How to make green beer for St. Patrick's Day

It's that time of year again when we start seeing Leprechauns pop up in more places than simply cereal boxes. And what better way to kick off St. Patrick's Day, a holiday generally synonymous with the drinking of alcohol, than with a glass of green beer.  Here's a step-by-step guide that's so easy you could tackle it even after having a couple of rounds.

1. Gather what you need

- A nice glass, ideally a pilsner-style glass for a lager.
- Some green food dye (don't bother trying to mix yellow and blue… it won't come out as nice).
- A lighter-colored beer (Harp Lager seems the obvious choice given the holiday's association with Ireland, but use what you wish).
- A spoon for mixing.

2. Pour the beer

Not too fast, not too fast.  We don't want too much of a head on that, unless you're going for a bright green nose for the holiday.

3. Add your food coloring

One drop at a time, work your way up to three or four drops into the glass.

4. Enjoy the wow factor

Watch the mesmerizing ribbons of shamrock work their way throughout the beer in waves.

5. Gently stir the brew

With your spoon, carefully mix the food coloring into the beer.  If you stir to roughly, you'll get too much foam at the top.  You may also want to lightly stir the beer's head itself to get a more uniform green color across it.

6. Drink

As beautiful as this work of St. Patrick's Day art is, it would be a travesty to let it sit there and get warm before sipping it down.  So go for it; you've earned it!  And as they say in Ireland, Erin go Bragh.