Mike Hess Brewing, Habitus

Here’s your cheat sheet for Habitus by Mike Hess Brewing. I’ve had rye IPAs before, and I’ve have DIPAs before, but I don’t think I’ve ever had (or seen) a rye DIPA until now.

Mike Hess Brewing, Habitus / DIPA / 8% ABV / IBU 100

Featured in BeerBodsPlus Box 5 on 28 June 2018.

Find Mike Hess Brewing on Twitter at @MikeHessBrewing and on Instagram at @mikehessbrewing.

Serving temperature

Serve this beer between 7°C and 10°C; stick it in the fridge for 90 minutes.

As ever, be wary of over-chilling your beer. More chill means less flavour. To learn more read my post on recommended serving temperatures.

Flavours to expect

So this should be interesting. I think we can look forward to a very intense flavour here with plenty of spice from the rye and an up-front bitterness topped off with some topical and citrus notes from the hops. When I say up-front bitterness, I mean DAYUM SON, LOOKIT THAT IBU. Ahem. The brewery says it has “intense pine aromatics” which are accentuated by the rye. I’d expect some caramel and toffee in there from the malt to balance it all out, and maybe a nice orange and marmalade character. If it’s balanced nicely this promises to be a very tasty beer.

The hops used are Sterling and Chinook, which give us the following flavour profiles:

• Sterling: lemon, pineapple, spicy
• Chinook: grapefruit, citrus, pine

Food pairings

Intense flavours in the beer call for intense flavours in any food you’re pairing it with, so that the two elements remain balanced and don’t drown each other out. The rye in the beer brings a little extra to the match here, with its spicy snappy flavour.

For meats, go down a dark, sticky, barbecue route. Smoked brisket. Barbecue chicken. You want strong umami spicy notes with plenty of character. Lots of burnt sugar fruity sweetness to balance out the beer’s bitterness. A rich, fatty texture with plenty of juice, that the beer can cut through and scrub away.

Grilled lamb should also be good. I’m thinking… go Greek. Dry, aromatic and earthy. Maybe put some chargrilled veg alongside.

For desserts, the sweeter the better – again to balance out that bitterness and the rye. Crême Brulée could work.

Sharp and rich blue cheese should be good. A roquefort perhaps. For IPAs I usually suggest spreading it onto a digestive. This time I think try a Ryvita instead to keep that rye note going. Add some chutney to pick up the fruity notes and you’re onto a winner.

Further info

Read more on this beer from BeerBods and Mike Hess Brewing.