St. Patrick’s Day is Friday. That means it’s time for the annual beer blessing. The Tasting Room of Louisiana at 812 3rd Street in downtown Alexandria will receive his blessing at noon. The blessing at Fighting Hand Brewing Company, 1600 Military Highway, Pineville will be at 6 p.m
It is a St. Patrick’s Day tradition in central Louisiana
Melissa Scarborough, owner of the Tasting Room, was Finnegan’s head bartender. When Scarborough took over the house, she felt it was a tradition worth preserving.
The blessing has been an annual St. Patrick’s Day tradition in central Louisiana since the mid-2000s. It started in a pub called Finnegan’s Wake. It later became The Tasting Room of Louisiana.
The blessing is written in the official rites of the Catholic Church
Father Chad Partain, who has blessed beer in recent years, explained in a previous Town Talk article that the tradition dates back to Gambrinus, the “patron saint of beers,” in modern-day France around 800.
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“Bless, o Lord, this creature beer, made by thy power from corn kernels. May it be a healthy drink for mankind, help for body and soul.”
Why Bless Beer?
“As Christians, we have always blessed food. Beer is a food so we bless beer in a special way because it is the beginning of spring, a turn of the year as we prepare to celebrate the joy that comes with Easter,” he told Father Stephen Brandow in one Town Talk article 2020.
Monks brewed beer to supplement the diet
Traditionally, monks brewed beer to supplement their often meager diets, especially during periods such as Lent when they did not eat meat. They sometimes sold the beer and branded it after their monasteries’ patron saints – a tradition that lives on today, with several brands of beer named after saints.
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Tasting Room, Fighting Hand to keep Blessing of the Beer Friday
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