A UCD graduate from the US has created a hot sauce called "Good Craic" inspired by Irish culture - and Americans are going crazy for it.

Brian Ruhlmann, from Lowell, Massachusetts, created the sauce in 2017 after returning from living in Dublin. Both the name and the ingredients are inspired by his Irish roots, reports the Irish Star.

Brian said: "'Good Craic' was something that I felt, was slowing down. The ability to joke around, have a good time and meet people. That is one of the most important parts of life- enjoying yourself, building connections and experiences. I also realised I wanted to work outside in nature and have a real connection to farming."

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Brian’s dual citizenship, which he owes to his Irish grandparents, led him to apply for a semester abroad at University College Dublin, where he fell in love with the city and returned there to live for several years after he graduated college. His passion for food and nature grew from the time he spent there, touring Europe trying new flavors, and interviewing hot sauce makers for his podcast.

He returned to the US in 2016, and Craic Sauce was born a year later. Though it’s not always the easy route, Brian sources 100 per cent local ingredients for his sauce.

Earlier this year he developed a partnership with Mill City Grows - an urban food justice organisation in Lowell, MA - where he received a plot to grow peppers and tomatoes. Craic Sauce grows 10 per cent of its own produce, and the other 90 per cent comes from local farmers.

Brian explained that they have required double the amount of produce as last year, after seeing their sales triple from the previous year. Running a small business, it’s natural to experience "growing pains" as Brian calls them. Their team works extremely hard to keep up with the growing demand.

He said: "Sometimes when I get a little more stressed and there is more work to do, I look at our brand values and that pushes us to call ourselves out a little bit- who are we, what kind of people are we hiring, how are we going about our every day? Even things as simple as the music we’re listening to while we’re cooking are important.

"The name invigorates us, but it also forces us to hold ourselves accountable."

The team, which are an integral part of Craic Sauce are currently expanding and looking for people to help them gear up for their busiest season.

"We will be at the SoWa Winter Market again this year," he said. "We will also be at the Snowport (a holiday market hosted at the Boston Seaport) which goes on for 51 straight days."

This weekend, Brian and the Craic Sauce team are heading to Brooklyn, New York, for the annual New York City Hot Sauce Expo. Brian attended for the first time in 2016 and has been every year since. He now proudly displays his own line-up of sauces that range from the mild- 40 Shades of Green Chilli- to Brian Boru’s Curry, which is on the upper level of the spice-scale.

"There are ten to twenty quality ingredients in our sauce. We tend to focus more on flavor profile than ‘burn your mouth off’," he joked.

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