St. Patrick's Day Green Beer

By Frank Holes, Jr.

Each year, we brew a light beer colored green just for St. Patrick's
Day. It is an easy to follow recipe that even a beginner can make.
It has become an annual event, and is perfect for parties. If you
get it brewing in late January or early February, it should be ready
for the big day.

INGREDIENTS:
2 gallons of good water
4 lbs of Pale Malt Syrup
3 lbs Dried Malt Extract (DME) Plain Light
1 lb Rice Syrup
1 oz Liberty Hops
1 oz Irish Moss
1 oz Mt. Hood Hops
1 package of liquid American Ale yeast (or a packet of dry yeast if
it's all you have)
8 to 16 drops of green food coloring

Directions:
In your large brew kettle, bring 2 gallons of water to a boil. The
more water available to boil at the beginning will provide you with a
much lighter colored finished product, making it easier to color.

Place the malt syrup (still in its container) in a large bowl of warm
water to make it easier to work with.

Once the kettle comes to a boil, slowly add the liquid malt syrup,
stirring constantly. Add the dry malt extract (I like to pour off a
bit of the wort and whisk in the DME in a large bowl, then pour
everything back in to the kettle) and the rice syrup.

Once all the malt is stirred in, add the Liberty hops. Start your
timer for a 45 minute boil. Stir often.

With 15 minutes left in the boil, add the Irish Moss. At 5 minutes
left, add the Mt. Hood hops.

Once the boil time is over, remove the kettle from heat (I like to
pour the wort off into another large pot I can cool in the sink - or
use a wort chiller if you have one). Reduce the temperature to around
75 degrees F.

Pour your wort into your primary fermentor, being sure to leave the
bottom dregs in the pot. Fill up to the 5 gallon line with room
temperature water, being careful to stay between 68 and 76 degrees F
(don't kill the yeast). Add in the green food coloring a little at a
time, stirring well, until you reach the desired green coloring.

Stir in the yeast (pop your liquid yeast several hours or even a day
earlier if necessary) well, and seal the fermentor with an airlock.
Store in a room temperature place out of the way for 7-14 days. You
can re-rack into a secondary fermentor after 7 days if you wish.

Bottle and store for three more weeks (taste and carbonation both
improve in my opinion). You can also add another few drops at
bottling if you want more green coloring. This beer will keep in
bottles for up to 4 months (but they probably will disappear well
before then). This makes 5 gallons.

This light ale is perfect for the coloring, and it is excellent for
drinking in mass quantity, which usually accompanies the St.
Patrick's holiday. Be sure to share your green beer with friends and
family. They'll be amazed at your ingeniousness, though you'll know
how easy it really is.