More than any other holiday, St. Patrick’s day revolves around everyone’s favorite beverage — Chocolate Milk! Beer! Being a Miami University grad, I have a special place in my heart for a light domestic lager, dyed green and consumed before the sun rises. If you’ve never been to Green Beer Day in Oxford, OH, you’re missing one of life’s joys. But, since we’ve grown up a bit, and now enjoy a craft brew instead, I’ve decided to give you some of my favorite craft beers to enjoy this weekend. Sticking with the Irish theme, I’m focusing on Stouts, Porters, and Red Ales.

Stouts/Porters:

If Guinness is too cliche for your tastes, try these to fill your dark beer cravings.

Nitro Milk Stout — Left Hand Brewing:

Nitro Milk Stout by Left Hand Brewing Co. is one of my favorite stouts. It’s thick, sweet, creamy, and smooth as silk. The notes of coffee and chocolate are rounded out by the creamy addition of nitrogen. Just make sure you pour this one vertically and aggressively to get the full nitro effect!

Edmund Fitzgerald — Great Lakes:

Great Lakes’ Edmund Fitzgerald porter is one that I’ve always considered a “man’s beer”. It always reminded me of drinking a beer, and smoking a cigar. The dark, burnt, roasted flavors give it a deep and smoky profile. This is one of Great Lakes’ best offerings, and if you know anything about them or their reputation, that’s saying a lot!

Tart of Darkness — The Bruery:

While this is technically a sour, and not really all that “Irish”, Tart of Darkness by the Bruery is one of the best beers I’ve ever had. It’s a soured stout so it has the flavor profiles of both a sour beer and a stout which creates an amazingly complex beer. Every sip of this beer reveals more character and depth. Check out our review of it here!

Red Ales:

Sinuous — North Peak:

If you are a follower of our site and videos, you’ll know that Ron’s favorite beer in the world is North Peak’s Sinuous. This Celtic Ale has a malt forward beer with notes of toffee, toast, and caramel sweetness. It starts malty, finishes clean, and at 5.6% ABV, you can enjoy a few of these in your celebration without stumbling too much.

Censored — Lagunitas:

You can read my full review of Lagunitas Censored here, or just pick one up and enjoy it for yourself. This copper ale is sweet, bready and full of caramel. It’s not a beer that you can have a full six pack of, due to it’s sweetness, but throwing it into your mix on St. Patrick’s day is a great idea.

St. Rogue Red: Rogue

Rogue’s St. Rogue Red is a twist on the red ale. Red’s are normally malt centric and full of caramel and toffee flavors, but St. Rogue is a bit brighter, with citrus and green apple notes thrown into the mix. This can almost be thought of as a session red, it’s lighter, but still has some well developed depth and complexity.

Classics:

You can’t go wrong with these beers. They’re iconic and Irish, but not technically part of the craft beer movement. Either way, they deserve some acknowledgement for being solid picks.

It would be wrong of me to create a St. Patty’s beer list and not include Ireland’s national drink! Guinness is the original bad boy of brewing. It’s deep, burnt, coffee-like taste is too bold for many light-beer drinkers. It’s hypnotizing, cascading settling process is second to none. It’s thick texture with low carbonation leads many people to describe it as a “beer milkshake”, but we know better, it’s just plain delicious.

Smithwick’s:

Dubbed “Ireland’s Oldest Ale”, Smithwick’s is a fantastic Irish red that starts malty and sweet and finishes dry.

There are plenty of drinks to choose for your St. Patrick’s day celebration, but if you have a chance, pick up some of the brews above and give your taste buds a treat. But, however you celebrate this weekend, please remember to drink responsibly!

Want to recommend a brew for St. Patrick’s day? Leave a comment below and see if it can make our list for next year.

Cheers!

Sources:

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