Today is St. Patrick’s Day which, for better or worse, has become a widely accepted “drinking day”. I’ve lamented such in the past (and others have done it better than me) so I won’t dredge it up again.
I will, however, offer you good cheer and a wish for prosperity as you non-Irish celebrants drink your non-Irish Black & Tans. More important is that you spend the time with good friends. And please do so safely.
Ever since Ron posted his video on making a Black & Tan back in ’06 (then the updated version in ’08) “how to pour a black & tan” has been the most popular search term leading visitors to Hop Talk. Additionally, the traffic here really ramps up this time of year, peaking on St. Patrick’s Day and resulting in five to six times more visitors than usual.
They’re not Irish at all; they just use an iconic Irish beer. It seems odd for people to be so curious about them now. I suppose, though, that it’s a cut above “how to make green beer” (and significantly better than “when will my urine go back to its usual color”).
Anyway, if you’re looking for information on Black & Tans, you’ll find several links in the “Related Posts” section or with a quick search.
Are you planning on drinking something special for St. Patty’s Day?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLwmwt81NjM
Today is Saint Patrick’s Day, a feast day that has been co-opted to celebrate Ireland and Irish heritage. Or, in the case of most Americans, parody it within an inch of its life as an excuse to drink one’s self silly.
There are plenty of other people who are lamenting what this holiday has become and doing it much more eloquently than I can, so I’ll leave that to them. (Have a look at our Beerroll or search on the Beer Blog Search Engine.)
As has become an annual tradition around here, Ron’s videos on pouring a Black and Tan have become quite popular in the last week or so, doubling and trebling traffic to those pages. Another Irish tradition that’s not really Irish, but they’re good nonetheless. (Update: today is officially our best day for web traffic ever.)
I am someone who actually has some Irish blood in my family (my maternal grandmother was processed through Ellis Island when she came over in the twenties). I’ll just spend a quiet evening at home with some nice American craft beer and wondering what that earnest missionary from Roman Britain might have to say about all this.
Whatever you’re doing to celebrate, have fun and be safe.
An Irishman is sitting at the end of a bar. He sees a lamp at the end of the table. He walks down to it and rubs it. Out pops a genie. It says, “I will give you three wishes.”The man thinks awhile. Finally he says, “I want a beer that never is empty.”
With that, the genie makes a poof sound and on the bar is a bottle of beer. The Irishman starts drinking it and right before it is gone, it starts to refill. The genie asks about his next two wishes.
The man says, “I want two more of these.”
