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Celebrants drinking green dyed beer in The CI.

Students Go Green (Beer) To Honor St. Patrick’s Day


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Many Ohio University students started hitting the bars at noon on Wednesday – this time to celebrate an annual holiday.

22-year- Marketing student Cody Black.
Marketing student Cody Black.

Cody Black, a 22-year-old Marketing student, came with his friends to The CI to celebrate Green Beer Day. He came to the bars as soon as his classes ended and started to drink at 1 p.m.

Most bars on Court Street started serving drinks about 10 a.m., but the day is also about revelers staying out late.

Green Beer Day started at Miami (of Ohio) University in Oxford, and was first celebrated in 1952.

On Green Beer Day celebrants drink beer dyed in the typical Irish green, for which bartenders use food coloring.

The day is considered a warm-up for the coming weekend’s fests, and heralds the opening of the fest season.

The CI bar adorned with Saint Patrick's Day decoration.
The CI adorned with Saint Patrick’s Day decoration.

If his tolerance allows it, Black will drink until late in the night, he said. But Black also knows that it is not healthy to drink all day long.

“As long as you know how to pace yourself you will be good. But if you go out pretty soon, like 1 p.m., yeah it’s not going to be very good for you,” Black said.

The CI’s bar manager Ryan Rex is aware that this means there might be more drinking than some customers can handle.

“As bartenders and as bar employees we keep an eye on people. Especially on people that start drinking early in the day,” Rex said. “We don’t want them to drink too much or to get too drunk. So we always have an eye out for people we think may be drinking too much or need to slow down.”

Rex’s advice to students was, above all, to be of age when going to the bars, and to drink with care.

Bar manager Ryan Rex.
Bar manager Ryan Rex.

The day is a celebration to make up for students missing Saint Patrick’s Day, which typically happened when OU was on the quarter system and the day fell during Spring Break.

Green Beer Day gave students a chance to celebrate the St. Patrick’s Day they’d missed together.

Bar owners say since OU changed their school schedule and spring break starts earlier, Green Beer Day isn’t needed. But students won’t give the tradition up.

“Green Beer Day is about bringing the whole school together. Coming out and enjoying each other’s company and having a great day together,” Black said.

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