Popular St. Patrick’s Day tradition has Saskatchewan roots

Here’s a bit of St. Patrick’s Day trivia you might not know about: the green beer tradition in Western Canada started in Saskatoon.

“Whether you love it or hate it, everyone associates St. Patrick’s Day with green beer,” Jay Beavis said.

Beavis is part-owner of O’Shea’s Irish Pub in the city’s downtown. He says his grandfather, Ford Beavis, ran the historic Baldwin Hotel for two decades, between the 1940s and 1960s, and the hotel’s beverage room, known as the Shamrock Room, was the first bar to carry green beer.

READ MORE: Who was Saint Patrick?

“It’s pretty cool,” Beavis said. “Back in those days they used to change the whole keg green. Now we do it pint by pint.”

“So, there’s a bit of a tradition with green beer and St. Patrick’s Day with my family going back into the 60s.”

On March 17 O’Shea’s is celebrating its 17th St. Paddy’s Day.