Guinness, schmuinness: this is St. Paddy's Day--drink local.

• Author: Jones, Marty

OK, this is the month when seemingly all of America raises glasses of Guinness Stout to the patron saint of Ireland. But while you're toasting Saint Patrick on March 17, Brian Dunn will be raising a glass to a different holy Emerald Isle icon: St. Bridget.

"She's an Irish patron saint," Dunn says, "who miraculously transformed her bathwater into beer for thirsty clerics."

Now there's a person worthy of sainthood. She's also worthy of her own beer, and Dunn and his crew at Denver's Great Divide Brewing Co. honor her with St. Bridget's Porter. It's a cola-colored ale with lovely notes of coffee and chocolate that's the perfect locally made alternative to the Guinness that flows so freely around St. Paddy's Day.

And why not drink locally come 3-17? Sure, if there's Irish blood in your family tree, it makes sense to drain a few pints of the dark, low-alcohol Irish brew that hallmarks the holiday. But the odds are your connection is greater to Colorado than the land of U2, so fuel your fun with in-state brews.

Lefthand Brewing Co. in Longmont makes a delicious Milk Stout that's made with a dose of lactose, the milk sugar that defines the beer's style. Lefthand's version features a skim-milk mouthfeel, subtle notes of coffee, mocha and dark malts, and a hit of residual sweetness that rounds out the beer nicely. A recent Draft Magazine review deemed it "quite possibly the best stout in America."

The folks at Odell's Brewing in Fort Collins produce an exceptional Imperial Stout. This British-style, extra-strength stout also delivers flavors of coffee and cocoa, along with a wonderfully round softness in the middle. Originally created as part of Odell's Five Barrel small-batch program, it's now an annual spring offering that would make St. Patrick proud.

These beers are available on your local shelves, along with a number of other dark gems from in-state brewers. Your local brewpub is most likely also offering an obsidian ale that's just right for the season.

Of course, these black beers are a long way from the green-dye-enhanced beers that make so many revelers happy on Paddy's holiday. But the practice of adding food coloring to beer makes craft gurus, well, cringe. "It's a cheesy American tradition that, ideally, would be reserved for fraternity parties," says Todd Isbell, one of the brewers...