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Craft Breweries Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day: Custom Pubs and Craft Brews

Mickey Finn's Brewery in Libertyville

Craft breweries celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style.

Small, independent, and traditional, craft breweries and brewpubs are often welcoming, cozy places to share a brew and a story or two. Because craft brewers are very connected to their customers and local communities through philanthropy and volunteerism, each brewery uniquely reflects the community and expresses the heritage and traditions of its owner.

Many craft breweries host their own unique St. Paddy’s Day celebration, complete with Irish food and beverages, along with Irish dancing and music. On St. Paddy’s Day, breweries and brewpubs are decked out in style, with decor befitting the celebration of the Irish 5th century saint.

Our local brewery Mickey Finn’s is planning three days of festivities. Owner Brian Grano hosts the annual Misericordia fundraiser to kick off St. Paddy’s weekend on Friday, March 15 from 5:30 to 9:30 pm. The brewmaster crafted a special brew just for the occasion called St. Pat’s Irish Ale. It is made with the brewery’s commitment to craft truly unique ales and lagers.

What goes into making craft beers? According to the Brewers Association, “The hallmark of craft beer and craft brewers is innovation. Craft brewers interpret historic styles with unique twists and develop new styles that have no precedent.”

Craft beers are made in small batches as compared to the big commercial breweries. This results in a good variety of beers, even at a small establishment. Equipment is scrupulously sanitized before the ingredients are added to the containers. The ingredients are boiled, fermented, and finally bottled or stored in kegs.

Here are some fun facts about brewing:

    • Almost 104,000 US jobs are created by craft brewers
    • An estimated 11,468,152 barrels of beer were sold by craft brewers in 2011
    • About 199,937,200 barrels of beer were sold in the US in 2011
    • The four key ingredients for beer: water, fermentable sugar(grains), hops, and yeast
    • There are two main types of beer yeast: ale and lager

Next time you’re at your local craft brewery, try a flight of beers to sample a variety of the brewmaster’s offerings and raise a pint in honor of St. Patrick.