. We want to celebrate where we came from as much as we like to celebrate where we are today.

The over-the-top nature of Paddy’s Day is a great representation of what we do with stuff… we take it to an extreme. For good or bad, in fact. The United States puts our own spin on things by pushing them to their boundaries, and just owning the extravagance of what we’ve created.

What We Do

Walk into any bar on Paddy’s Day and you’ll get the same, strange, picture. Irish Stouts, loud singing, and beer, dyed green. Much in the same way that it didn’t make “sense” back in 1962 when Chicago dyed the river green for the first time… it’s odd – but it’s part of what we do. It’s a day where we all celebrate the fact that there’s a little bit of Ireland in us, and a LOT of bit of America in us.

And that’s ok.

You can build leprechaun traps with your kids. You can wear green. You can just have fun, something that is desperately missing from today’s craft beer culture. You don’t have to do any of it… but for the love of Pleepleus himself (if you know, you know) – there shouldn’t be any reason that we should be telling you that you shouldn’t be drinking something.

It’s something that I embrace on days like today, much harder than I might on others.

Green, Glittery Beer

I stopped in to one of our local taprooms today in search of something that makes me giggle. The brewery takes their Helles lager, dyes it green, and adds a food-safe glitter to the keg.

It doesn’t actually do anything to the beer, other than make it certainly not adhere to style guidelines, make nerds groan, and make folks smile when they’re drinking it… It’s beautiful. I understand when folks like the great people over at Hoperatives.com turn their noses up at the idea, but in the same way that a crystal clear pilsner, or a hazy orange juice-like IPA bring a smile to my face – just from seeing the beer pass across a bar from the other side of the room – so does this beer.

There’s something about just hanging out with folks… drinking beer just for the sake of enjoying yourself, that we can easily miss out on when we get too hung up in the “craft” of it all. Sometimes it’s ok to just have a beer.

If the liquid in your glass brings a smile to your face, if it brings you and the person next to you at the bar closer together, if it starts a conversation – you’re winning.

On that note: drunken debauchery is ok, as long as you’re safe, you’re responsible and you have fun with it. Drink what you want – and send your pictures to both me, and Hoperatives on social media as you do it.

Sláinte.