#10Everestsin2021

If you followed Sheppy's Blog: #5000MilesIn2020, you know that I cycled over 5000 miles in 2020.

In fact, by the end of September .. I logged almost 5,600 miles between my bikes and stationary bikes at the gym. 

Most of those miles were outside on my gravel bike.

I've never cycled nearly that much in a year. In fact, I totaled around 2500 miles in 2019, and that we my second highest year.

When I posted my Strava #YearInSport on Facebook, someone asked ... "What is your goal for 2021".

I didn't have a good answer. I had to think about it.

And ... upon reflection .. 

I decided my cycling goal this year should be around climbing. 

Everesting seemed to be real popular in 2020. I'm not interested in (and most likely not capable of) climbing 29,031 feet in one day, but there were several months last year in which I climbed that much.

I thought a challenging (but achievable) goal would be to climb Mt. Everest 10 times in 2021.

Rounding things up, I have decided to climb 300,000 feet on my bike in 2021.

Will I do it? Who knows. Probably. Honestly, it mostly depends on how healthy my bike and I are able to remain throughout the year.

I have to average 822 feet per day. That's approximately 25,000 feet per month.

So far, halfway through January, I climbed almost 9,000 vertical feet. This puts me behind, but January weather in Colorado is cold, and I will obviously ride more in warmer months, so I'm not worried about catching up.

If you'd like to follow along and see how I'm doing throughout the year ... bookmark Sheppy's Blog: #10Everestsin2021

2021 Stouticus American Stout (batch 278)

Back in 2011, I came up with a recipe for Stouticus American Stout as sort of a company beer for the start-up that I worked for.

I brewed it a second time after we were acquired and joined a new corporation.

I really liked how it turned out. I'm not sure why I never tried to make it again after 2011.

Anyway ... fast forward to 2020, and I added the Stouticus to my Homebrew 6 Pack list as a beer that comes pretty close to Left Hand Milk Stout.

And since in 2020, I brewed the 5 other beers on the "6 Pack Project" ... the beginning of 2021 seemed like a good time to get Stouticus brewed again.

If you follow this blog, you know that I brewed Arctic Vortex on the 1st. 

At the same time I picked up ingredients for that brew day, I picked up my ingredients for 

Stouticus American Stout

2021 Rib Roast

The last couple of year, I smoked Ribeye Roast for Christmas meals.

This year, I bought a ribeye roast for Christmas while they were on sale at my grocery store.

But, my wife and children said they wanted ham.

So, I froze the ribeye roast and got it thawed for New Year's weekend.

On Friday the 1st, the roast was thawed and I pulled it out of the package.

I applied Montreal Steak Seasoning to the outside and then let it sit in the fridge overnight.

Arctic Vortex (Batch 277)

Happy Brew Year!

As I indicated in SheppyBrew 2020 Year-End Brewing Stats, 2020 was a busy brewing year. I also started 2021 with a brew day.

For Christmas, I received a new addition to my Anvil Foundry, the optional Recirculation Pump Kit.

When I first got the Foundry, I figured I'd try it without the pump kit and see how things went.

I still consider it optional, but the recirculation does provide some advantages that I thought were worth giving it a try, so I put it on my "gift list", and one of my family members bought it for me.

So, of course I had to try out the new toy. I thought a New Year's Day brew would be a perfect time to try it out.

The beer I brewed was the Winter Saison that I brew every year,

 Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

SheppyBrew 2020 Year-End Brewing Stats

2020. What a year.

One side effect of staying at home so much in 2020 was that I brewed a lot of beer. 

A ridiculous amount, really.

As I type this, the year is not over, but I am done brewing for the year.

And, as you may know, the Brewery likes to post quarterly updates on how much we have brewed. You can see all these updates (including the one you are reading right now) by following this link: Sheppy's Blog: Brew Stats.

In the 4th quarter of the year, I brewed 8 batches of beer:

• Falling Leaves Autumn Saison
• Lithuanian Autumn Ale
• Bud Light Lime
• 2020 X-Mas Ale
• Irregular Eric Double IPA
• Puppy Monkey Baby
• Schreck Gartenzwerg Pilsner
• Decemberfest Lager

SheppyBrew brewed 31 batches of beer in 2020.

Falling Leaves Autumn Saison

25 Beers of December part 4

Remember 25 Beers of December part1 and part2 and part 3?

Everyday in December up until Christmas, I'm drinking a different beer. Some of them are from the "Twelve Days of IPA's" 12 pack that my wife bought me. Some of them are homebrews. Some are from local breweries.

We left off on the 21st of December, which means we have 4 beers left to share.

On the 22nd of December, I had SheppyBrew's Schreck Gartenzwerg Pilsner. 

Schreck Gartenzwerg is a German Pilsner flavored and dry hopped with new - style German hops, Hallertau Blanc and Huell Melon. Maybe not a traditional German Pils, but oh so yummy!

25 Beers of December part 3

 Remember 25 Beers of December part1 and part2?

Everyday in December up until Christmas, I'm drinking a different beer. 

Some of them are from the "Twelve Days of IPA's" 12 pack that my wife bought me. Some of them are homebrews. Some are from local breweries.

We left off on the 15th of December, which means we have the 16th of December up until today to account for.