No green beer
except in stagnant pools.

Too soon Tsunami:
Too late prayers,

No green tea leaves
to read.
Too late warning:
Too soon need;

No green party.
No green berets,
in a Napoleon
world torn apart;


Too sad,
too much.

No more
green beer.

Not yer typical St Paddy's Day beer

Amazingly enough, there is such a beast as "green beer", and I am not talking only of the dreadful Guinness-and-green-food-dye beloved of so many booze-blasted faux-Irish on Saint Padraig's Day.

The drink in question is Berliner Weisse, a sour wheat beer brewed, as one might expect, in Berlin. It is brewed using "wild" yeasts, or by adding the Lactobacillus bacteria, either of which can add the sourness in the form of lactic acid. They are weaker than many beers, typically around 3-4% ABV. This is due to sugar becoming not yummy alcohol, but the aforementioned acid.

Ah, I hear you ask "Is the beer actually green?" Well, I am forced to admit that in its natural form, it's a pale straw-coloured brew. The greenness comes from one of the two traditional additives - raspberry syrup and woodruff syrup. It is the latter that makes it green, albeit a pale, almost lime green. The syrup is added at the point of purchase (see beer hall) to the customer's taste. Not everyone likes the full sourness of the beer, you see, so some folk have become accustomed to asking for a grüne Weiße or a rote Weiße depending on their taste.

It is quite hard to find imported Berlinerweiße in California, although there are several US breweries that make beer in this style. Come to that, it's probably made in other countries, and doubtless enjoyed in the same way.

So, here's one in the eye for all you folk who believe that "everyone is Irish on Saint Patrick's Day". Cheers!


Brought to you by the people who brought you Saint Baldrick's Day
Thanks to DonJaime for the reminder

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