Brü It Yourself | Irish Goodbyes Smoked Rye Maple Ale

Author: Steve Thanos

Living in the Midwest, I’ve come to associate certain things with each season, and during Autumn, this includes sitting around a bonfire in my backyard with my wife. During these moments, I’ve found a characterful beer is a beautiful accompaniment that balances the nip of the cool evening air.

Recently, I began formulating an idea for a beer that represents my experience during those relaxing times, my goal being to produce a sort of nostalgia-in-a-glass. Given the season, I felt it apropos to start with a rich, malty base then layer in notes of smokiness to emulate the crackling fire.

Having brewed my fair share of smoked beers, I had a good idea of where I wanted to take this recipe, though I felt it was lacking in uniqueness. I then decided to use rye malt to add a silky mouthfeel and earthy note, as well as maple flavoring to convey the sweetness I experience from my wife, and the result is what I call Irish Goodbyes.

| Making Irish Goodbyes Smoked Rye Maple Ale |

My goal was to create a malty rich ale with balanced smoke and maple flavor that has beautiful red hue. For this recipe, I went with a blend of Sugar Creek Malts Munich malt and Stjordal smoked malt with a touch of Simpsons Rye Red Crystal malt.

Irish Goodbyes Smoked Rye Maple Ale

After collecting the full volume of filtered water and adjusting it to my desired profile, I lit the flame under the kettle then proceeded to weigh out and mill the grain.

Once the water was adequately heated, I incorporated the grains then checked to make sure it was at my target mash temperature.

While the mash was resting, I prepared the kettle hop additions.

Once the 60 minute mash was complete, I removed the grains, boiled the wort for 60 minutes, then chilled it with my JaDeD Brewing Hydra IC before taking a hydrometer measurement indicating it was at my target OG.

After transferring the chilled wort to a fermenter, I placed it in my chamber for a couple hours to finish chilling to my desired fermentation temperature of 66°F/19°C, at which point I pitched a pouch of Imperial Yeast A31 Tartan.

With activity absent after a week of fermentation, I took a hydrometer measurement confirming FG had been reached, at which point I cold crashed the beer to 36°F/2°C.

After a week, I prepared for packaging by adding 4 oz of maple flavoring to a sanitized and CO2 purged keg before transferring the beer into it.

The filled keg was placed on gas in my fridge and left to condition for a week before it was ready to share.

| IMPRESSIONS |

In my experience, subtlety is often the way to go when it comes to uniquely flavored beers, as a whisper of one ingredient can be all that’s needed to hit the intended mark. While I personally enjoy a more pungent smoke character, I know others aren’t in my camp, hence my use of just enough smoked malt to impart a hint of campfire in my Irish Goodbyes recipe.

As for the maple flavoring, I personally found it to be a bit much in this beer, as it threatened to overshadow the other characteristics. Having gone with the amount of maple flavoring recommended by the manufacturer, I’ll likely cut that in half next time, though that’s just a personal preference, I’m sure others would prefer it the way it is.

Despite my disappointment with the maple character, I was generally pleased with how Irish Goodbyes turned out, as were a number of people I shared it with. While drinking with my brother-in-law, he suggested blending it with a Stout I had on tap, and the outcome was pure bliss – subdued maple sweetness balanced by a hint of smoke and roast. So good!

For fun, I entered the original Irish Goodbyes in the 2023 Brew At The Bridge competition where it ended up taking Best Of Show, which means it’s going to be brewed on a larger scale at Fox Republic Brewing Company in Yorkville, IL sometime in the near future.

If you have thoughts about this recipe or experience making something similar, please feel free to share in the comments section below!

Support Brülosophy In Style!

All designs are available in various colors and sizes on Amazon!

Follow Brülosophy on:

FACEBOOK   |   TWITTER   |   INSTAGRAM

If you enjoy this stuff and feel compelled to support Brulosophy.com, please check out the Support page for details on how you can very easily do so. Thanks!