HELIOS BREWING COMPANY THE GODDESS
Nothing says love like a mixtape! Unfortunately, those days are long gone. Perhaps the next best way to show you care is sharing one or two of these ‘liquid I love you’s’ with a mate instead?
Origin – Yeerongpilly. Queensland
ABV- 6.3%
Size- 375mL can
Style- Red Rye Ale
The Hot/Crazy Scale was first introduced in How I Met Your Mother by the womanising-playboy Barney, played by Neil Patrick Harris. However it was made famous by Dana McLendon, the unassuming, amateur Einstein whose YouTube explanation has been viewed over 10 million times. For the uninitiated, the graph is primarily used to display someone's hot-to-crazy ratio. The Hot Crazy Line intersects the graph diagonally, and ideally, you want your date to be above the diagonal, indicating that they are hotter than they are crazy. As McLendon points out, there are a couple of critical zones. The one to aim for is the Dating Zone, which sits at a 5–7 level of craziness and from 8–10 hot. The one to avoid is the Danger Zone. It sits at 7-10 crazy and 5-10 hot. A zone according to McLendon, that includes specific dangers such as redheads, women named Tiffany, strippers, and hairdressers!
With such a warning still fresh in my mind, it took a single glance at the label on this Helios Brewing Goddess to place it firmly in the Danger Zone. I was soon to realise it was also dangerously tasty. Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised about this nectar of the gods ranking towards a 10 on the hotness scale given it comes from a brewery named after the Greek sun-god Helios. Founded by Scott Schomer and Tony and Jayne Rutter in December 2017, Helios is already shining brightly despite being one of Brisbane's newest breweries. A good chunk of that can be attributed to the former Mash Brewery frontman Charlie Hodgson. Charlie and Schomer, the former Hydrogeologist (who also did a stint at Colorado's Breckenridge Brewery) have brewed a stunning range of six core beers. Each of them is inspired by key figures of Greek mythology, including the Midas Golden Ale and the Zeus' Thunderbolt Double IPA.
The other characteristic that the range has in common is their malt-forward nature. Layering malts to provide a platform for the hops to sit upon is a brewing method that Charlie is well versed in, and it's something he's perfected, outstandingly so in this red rye! Pouring seductively red, the aroma bursts forth out the Goddess with a spiciness most certainly credited to both the rye and liberal hop usage. While the spice continues on the palate, it takes a back seat to toffee, roasted grains and earthy caramel maltiness. The rye then offsets the malt sweetness in the body, before finishing with a gentle lingering bitterness.
I'd say it's a Hot 10. Crazy 3. I may well have found my unicorn!