The Great Potato Famine

The great potato famine was a tragedy for the Irish people, though it gave many of them the opportunity to come to the US in order to make a better life.  Unfortunately, many of them found poverty and discrimination in this melting pot nation of ours.

Luckily, the Potato Famine also brought my wife’s family across the big pond to settle in upstate NY.  So, in honor of her Emerald Isle heritage, and the fact that I have a sick sense of humor, I brewed an Irish Red called Potato Famine Ale.. .and no, there are no potatoes used in the recipe.  In keeping with the name, all of the potatoes in our house were forcible blighted and thrown out prior to brewing.

The recipe, for 5.25 gallons (brewed on 1/17/2010):

• 10lbs Maris Otter
• 1lb British Mild Malt
• 1lb Cara-Amber
• 1/2lb Weyerman smoked malt
• 1/2lb Medium Crystal (about 55* Lovibond)
• 1/8 lb Black Patent
• 1/2oz Fuggles (4.7%AA) as First Wort Hops
• 1 oz Fuggles (4.7%AA) added at 60 minutes
• 1/2oz Fuggles (4.7%AA) added at 5 minutes
• WYeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast

OG was 1.054 with 5.5 galls in primary (calculated OG was 1.064 at 5.75 gals, efficiency = 62%)

IBU was 30

color was 17-ish SRM

FG ended up at 1.013

Mashed at 154*F for an hour and sparged with 180*F water until we had about 6 3/4 gallons in the boil kettle.  During the sparge, we added 1/2 oz Fuggles (4.7%AA) whole hops as a First Wort Hopping

We brought it up to a slow boil.  This was brewed once again inside in January, and the stovetop really is getting tired of bringing 6+ gallons to a rolling boil.  At the start of the boil, 1 oz Fuggles was added as the main bittering charge.  We did a 60 minute boil, and the next hop addition of was made at 5 minutes left.

The entire brewday went pretty smoothly.  This was the first beer that i adjusted the gap on our Barleycrusher (c) grain mill, but for some reason, we saw a drop in our overall efficiency.  It ended up working out for us in the end, as the lower efficiency actually brought the beer more in-line with the style guidelines.

This turned into a nice brew.  The addition of the smoked malt was so very subtle that one probably wouldn’t be able to pick it out of a lineup.  As is, it provides a slight mustiness to the beer.  Once you realize the smoked malt was used, it is easier to place where that flavor is coming from.  We will (actually, we already have) brew this with a full pound of the smoked malt next time to try to enhance the actual smoke character a bit.

File this one under: Win

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