Man-Go-Hab a Beer: A Homebrew Story of Heat, Hops, and a Little Panic

Last spring, I saw a post from a local brewery about a homebrew and BBQ competition. Without hesitation, I told my wife and signed up. Almost immediately, the panic set in.

The thought of other people tasting my beer and possibly not liking it…hit hard.

If you’ve ever brewed your own beer, you’ll understand. You never really like your own beer. You’re constantly nitpicking, I should’ve added more hops, I should’ve adjusted the grain bill. You're so focused on trying to create the perfect beer, you forget to just enjoy the thing.

So I asked myself, as I often do:
Why do I brew?
And the answer came right back:
Because I love creating, experimenting, learning. Because I enjoy sharing something I’ve made with others. And yeah, because I like hearing feedback, even if sometimes it comes in the form of, “Wow, this is actually good!” (Appreciate the confidence, truly 😂).

But I was in. No turning back.

The Big Question: What Do I Brew?

IPA? Pale Ale? Something hazy? Something funky?
For a homebrew competition, I needed something that would stand out, but not so weird that people would avoid it.

Then I remembered a beer I made pre-COVID for another competition: a Mango Habanero IPA. It was bold, different, and full of potential. I hadn’t brewed it since. So I figured, why not bring it back?

Some might call that cheating. But to me, it was a shot at fine tuning with feedback from actual brewers. This was only the second time I'd ever brewed it, and I had some mistakes to fix. My wife Maria was on board, and my friends Dave and Jeremy were ready to pour.

Let’s go.

Brew Day: The Plan (and the Panic)

I dusted off the recipe, bought my ingredients, and decided to brew two batches, two 5-gallon batches. Enough to serve for the length of the competition and give myself the option to tweak and choose the best one keg for the judging. 

I committed to fresh ingredients again. Fresh habaneros. Fresh mangos. Sure, some folks use puree or extract, but I always like to use fresh ingredients over extract.

The goal:

• Habanero flavor without overwhelming heat.
  
  
• Sweet, aromatic mango to balance the spice.
  
  
• A rich orange color that looked like a ripe mango in a glass.
  
  

Easy, right?

The Result? Chaos.

When I brewed this beer the first time, I didn’t take great notes.
Did I seed the habaneros? No clue.
Boil or fermenter? Unknown.
Did I roast the mangos? Probably. For how long & at what temp? No idea.

Note to self: Write. Stuff. Down.

So this time, I documented everything this go. Here’s what I did:

Batch 1

• Habaneros: 4 whole, unseeded, added in the last 5 min of the boil (1.98 oz)
  
  
• Mangos: 5 mangos (40.35 oz), roasted at 425°F for 20 minutes
  
  
• Fermentation: Mangos added on Day 13 (3–5 days before kegging)
  
  

Batch 2

• Habaneros: 4 halved and removed seeds (1.73 oz)
  
  
• Mangos: 5 riper mangos (22.19 oz), roasted at 425°F for 30 minutes
  
  
• Fermentation: Mangos added on Day 10, kegged 3 days later
  
  

After kegging and force carbonating, I took a taste…
And of course No Heat

I panicked. I can’t serve a Habanero beer with no heat. But there is also the risk of trying to fix it.

Adding anything to beer can ruin it if it’s not done properly, but I couldn’t serve a habanero beer that had no kick. So I sanitized more habaneros, dropped them in one keg overnight, and hoped for the best.

I tasted the beer the next day and a little heat came through, but not enough.
So I said, “F it.”
I left the peppers in there until the day of the competition. Either I’d burn someone’s palate… or it’d be perfect.

Competition Day

The calm before the chaos.
Tent up. Kegs ready. All prepped for the day. Stress levels high.
All that time, all that prep and all for a few hours of sharing free beer with strangers.

We arrived first and claimed a prime spot as the first brewer you see with plenty of space for people to gather around our tent.

How the Competition Worked:
Each attendee had a single ticket to vote for their favorite beer.
And there is a panel of judges from the Brewery who will pick a winner to brew on their system.

Before the crowds came, we blind taste-tested both batches again.
Both had heat. Both had mango.

And this rarely happens, but I actually liked both.

After a few rounds and a vote among Maria, Dave, and Jeremy, we picked our starting keg.

Meet: Man-Go-Hab a Beer.      

6% ABV
Color: Like a ripe mango
Aroma: Hop-forward (Centennial, Chinook, Cascade), followed by mango
Taste: First sip = hop forward with a hint of habanero flavor (not heat), balanced with mango sweetness
Finish: A subtle, lingering heat that sneaks up on the back of your palate

It was fun, flavorful, and just weird enough to talk about all day.

Our Pitch to everyone voting:

“Today we were serving a Mango Habanero IPA named Man-Go-Hab a Beer. This beer is 6% with a beautiful mango color that was very similar to the habaneros we used. Before you taste the beer you will have a nice aroma of hops (we used Centennial, Chinook, and Cascade) followed by the hint of mango. Once you take your first sip you will be welcomed with the taste of a habanero (but not heat) with the sweetness of the mango and then after you will feel a very subtle hit of heat at the back of your palate. Just enough to tell you it’s there, but not enough to have you stop drinking the beer.”

The Feedback, The Judges, The Results

I had the chance to pitch the beer directly to the judges, talking about the malt bill, hop profile, the story behind the beer, and what I love about brewing. Honestly, just being able to share that felt like a win.

Everyone at the event was incredible. Other homebrewers were generous, curious, and happy to swap stories. People were kind, excited, and best of all enjoying the beers with smiles and laughter.

And while we didn’t take home the official judge’s prize, we did win something even better:

FAN FAVORITE!
By a landslide.

That meant everything to me.

Final Thoughts

There’s something vulnerable about sharing what you’ve made with the world, especially something like beer, where you’re literally handing people a glass and saying, “Here’s my story and I hope you enjoy this.”

But here’s what I learned:

• Be vulnerable.
  
  
• Put yourself out there.
  
  
• And write down your damn notes. 😅
  
  

I’m beyond proud that people voted for the beer I made and not just out of kindness, but because they actually loved it.

And hey, I can officially say this now:

My beer may actually be good.

Cheers! 🍻