Like this? Read our St. Patty’s Day post for 2011!

Deep in red color and malty, Irish Red will be on tap for St. Patty's at Barley's in Henderson. It will be one of several special "Green" celebrations at Station Casinos bars.

IT SEEMS ALMOST every concept we have known from our earliest education has proven wrong as we grow up:

• “I” before “E” except after “C” (see weird, Budweiser, etc.)
• George Washington didn’t have wooden teeth.
• “French Fries” are not from France.
• The nursery rhyme doesn’t say anything about Humpty Dumpty being an egg.
• Coriolis Effect does not determine which way water spirals down the toilet.
• Shamrocks only have three leaves, not four.

There are also a couple of St. Patrick’s Day ideas that deserve a good strong dose of myth busting. St. Patrick, of course, is the patron saint of Ireland. He originally went to Ireland as a slave at age 16, taken by the Romans. He was given as a gift to a Druid Chieftain named Milchu. After six years he escaped and returned to his family. His father and grandfather were both Christian clergymen, and he chose to follow the family tradition. We’re not sure when he was born, but we understand he died on March 17, and that’s the day we celebrate the St Patrick’s Feast Day.

Go Green on Wednesday, March 17 for St. Patrick’s Day at Station Casinos

• $2 Green beers (All Day!) at three bars at Sunset Station
• Many, many drink specials at Quinn’s Irish Pub at Green Valley Ranch
• Music, drinks and the Irish Olympics Tournament at Aliante Station’s Access Showroom
• Get Lucky at the 4949 Lounge’s 3rd Annual St. Patty’s Day Celebration at Santa Fe Station

St. Patrick drank beer. Everyone did at the time. In fact, the church was active into beer making as a primary source of nutrition. Beer was pasteurized food thousands of years before Louis Pasteur was born, so it was safer to drink beer than water in many circumstances.

So for our first myth, green beer does not occur in nature, even in Ireland. Well, it may be out there somewhere, but I am leery of drinking things that turn green. (Had a bad experience as a kid…) Traditional Irish beer was red. The color came from the way the barley was dried in a kiln. Today, you can still get red ale from Smithwick’s (pronounced “Smithicks” with the “th” as in “the”), or seasonally at Barley’s in Henderson. Both are classic examples of the style, being very mild and malty. Black beer (i.e. Guinness) came along in the mid 1800’s after the introduction of Porter in England. Green beer isn’t Irish, it’s an American thing.

Second, the whole corned beef and cabbage thing is another non-Irish tradition. Cabbage was generally eaten with onions or leeks in a dish called “colcannon.” Beef was only for really wealthy folk. Occasionally it was served with bacon or lamb, but hey, this is supposed to be a feast. Go for the Irish breakfast! Eggs, bacon, sausage, hash, cheese, brown bread, sliced tomatoes, and maybe beans or black and white pudding if you can score it. Have a good Irish stew with soda bread for dinner, and top it off with Irish Red Ale and/or a spot of Irish whiskey.

Go traditional if you can, and don’t forget the wearin’ o’ the green. THAT’S traditional!

Cheers!

Jim Wilson
Brewmaster
Barley’s Casino and Brewing Co.