Go Green! Beer, Irish Whiskey and More for St. Patrick's Day

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day — folks seemingly everywhere will indulge in Irish whiskey and beer, while others dine on corned beef and cabbage, their once-a-year Irish treat.

To help you celebrate this quintessential Irish holiday, I’ve pulled together a guide to enjoying a Gluten-Free St. Patrick’s Day. In it, you’ll find recipes and other information on keeping St. Patrick’s Day safe when you’re following the gluten-free diet.

You’ll also find my list of gluten-free beers, which is growing every year — it wouldn’t surprise me (much, anyway!) if you find gluten-free beer on tap at your favorite Irish pub tomorrow night.

Finally, every year around this time, I get questions from readers about whether they safely can drink Irish whiskey. There’s some debate in the celiac/gluten-sensitive community about whether whiskey and other spirits derived from gluten grains are safe — some experts say they are due to the distillation process, while others (including me) report major reactions from them.

Here’s some more information on the subject: Is Whiskey Gluten-Free? The bottom line is, you’ll need to decide for yourself, based on your own reactions, whether you want to drink Irish whiskey. If you decide against it, my overall article on alcohol (Is Alcohol Gluten-Free?) will give you some fun alternatives.

Enjoy, and happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Photo from Getty Images/Pat LaCroix