Why would anyone want to drink Green Beer?

My wife asked me this question before the Hilton Head Island St. Patrick's Day Parade last weekend and It's been bothering me ever since.

Being that I'm half Irish, I guess she figures I'm an authority on all things surrounding St. Patrick's Day.

I'd call myself a beer purist. My wife calls me a beer snob. Either way, I've always wondered why anyone would ruin a perfectly good beer with food coloring.

In honor of the holiday, I'm keeping an open mind this year and am doing a little research to see what other people are saying on the subject.

First, I'm going to digress with a side trip to the fridge for a Sam Adams Noble Pils and a fresh stack of thin mints, then it's off to Google for some answers.

The recipe seems simple enough: Add a drop of food coloring to the bottom of a pint glass, Add beer and Stir. Prep time - 10 seconds. Festive meter - off the charts.

That's it! This works for any beer. If you're going for Kryptonite Green, then light beer is best. Darker beers like stout will have a nice green head atop their normally dark bodies.

It comes as no surprise to me that the Sierra Club is continuing their annual Blogging about Going Green for St. Patrick's Day. This year they're promoting that party-goers should ride their bike to the bar to reduce the carbon footprint.

I scoured their archives to find a 2008 Blog about some of the up and coming "Green Breweries," including New Belgium, CO; Sierra Nevada, CA; and Otter Creek, VT - all of which utilize solar, wind or water to power their machinery and thus produce their own version of Green Beer.

Alan Shaw of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune summed it up for me when he wrote, "I don’t understand the green beer thing. Sure, I guess it’s just supposed to be fun, but can’t we have a little respect for beer? At least don’t put green dye in craft beer. That would be like pouring sugar in good wine or ketchup all over a gourmet meal."

I'd have to say I agree. I guess I just can't seem to get past why anyone would pollute good beer.

But don't let me stop you. Raise your mug and give Green Beer a try for yourself. Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day! Cheers!

10 Green Beer Facts

• Fact: Works best in lighter colored beer
• Fact: Any green food dye works
• Fact: No change in taste
• Fact: Best with chilled beer mug or glass
• Fact: Ginger ale works for children
• Fact: Doesn't work well in dark beer, but turns foam green
• Fact: Best when adding food dye first
• Fact: Green Beer is most commonly associated with St. Patrick's Day 
• Fact: Today is St. Patrick’s Day, honoring the patron saint of Ireland, who died exactly 1,550 years ago in 461
• Fact: Four leaf clovers are indeed rare, but they aren't exactly one in a million. It is estimated that there is one four leaf clover for every 10,000 three-leaf ones.