Ohio University students and Athens residents can find green beer at the end of the figurative rainbow Wednesday as Court Street bars and others prepare to serve the tinted kegs to celebrate Green Beer Day.
Drink specials and other promotions are planned throughout the day at bars where employees expect to see an influx of day-drinkers ready to raise a green-colored glass to St. Patrick early.
Cat’s Corner, 110 W. Union St., will be participating in its first Green Beer Day this year. It opened just weeks after the celebration last year.
General manager Matt Stephens explained that the major distributors that serve Athens bars coordinate the annual special so pre-colored kegs can be delivered in time to celebrate in tandem. Stephens has bartended Green Beer Day in Athens in the past and is excited for Cat’s Corner’s own spin on the celebrations this year.
“It’s crazy,” Stephens said. “Everybody skips class and goes out.”
Cat’s Corner will have green Pabst Blue Ribbon and Miller Lite on draft, and bartenders will have green food dye on hand to turn other drinks green as well. Select green beers will be $2, and green tea shots will be available for $3.50.
Cat’s Corner also hopes to set itself apart by having a DJ for the night. DJ Marcellus Doe will also take over the Drunken Spelling Bee, which happens each Wednesday night.
“It’s a day-drinking thing, but at the same time, we’re going to try to focus on night drinking,” Stephens said.
Lucky’s Sports Tavern, 11 N. Court St., will also have kegs of Green Beer on hand, specifically Miller Lite and Bud Light. The Lucky’s bartenders are also willing to turn other beers and beverages green with food dye. A special on Jameson Irish Whiskey may also be available.
Courtney Crooks, a senior studying event management and a bartender at Lucky’s, hasn’t experienced Green Beer Day as either a bartender or a celebratory drinker. She’s looking forward to her morning shift during the celebration this year.
Because Green Beer Day falls on a Wednesday this year, it will also fall on the same day as Lucky’s weekly special of $5 liquor pitchers.
“It’ll kind of go hand-in-hand,” Crooks said. “We’ll have our regulars in and people who come for Green Beer Day.”
Macy Brammer, a junior studying psychology and criminology, celebrated last year’s Green Beer Day at The CI, 32 N. Court Street. She opted to drink in the evening rather than participate in the daytime festivities and was surprised at how relaxed the evening felt despite the special occasion.
Nevertheless, Brammer was happy to partake in the time-tested Athens tradition of drinking when the opportunity presents itself.
“I feel like if there’s any reason to drink, we just drink,” she said.
