Some bars are opening earlier on Green Beer Day and will serve green-dyed beer to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
Courtney Kalb said she takes rudeness from customers in stride — and she expects rudeness Wednesday when customers take to the bars for Green Beer Day.
“They’ll be blacked out by like 4,” Kalb, a bartender at The J Bar, 41 N. Court St., said.
J Bar is one of many bars on Court Street to celebrate Green Beer Day, which typically is celebrated by drinking beer that has been dyed green in honor of St. Patrick's Day on March 17.
Wednesday will have a high of 74 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, and Kalb expects the warm weather will bring an abundance of customers.
Many bars will open early for the occasion. J Bar opens at noon for the rush, which is four hours earlier than they typically open, Kalb said.
Green Beer Day began as a Miami University tradition but has caught on at Ohio University, where students often skip class to join the festivities, according to a previous Post report,
Not all bars, however, join in on the green-themed fun.
Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery, 24 W. Union St., did not serve green beer last year but offered traditional Irish beer instead, according to a previous Post report.
Jonathan Holmberg, a Jackie O’s bartender, said at the time many beer distributors often dye their product themselves, and bars order it in advance.
Kalb said some bartenders add green dye to regular kegs of beer then roll them on their side to mix it in.
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Steve Van Fleet, owner of Pawpurr's Bar, 37 N. Court St., said when the bar first began celebrating Green Beer Day, he used food coloring to dye each beer by hand.
When OU still used the quarter system, Van Fleet said, St. Patrick’s Day fell during spring break, so Green Beer Day gave students a chance to celebrate in Athens.
Students will be at OU for St. Patrick’s Day this year, but bars are celebrating Green Beer Day a week in advance regardless.
“Now you get two Paddy’s Days,” Van Fleet said, adding that the growing event was phenomenal last year. “It was balls to the walls, open to close."
Ryan Wittmann, a bartender at Cat’s Eye Saloon, 12 N. Court St., said the staff initially expected less people to partake in the festivities because St. Patrick’s Day no longer fell during spring break. He maintains that Green Beer Day was a bigger deal during the quarter system.
“Bars needed a way to make money off people,” Wittmann said.
Noah Allmaras, bartender at The Crystal, 34 N. Court St., said the rush Wednesday will be comparable to an average Thursday night.
The Crystal bought beer for the occasion based on the amount they sold last year, he said.
Ty Word, general manager at Courtside Pizza, 85 N. Court St., said the bar ordered 20 kegs of Bud Light for the occasion.
“Every year’s different,” Word said. “Sometimes it’s dead by about 9. Sometimes it goes all night. We’re just going to play it by ear.”
Based on previous years, Word said he does not think Courtside will get too crazy until about 3 p.m.
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