17
March
2022
Green beer is a staple when celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Today, 4.2 billion pints of green brew are consumed to mark the holiday. But when did green beer originate and how did they make it?
Green beer is said to have originated in 1914, New York City. Dr. Thomas Hayes Curtin, a coroner, decided to make everything green, including the beer, for his St. Patrick’s Day dinner at a Bronx social club. How did he do it? By adding an iron-based laundry whitener known as “wash blue”! Wash blue is an iron based power with a dye embedded in it, used then traditionally to brighten white clothing. When combined with lager, in a small enough quantity to not be toxic, it made for a great green beer.
Prior to Dr. Curtin, a 1910 edition of the Spokane Press reported the occurrence of a green beer, but there is no report to how this Washington barman created his green concoction.
Green beer is said to have originated in 1914, New York City. Dr. Thomas Hayes Curtin, a coroner, decided to make everything green, including the beer, for his St. Patrick’s Day dinner at a Bronx social club. How did he do it? By adding an iron-based laundry whitener known as “wash blue”! Wash blue is an iron based power with a dye embedded in it, used then traditionally to brighten white clothing. When combined with lager, in a small enough quantity to not be toxic, it made for a great green beer.
Prior to Dr. Curtin, a 1910 edition of the Spokane Press reported the occurrence of a green beer, but there is no report to how this Washington barman created his green concoction.