I’ve been learning a lot about the brewing process lately. My first few batches turned out okay… drinkable and I am happy with them, but I can already tell you that I made a lot of mistakes making those beers that I will never make again. I under-pitched yeast, didn’t correct the mash water pH, and just made a few fermentation and bottling mistakes.

I just finished bottling my Breakfast Stout, which is a 6.5% Stout with coffee and chocolate. It attenuated perfectly (meaning it fermented the exact amount I wanted it to), and the uncarbonated sample tasted pretty darn good.

Currently I have a Belgian Strong Ale fermenting, which will end up being 9.0% ABV and hopefully very tasty. The sample I had tasted really good considering it was not carbonated and very young. This beer will be a bit sweet, and obviously quite strong. I believe I will call it Chubby Monk Belgian Ale. This will be my first beer that is 100% my own formulated recipe. Past beers have either been completely copied from someone else, or strongly influenced by another recipe.

Next up I plan on brewing a Pumpkin Ale for the Thanksgiving/Fall season. I have already formulated the recipe, and will post some updates after the brew day.