According to Roman Catholic tradition, St. Patrick's Day, March 17, is the official feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. As with all feast days, it is a day of prayer and remembrance in honor of the saint.
Approximately 1,500 years later, the world still pays homage to the "Apostle of Ireland" in a raucous holiday full of celebrations, parades and well, beer - lots of it.
By definition, any beverage called "beer" is one containing fermented grain, usually malt, that is flavored by hops. To create beer, yeast is used to convert sugar into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide - a process called fermentation.
"All beer can be made with four major ingredients: barley, water, hops and yeast," Rex Halfpenny, publisher of the Michigan Beer Guide, said.
The flavor then can be altered by changing the proportions of those ingredients and the brew method, Halfpenny said, which defines the beer's style.
"Barley creates the sweetness in beer. To balance that sweetness, hops has risen to become the dominant flavor additive (to date) and that adds bitterness," he said.
"It is generally accepted that all beer falls into those two families, ales and lagers," Halfpenny said. "Ales have been brewed for the majority of the past 10,000 years at ambient/room temperature. Lagers have been brewed in recent history with the aid of refrigeration."
Halfpenny said ales tend to be more fruitful and floral in taste and aroma, while lagers have a "clean and crisp" taste, produced by colder temperatures during brewing.
Beer is often described as having very similar flavors to food, like "hearty" or "rich."
"Beer is a great accompaniment with food because beer is liquid bread," Halfpenny said. "Finding a perfect beer to go with all kinds of foods is achievable."
He suggests looking at ales as red wine, served at room temperature and best with heartier foods, and lagers like white wine, better for foods with less taste, like fish.
Crunchy's bartender Alison Cox said she has noticed people's tastes often change with the seasons.
"Right now during the winter, they tend to lean towards stouts, because it is heavier and it is dark, and in the summer people tend to lean towards lighter beers," she said.
Years of beer tasting also can affect beverage preferences.
"The older crowd definitely likes more of the scotch ales or the darker ales - they have developed their beer palette more," Cox said.
On St. Patrick's Day, the traditional beverage choices include Irish beers such as Guinness or Murphy's Irish Stout or Killian's Irish Red.
"Hands down it's Guinness," Michael Ransbottom, executive chef at Beggar's Banquet said.
Why is it so popular? He said that while Guinness sells heavily on St. Patrick's Day, people may choose it for its Celtic roots more than its taste.
"It is hearty - more of a flavor experience," he said. "It takes more of a sophisticated palette."
Got a sweet tooth? Or maybe all this talk of yeast and herbs has turned the palette against the traditional brew.
For those seeking a sweet sip this holiday, try Lindemans Framboise Raspberry Lambic Beer. Made to accompany treats like ice cream or cake, this fruity beverage actually follows the traditional method of beer making when fruits, not hops, were commonly used to flavor beers.
Beer dyed green has become a March 17 custom. However, Ransbottom said the dye can flatten the taste.
"Green dye makes your beer taste funny," he said.
However, Cox said green beer still remains among the most popular drinks ordered on the holiday.
If you can't find what you're looking for on the shelf, brew up a batch as unique as you like right in your kitchen.
Mr. Beer Home Brewery sells home brewing kits starting at $39.95. The basic kit comes equipped with a brew keg with lid and tap, one standard brew pack, 12 reusable plastic caps, instruction manual and brewer's guide.
This St. Patrick's Day, honor the luck of the Irish by stopping into a local pub and ordering a tall mug, sip it slowly, and enjoy the refinement of a beverage that may just be too good to gulp.