How to Dye Keg Beer Green

How to Make a Barrel Train
Published: Jan 4, 2010
Updated: Jan 10, 2019
1 minute read
24096806
Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

Green beer is an American St. Patrick's Day tradition. You can buy kegs of green beer from your local liquor store, or you may choose to add your own green coloring. But beer cannot be dyed while in the keg unless the color is added during the brewing process. Add a non-toxic, natural food coloring. Blue dye is ideal for making green beer. When the dye is dispensed into yellow beer, it turns a nice shade of green. Lighter beers have the best results. Darker beers tend to keep their normal color and only the foam "head" of the beer is colored green. A health food algae called spirulina can be substituted for the blue dye. It is a natural green coloring that works best on light colored beers.

Brew a keg of light-colored beer.

Add food coloring using the syringe provided with the dye injector kit. Brewers recommend adding about three ounces of dye for a keg of beer.

Pressurize the keg to prevent beer from getting flat. Home brewers can do this themselves, but the equipment for pressurizing can be expensive which is why most home brewers choose to bottle their beers. Another option is to take the keg to a local brew master or retailer to have it pressurized. This typically costs around $10.

Photo Credits

Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

Amanda Ballard Coates

Amanda Ballard Coates is a Certified Professional Coder (CPC) and a member of the American Association of Professional Coders. She is also a freelance writer and photographer. She writes mostly nonfiction and has been published on several…

Sponsored
Our Everyday Life Logo

Explore our everyday life, the best source for food and drink tips, health and general wellness, healthy relationships and much more.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.