A SEA of green hit pubs across Newcastle as locals celebrated St Patrick's Day with good luck charms and a pint of Irish stout.
At The Grain Store, owner Corey Crooks took a more traditional approach to the celebration.
"For us, 95 per cent of the people here are Irish expats - so the whole dressing up and leprechaun thing, there are Irish people who are offended by that kind of caper, so we're pretty traditional here," he said.
"There might be people wearing their county Gaelic football shirt because 95 per cent of this crowd are Irish or Irish expats.
"It's a bit different to other places, we respect what it is which is a homage to their homeland."
Mr Crooks said the vibe on Friday was "electric" having ordered in O'Hara's Irish beers, Irish whiskey and a green hazy beer from Big Shed Brewing Concern in Adelaide for the occasion.
By the afternoon he'd already sold more food than previous years, with a traditional Dublin Coddle stew, a Guinness beef pie, McDonnells curry and chips and Irish bangers and colcannon on the menu.
"We certainly had ourselves prepared for it, and coming off the back of Supercars we had to get it all sorted quickly and I think we've pulled it off," Mr Crooks said.
Guinness rolled out 16,000 kegs across the country for the occasion, the equivalent of almost 1.4 million pints for the annual cultural and religious celebration.
Lion Australia data, which brews a number of Australian brands like XXXX, Little Creatures and James Squire, said Guinness is most popular in Perth, followed by Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.
"Whether you have Irish blood running through your veins, or you're simply looking to catch up with mates, today is a day when people from around the country come together to have a craic, whilst savouring one of the world's oldest and most-loved drinks," Lions Australia managing director David Smith said.
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