I plan on brewing a Belgian Wit this weekend. I went by the homebrew store, Just Brew It!, this week and picked up ingredients for it. I also took my CO2 setup in, and Doug, the proprietor, got it reconnected with a T-joint so I can use the one CO2 canister to push two kegs. I’ll be moving the Dry Stout into keg #2 tomorrow or Saturday…

I’m already excited to brew this next recipe. After comparing this recipe to my previous attempt at a Witbier (from 2001) and reading my tasting notes from that old recipe, I’m certain that this upcoming batch will be better. It’s going to taste great! And just in time for the warm weather, too. Although a cold front is coming in, and it is supposed to be retarded cold for the weekend… (Of course, retarded cold for Georgia is pretty mild for most places – but certainly colder than last week)

I’ve already started planning my next batch after this one: I’ll brew an IPA in May. I have some left-over hops (Cascade, East Kent Goldings, and US Goldings) that I can use in that brew. That will nearly clear out my “old hops” inventory. I’ll only have an ounce of Hallertauer left. A very old ounce at that: I received it in a mail-order kit in 2004 and tossed into the freezer for safe keeping. I plan to do a Weizen in June, so I can use those aging hops in that recipe.

Hopefully I’ll soon have some tasting notes to post for my latest batch of stout.

Speaking of stouts and tasting notes: I recently tried Sweetwater’s Happy Ending. Sweetwater is a local microbrewery here in Atlanta. Their Happy Ending is an imperial stout that absolutely wreaks of sticky hops… but in a good way! My first impression of it was that it reminded me quite a bit of my Full Moon Stout. But when I tasted them side by side, I found that theirs is way hoppier than mine. They must have used a ton of dry-hops! I think my recipe stands up pretty well to it though. After the side-by-side taste-test, I was happy with the flavor, complexity, and smoothness of my homebrew. But I still want my Evil Empire Stout recipe to be even bigger and bolder – and perhaps along the lines of Happy Ending in its hoppiness.