Friday, January 17, 2025

Roll-a-Style 8: 14A. Scottish Light Ale

As I mentioned in 2025 Roll-a-Style List, I'd really like to concentrate a little more on my BJCP Goal, and my Roll-a-Style List this year.

I have some Irish Ale Yeast harvested from Hooligans Stout, which had been brewed in November.

There were a few Scottish Ales on the Roll-a-Style List, and I decided that the Irish Ale yeast would work well in those beers. I decided to tackle the 14A. Scottish Light Ale (60 Shilling) first.

So, I pretended to roll an 8 on my 20 Sided Online Die. This corresponds to the 14A. Scottish Light Ale on my list.


 

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Tasman Devil Pilsner (batch 368)

Well ... here it is 2025 already. Happy Brew Year!

As I mentioned in SheppyBrew 2024 Year End Brewing Stats, in 2024 I brewed my lowest volume of brewed beer since 2018.

I didn't even get to 100 gallons, which also has not happened since 2018.

I expect 2025 will yield about the same amount of beer, but I guess we'll have to see.

With holiday guests and other cheer, my beer inventory is getting a little low, and for quite awhile I've been wanting to get a New Zealand Pilsner on tap.

So ... this past weekend I brewed:

Monday, January 13, 2025

2025 Roll-a-Style List

Well ... if you've been following along on this blog, you know I've decided to concentrate on renewing my  BJCP Goal with a "Roll-a-Style" list.

The concept is pretty simple. I have a list of beer styles that I have not brewed. I assign numbers (1 - 20) to the styles. When I want to brew something new, I roll a 20 Sided Online Die, and brew that style associated with the number I rolled.

Sometimes I actually pick the style I want to brew and "pretend" I rolled the die, but either way, I'm working the list down of styles that I've never brewed.

There are more than 20 beers, so I include a "bench" of beers to move into the list once another gets brewed.

There are some beer styles I decided not to include because I know I won't like drinking them.

When I was going through 2024 Update on the 2021 BJCP Goal, I realized that there are some beer styles that are not on my list, but probably should be.

So ... I decided to add a few more beer styles to my "bench".


Friday, January 10, 2025

SheppyBrew 2024 Year End Brewing Stats

Well ... as I'm typing this, I'm not 100% sure I'm done brewing in 2024, but I think I am.

So ... I'll go ahead and type up the draft of my 2024 Brewing Stats. And when you're reading this, you probably won't know if I ended up brewing again or not because it will no longer be a draft and I will have updated based on the (potentially) last brew of the year.

Anyway ... in the 4th quarter of 2024, I brewed 5 batches of beer:

This puts me at 19 batches of beer for 95 gallons. This is the least amount I've brewed since 2018, which was the last time I brewed less than 100 gallons for a year.

Will-o'-Wisp Autumn Ale (no pumpkin)

Wednesday, January 08, 2025

C is for Cohesion Brewing Company

If you follow this blog, you probably know that the SheppyBrew Beer Model is forcing me to continue along with round 6 of the A to Z series of posts.

We recently finished up A to Z Denver Breweries Round 5, and while we certainly have a bunch of breweries left on the Colorado Brewery Map & List, I wasn't sure if we'd continue along with the A to Z series of posts.

But, apparently, my wife is sure, and we're continuing.

Happy wife. Happy life. 

So, after B is for Barrels & Bottles Brewery, we needed a "B" brewery, and the SheppyBrew Beer Model let me know that we would be visiting ....

Monday, January 06, 2025

2024 Update on the 2021 BJCP Goal

If you follow this blog, you know I've renewed my old BJCP Goal.

Through a series of blog posts, I've discovered / acknowledged that I had not brewed whole categories in the 2021 Style Guidelines (see BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines, I lied, and 2021 BCJP Styles to Brew).

Since then, I've covered all the categories (or at least I'm pretty sure I have now) ... 

And .... at some point, I decided to not only try to get every category covered, but work through all the styles (at least the ones that I'm interested in drinking)

I even came up with a "Roll-a-Style" concept to give me help deciding which style to brew.

At the end of last year, I posted 2023 Update on the 2021 BJCP Goal. I thought I'd post another update at the end of 2024. 

Here is that post ...

In 2024, I've only reduced my Roll-a-Style list by 5 beer styles. Instead, I concentrated on 2024 Seasonals.

In 2025, I'm planning on hitting the Roll-a-Style list harder. My unofficial goal is to reduce the list enough that I'll be rolling a 12 sided die by the end of the year (as opposed to the 20 sided die I've been rolling).

Keep an eye on Sheppy's Blog: Roll-a-Style, and you'll be able to follow along how I'm doing. 

Friday, January 03, 2025

December #7100MilesIn2024 Progress

I do realize that no one really cares about my Strava goals, but honestly, I'm not sure there are many people who read this blog.

So, these posts are more for me to remind myself how things went during the year.

And ... well ... I blew away my #11EverestsIn2024 goal and my #7100MilesIn2024 goals. 

I actually cycled just under 650 miles in December, which is a bunch for a winter month, putting my 2024 total at 8,062 miles. 

I gained 31,464 feet in elevation for the month, putting me at 409,081 feet of elevation gained for the year. 

I've also extended my #MetricCenturyEveryMonth streak to 41 straight months with at least one 100 km (62.2 miles) ride.