Blackout rage gallons, aka BORGs, prevalent at Butte St. Patrick’s Day parade

If you were in Uptown Butte on St. Patrick’s Day, you couldn’t help but notice numerous people were walking around with plastic gallon jugs filled with some type of liquid.

That wasn’t flavored water in those jugs. It was actually pretty potent stuff.

Called a BORG, an abbreviation for blackout rage gallon, the large container is actually a mix of water, any kind of an electrolyte hydration drink such as Gatorade, Pedialyte or BODYARMOR, along with a liberal amount of vodka and sometimes a bit of Kool-Aid.

Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff Ed Lester is not too thrilled with BORGs.

“It’s kind of sad to see them carrying the gallon jugs because it’s too much alcohol and it generally leads to poor decisions,” he said.

BORGs are relatively new to Butte, and the sheriff said it has only been in recent years that mostly the college-aged crowd have been seen carrying them around before, during and after the parade.

“Too much green beer and Irish whiskey will severely limit brain power, but this stuff really expedites the process,” said the sheriff.

Sgt. Mike O’Connor of the Montana Highway Patrol said he was shocked to see how many parade-goers on Tuesday were carrying BORGs.

“They sure do a number on folks,” said O’Connor.

A relatively recent trend, a BORG, on average, contains the equivalent of 17 drinks, according to CNN.

“It’s a gallon of chaos with a side of electrolytes!” said Jimmy Kimmel on his late-night show on Tuesday.

Block Club Chicago, an online news organization, described BORGs as a “new St. Paddy’s Day tradition.”

The Windy City had its Irish parade on March 14, and the “new tradition” was plentiful.

“BORGs Invade Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, Leaving Streets Lined With Empty Jugs” was the online news organization’s headline.

On Sunday, South Boston held its annual St. Patrick’s Day parade and transit police reportedly confiscated several BORGs from revelers.

“Within the first 25 minutes, officers confiscated more than 30 blackout rage gallons or borgs, cans, and bottles at Broadway Station,” reported the website Boston.com.

Sheriff Lester said some people start drinking BORGs at 9 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day.

“By noon they don’t know if they’re on foot or on horseback,” he said.