Northern Mustache Envy Belgium Stout

Brewed up my third batch of home brew this weekend went with Northerns Mustache Envy Belgium Stout. Had a couple of firsts along the way, first live yeast and yeast starter whyeast Belgium abbey and with the recent cold snap I needed to make a warm water bath for the primary using a rubbermade tote, aquarium heater and an extra power head to keep the water circulating. Those Rubbermaid storage bins aren't designed to hold the pressure of water especially without a lid. I put mine in my slop sink which supports it on 3 sides and has just enough room to hold a mason jar filled with star san as my blow off bucket. Fermentation has been vigorous at 68* and the lhbs suggested bumping the temp up for more of that Belgium fruity finish. Now it's sitting at 71 still bubbling away roughly 24 hours past kickoff. They also suggested bumping it up a degree or two tomorrow as well. Yeast range 65-75

The second best part is the foaming out of the mason jar goes right down the drain. The best part is my basement smells like monks are brewing there.

Anyone else brewing this one? Tips or suggestions?

It sounds like you've got it under control! Let us know how it turns out!

How did this turn out? I'm thinking of making the Mustache Envy and adding the three ingredients below, kind of an idea from the Bad Santa recipe in BYO a few years ago. But I want something more stout like than what Bad Santa would be.
1.5 lbs. Dried Cherries
1 vanilla bean (split)
3 cinnamon sticks (3", broken into pieces)

Also, going to try to track down WY1581 ot 3822, both from their private collection, if I can't get those I'll go with either 1214 or 3787.

I'll be honest, I didn't like. I think it was the recipe as I didn't notice any off flavors or smells. I just didn't like the taste of the beer, I called Northern and they said they got mixed reviews.

I may call them back and ask for a new kit, I've had nearly 2 cases aging to see if that helps since my original post. I'll throw one in the fridge and see what happened to it over the past few months.

I've had a couple commercial Belgian stouts and they're all like that..just off. IMO it's an odd flavor combination of dark, roasted malt and Belgian yeast spice/fruitiness.