Z is for MestiZo Brew Cantina

Ok ... here we are at the end of Round 6 of the A to Z series of posts.

Yes, we've gone through the alphabet 6 times, visiting a brewery for each letter.

At the beginning, we were able to find Denver-area breweries (one was actually a meadery) that literally began with all 26 letters of the alphabet.

As we progressed, we had to take more and more "Artistic License", and without actually counting, I'd say we were at about half breweries that began with the letter and half that we had to stretch a little.

Round 6 began late November of 2024 with A is for Arms, Call To Brewing Company (sadly closed now).

And ... now ... we are at the letter "Z"....

Z is for MestiZo Brew Cantina

Mestizo Brew Cantina is more of a taco Cantina than a brewery, but they do brew and serve their own beer.

They are located at 6800 W. 38th Ave Wheat Ridge, CO 80033.

Last Saturday, the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) and I drove up to Wheat Ridge for lunch.

They only had 3 beers on tap, even though their online Beer List listed quite a few more. So, getting a flight wasn't really necessary.

I had their "Oscura Dark Lager", which was very good.  The Beer Model had their "Mestizo Lager", which was pretty good.

I also had their "Oaxaquena Mexican Stout" for dessert, and it was absolutely fantastic.

The food menu is very good too, although I think the food they served is different than the online menu. They had more menu options for food there and way less options for beer.

I had a quesadilla. I think the Beer Model had a taco.

If I'm honest, I don't think this is a place we will probably visit again. Maybe if we find ourselves hungry in the area and they don't appear to have a long line.

It was a great experience, and if we were closer it would probably be a place we go from time to time.

So ... there you have it. 6 of the A to Z series of posts is done. Complete.

Will there be a Round 7? I don't know. Until recently, I was thinking probably not, but the last couple weeks I thought maybe. 

If we do continue, we have to make a special rule for letters we cannot accommodate.

Keep an eye on Sheppy's Blog: A to Z to find out what we do.

As always keep watching the regular SheppyBrew Channels to see what is happening with my BBQ, Beer, Biking: SheppyBrew's Facebook Page; Sheppy's Twitter Feed; SheppyBrew's Instagram Page; and SheppyBrew's Website.Of course, don't forget to visit this blog often as well!

Platte River Half-Marathon

I ran my first official Half Marathon yesterday.

As you know if you read 2026 Fitness Goals, I've been training for a Half Marathon, the "Platte River Half Marathon", and Sunday was the day.

I finished the whole thing. I actually was able to run it faster than I thought I would be able to do it. So, I'm happy with my results.

While working through the training plan, Runna gave me a project goal pace of 9:50 to 10:25 per mile, meaning it expected me to finish in 2:09 to 2:16.

Quite frankly, I thought that pace was ridiculously optimistic based on my longer training runs. I'd never really maintained that pace for more than a few miles at a time. 

2026 Easter Ham

Well ... I let my kids talk me into making ham again for Easter dinner.

While ham is not my favorite holiday food, I aim to please, so I went ahead and decided to do my "typical" Double Smoked Ham.

My wife got the standard spiral cut ham, around 10lbs.

On Easter morning I made a glaze / sauce with a coke base, a little honey, and various spices. 

I also made a special "rub" for the ham.

After church, I placed the ham in a cooking pan and applied the rub and let it sit while I prepared my Weber Kettle.

2026 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

It is already April. The first quarter of 2026 is done. Time to report on the Q1 SheppyBrew Brewing stats.

Both last year and 2024 yielded 95 gallons of beer, which is lower than any year since 2016. 

If the first 3 months are an indication, 2026 will be an even less volume. Significantly less. As I type this, I'm tracking to less than 60 gallons for the year, which would be the least amount of beer brewed EVER!

I'm not sure if the brewing will pick up this year or not. I guess we'll see.

So far in 2026, I've brewed 3 batches of beer.

• Hop-cember Pale Lager
• "Whisper of the Tengu" Rice Lager
• Mud Blood Baltic Porter

This 3 batches of beer totaled 15 gallons. I'm not sure when I've brewed only 3 batches of beer in 3 months. It may have occurred, but I don't think it has ever happened.

Hop-cember Pale Lager

March Update on 2026 Fitness Goals

As you know if you follow this blog, I generally give a monthly update on fitness / Strava goals. I guess we can say that it is another level of accountability to share these publicly.

Plus, I from time to time I'll look at older updates just to see where I was way-back-when.

In previous years, my goals have been mostly around cycling, but starting this year, I've started running as well.

If you're interested, I always track these workouts on Strava. 

As I mentioned in Random Things, a vacation slowed me down in March, but even so, I'm tracking pretty well to my 2026 Fitness goals.

SheppyBrew Brewery Replaced by AI Brew Master!

LITTLETON, CO – April 1, 2026:

Well, folks… it finally happened.

After years of brewing by hand, experimenting with styles, and occasionally arguing with the Beer Model about whether fruit belongs in beer (it doesn’t), SheppyBrew Brewery has officially entered the age of artificial intelligence.

I am both proud and mildly horrified to announce the newest member — and now sole decision‑maker — of the SheppyBrew team:

BrewBot‑9000™

“Optimizing Beer Since 3:14 AM This Morning”

Random Things

The SheppyBrew Beer Model and I went on a cruise. My first. Her second.

I don't really consider myself a "Cruise Guy", but the drink package and the people we were with made it lots of fun.

I ate too much. Drank too much. Didn't get enough sleep. My Garmin watch health stats said "what the hell are you doing?"

It was a ton of fun, and I'm only now feeling recovered from the trip.