Erin Go Brew

A drop or two will do

Drinking green beer is a well-known tradition among those who celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. But how exactly does one go about turning the beer green? It may be obvious, or it may be shocking how simple it is, but the secret to green beer is green food coloring. Ta dah.

Most sources on the inter-webs report that anywhere from one to three drops of green standard-issue food coloring will do the trick. It’s important not to overdo it as too much food coloring may stain the enjoyer’s teeth, not to mention that you might taste the food coloring. Basically, drop your food coloring into the glass before you pour so that the act of pouring will evenly distribute the color throughout the brew.

One contributor suggested using blue food coloring as opposed to green, as most beers are at least some shade of yellow which, when mixed with the blue, would make green (remember art class). I’ve found that this does work, but the head will be blue, which isn’t very St. Patty’s like.



As beautiful as the Irish countryside

As for which beer to choose, obviously, the darker the beer, the harder it will be to turn green. Guinness is a classic Irish dry stout and a St. Patrick’s Day main stay. But as it is jet black, the best you’ll get from coloring it is green head. There are several lighter Irish beers you could use instead, such as Harp Lager or Smithwicks Irish Red Ale which are much easier to turn green.

If you want to make green beer for your friends at some sort of St. Patrick’s Day party, I would experiment first in order to get it right. It depends on what kind of beer you’re using and how green you want it to be as to how much food coloring to use. If you’re greening up your beer for your own personal use, than who cares how it turns out. Have fun with it. Sláinte!

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!