| Many Canadians don’t realize that in Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is a religious and political holiday, not the Guinness-and green beer-soaked drunken silliness the breweries and drinking establishments lead us to believe it is in North America.
As legend has it, the man who would later become known as St. Patrick was not originally from Ireland, nor was his name Patrick. This Roman Briton named Maewyn Succat was kidnapped in or around 460 AD by the Irish pagans, and forced into slavery for six years. When Maewyn escaped, depending on whom you believe, he became an ordained priest in France or Britain and returned to Ireland to convert the pagan heathens to Catholicism using his new name, Patrick.
Everyone named to sainthood must have completed a miracle, Patrick’s being that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland. But the funny thing is, snakes were never indigenous to that country – many believe that this tale of snakes was used to symbolize his having brought the Catholic religion to Ireland. Two centuries after his death, Patrick was made the patron saint of Ireland, and since the day of his death, March 17, falls during the Christian season of Lent, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by excusing its prohibitions with lots of drinking and maybe a jig or two.
For North America, with its large immigrant Irish population, March 17 has mutated into people with little to no Irish heritage drinking beer that has been dyed green. By evening’s end, their mouths, lips and teeth are green. If you really want to get an Irishman’s Celtic knot to unravel, order him one of these green beers.
Skip the fake stuff and go for the greenest of green – organic beer that even an unconverted heathen can enjoy all year long. The Fish Tale Brewing Company of Olympia, Washington is out to save the masses one organic beer at a time. All the ingredients in their beers are certified organic and grown without the use of the harmful fertilizers and pesticides that damage streams and groundwater, giving a purer and more wholesome taste.
· Fish Tale Organic Pale Ale: An easy drinker, with a fresh, cookie toastiness, ending with slightly fruity flavours of melon and nectarine and a slight, but not overpowering, spicy hop of mouth-drying bitterness.
· Fish Tale Organic India Pale Ale: This full-bodied robust ale of sunburst colour has a complex, assertive malt profile, finishing with residual sweetness and a dense hop profile of grapefruit, pine and woodiness.
· Fish Tale Wild Salmon Organic Pale Ale: This pleasant session beer has the smoky peach colour of wild salmon and a nose of toasted caramel, with a citrus hop flavour and fresh spruce aroma.
The people at Fish Tale Ales extend their concern for the environment by donating a portion of sales proceeds to various charities, many of which have a water or wildlife theme. Whether pagan, heathen or religious, you can drink green, without the dye, this "Fish Friday." Happy St. Patrick’s Day! |
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