Chris Colby

I have been a homebrewer since the early 1990s, when I learned to brew from a fellow graduate student in biology. (I got my PhD in biology from Boston University in 1997.) Since that time, I have brewed over 300 batches of beer. I am interested in all areas of brewing, including the biochemistry of mashing and fermentation, but especially brewing methods and techniques.

I have brewed a wide variety of beers over the years, including many using unusual ingredients or techniques. However, my "go to" beers are normal-strength "everyday" ales — especially pale ale and porter.

I have been writing about brewing since the early 2000s, writing the Techniques column for Brew Your Own magazine for several years and later editing that publication. I currently am the editor of Beer & Wine Journal (beerandwinejournal.com), a website I founded with James Spencer of Basic Brewing Radio.

"Home Brew Recipe Bible" (2016, Page Street Publishing) is my first book and I hope homebrewers enjoy it. I tried to write a book that would have appealed to me when I was a beginning or intermediate brewer.