The Brew SiteLatest print article: Talking about Irish red ales
My latest print article for The Bulletin landed on Sunday the 31st, and I tackled a suitably spring-themed style: Irish red ale. I dig a bit into the history and the overall style considerations, and highlight a couple of local examples: Pelican Brewing Sea’N Red, Bridge 99 Bog Trotter, and Porter Brewing Irish Redmond Ale.
I spent the most time discussing Bog Trotter, which isn’t technically an Irish red ale per se—it lacks roasted malts, for instance, and is too strong—but as it’s based on an old Irish family recipe it’s definitely in the spirit of the season and the style. I’d recommend stopping by Bridge 99 in Bend to get some if you can.
The history of “Irish red ale” doesn’t go back very far. The term is from 1977 and Michael Jackson. He was describing beer that emerged as a result of Guinness acquiring the Smithwick’s brewery in the early ’60s and dumbing down the recipe for Smithwick’s No. 1 Ale. The other supposedly archetypal Irish reds like Macardles and Phoenix are all based on that style. As far as I’m aware, roast wasn’t part of the spec until the microbreweries of the 1990s. I can only think of two Irish red ales which have export variants: Smithwick’s is 4.5% ABV in the US and 3.7% here, and the newcomer Sullivan’s has a 5% ABV version of Maltings on the American market and it’s 4% in Ireland. Typically, exported Irish reds are the same strength as at home.
Interesting, thanks for clarifying. I tried to be a bit vague on dates and tie it all overall into locally available beers… but if I got things terribly wrong, then I’ll own that.I should have been clearer that “Irish red ale” is something of a modern style, though I would have thought roasted barley would be present early on…?
Short answer is there’s no way of knowing. It doesn’t show up in any pre-1990s tasting note I’ve seen, and it’s not in any old Irish ale recipe I’ve seen. There’s *tonnes* of incorrect beer history out there based on things that seem likely from a present-day vantage point but have no basis in fact — IPA being brewed extra-strong being the classic. I think roasted barley in Irish red may be another such instance.
And a correction to my own comment above: Smithwick’s is 3.8% ABV, not 3.7.
I would argue there is a possibility of the two original “Irish red ales” having heritage as a Perry’s and Cairne’s mild ales.
When you look at it mild is less of a style more of a philosophy. They can range from golden pale to black in colour and 2.8 percent abv to 6 percent abv. Reddy coloured milds do indeed exist.