St Patrick’s Day- Life Before Green Beer

Why Green Beer?

Green beer, now who thought that one up? Enter the mystical world of Saint Patrick’s Day.  The day in which you can swig green beer, can try your hand at speaking like an Irishman, and look for “ye pot of gold.”

Who is responsible for the green beer?  Who knows, seems no one wants to admit that, but for some odd reason they wanted to drink green-dyed beer.  Maybe the traditional St Patrick’s Day beer, Guinness Stout, was to strong for them and not wanting fellow St Paddy’s Day partygoers to know,  they dyed their light beer green.

What Is The relationship Between St Patrick’s Day & Shamrocks?

The idea of the green beer might come from the shamrock.  It is associated with St Paddy’s Day is because Saint Patrick used the shamrock to explain the trinity of the Christian’s God to pagans. We use the shamrock during St Patrick’s Day celebrations as a decoration or as part of our food designs.  Personally, I like shamrock-shaped cupcakes and cookies.  These finger foods are great for parties!

The Traditional Leprechaun & Pot-of-Gold

The pot o’ gold comes from the tradition of leprechauns. A mythology Irish fairy, a leprechaun is the keeper of a pot-of-gold.  If you find a leprechaun, he is required to lead you to his pot-of-gold.

Some say that St Patrick used the leprechaun as an analogy of God — one who remains hidden and feared, but who has great wealth for those that find him.  Ireland’s green green spring grass is the favorite hiding  spot for Leprechauns. This is another reason for using the color green on March 17th.

The mystical association of a  pot o’ gold makes it a great idea for party decorations.  Take some wee little black pots fill them with gold-foiled chocolate coins and you’ve got yourself a mini pot’ o’ gold party favor.  While traditional Irish beer is usually dark, you could always put your light golden-colored beer  in a clear glass and call it your  pot o’ gold.  A big pot can be filled with chips and dip for a tasty pot o’ food.

A St Patrick’s Day party is one of the easiest get-togethers you can throw. Green is your party color. Food is anything from corned beef and cabbage to chips and dips, shamrock cookies, sandwiches cut in shapes of shamrocks and beer, beer and more beer!  If you don’t like beer, you could always dye ginger ale green.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! May “the luck of the Irish be with ya!”