St. Patrick’s: The day beer turns green

For 364 days of the year, 365 on leap year, beer hues range from various shades of yellow, gold and brown, until you reach a thick, rich black brew. On St. Patrick’s Day, reputedly the busiest day of the year for drinking establishments, beer colour often magically turns green, in homage to the Irish around the world.

Just over 4.4 million Canadians reported Irish ethnic or cultural origin in the 2021 Census—making it the third largest reported ethnic origin in the country—but legend has it that everyone is a little Irish on this “almost” spring day.

While Canadians may be toasting the Irish this St. Patrick’s Day, chances are the beer in their glass will be Canadian.

Indeed, domestic brew accounted for almost 9 out of every 10 dollars of beer sold nationally (88.6%) during the 2024/2025 fiscal year, including some of that famous Irish black beer, best served at room temperature.

Whatever country it is from, beer remains Canada’s alcoholic beverage of choice, accounting for over one-third (35.1%) of total alcohol sales in 2024/2025.

Nevertheless, by volume, beer sales fell 3.8% to 1.9 billion litres during in 2024/2025, the ninth consecutive annual decline. Canadians of legal age drank on average 3.1 standard bottles of beers a week, down from 4.0 beers in 2019/2020, prior to the pandemic.

Speaking of “green,” federal and provincial governments earned $13.1 billion from the control and sale of alcohol in 2024/2025, down 4.2% from a year earlier.