Ground Hog Premium Lager (Batch 392)

I brewed this past weekend.

If you read and remember 2026 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats, you know that this year has been slow in regards to brewing.

Since Q1, before this past weekend I'd only brewed Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager (Batch 390) and Where'd My ManGo Wheat (Batch 391), so I really have not been catching up with my normal brewing cadence.

I was on track for the least amount of beer I've homebrewed since 2009. Back then I was doing 2.5 gallon batches.

But, I took advantage of the opportunity to brew Saturday ...

Ground Hog Premium Lager

Brisket!

I love brisket, but OMG beef is expensive now-a-days.

The cost and the time commitment make smoking a brisket less than ideal, and the last time I actually did one was Humdinger of a Brisket in November of 2023.

I've had a 10 pound full packer in the freezer for awhile, so it certainly isn't simply the cost.

I decided that I would smoke this brisket the Sunday before last and so a few days before I pulled it out of the freezer to thaw.

And on Sunday, I smoked it.

Saturday, I applied Montana Steak Seasoning to the meat to sit on there overnight. 

May Update on 2026 Fitness Goals

As you know if you follow this blog, I generally give a monthly update on my fitness / Strava goals. I'm sure no one besides myself really cares, but I figure sharing these publicly give me a little extra motivation because of the extra accountability.

Plus, from time to time I'll look at older updates just to see where I was in the past.

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

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

So far, I'm tracking pretty well to my 2026 Fitness goals.

My 2026 Fitness / Activity Goals are:

D is for Dry Dock Pub

We started Round 7 of our A to Z Breweries series of articles.

If you're not familiar ... back in February of 2015, I was embarrassed by how few Denver Breweries that I had visited.

I decided to make an effort to hit more of them, and worked my way from A to Z, hitting a brewery for every letter.

Now, more than 11 years later, I have made my way through the alphabet 6 TIMES, and the Beer Model and I have decided to start #7.

Just about a week ago, I posted C is for Cerberus Brewing Company. This means we are ready for a "D" Brewery.

D is for Dry Dock Pub

Chicken Wings on the Weber

If you follow this blog, you probably know from Paint Mines: Mini - Bad Lands, C is for Cerberus Brewing Company ... and other breweries, and Garden of the Gods Photos that we spent Memorial Day Weekend away.

After returning from the trip, I grilled some wings.

It's been awhile since I posted anything about cooking Chicken Wings, so I thought I'd do this quick post.

Grilling Chicken Wings is fairly straight-forward on the Weber Kettle.

Apply SheppyBrew Rub. Fill up the Vortex with hot coals targeting 400F or so cooking temperature. Cook for about an hour.

Sometimes I'll substitute lemon pepper or Crack for the rub. Sometimes I'll cook a little longer at a slightly lower temperature. But for the most part the process is pretty much the same every time I grill wings.

Garden of the Gods Photos

If you read Paint Mines: Mini - Bad Lands and/or C is for Cerberus Brewing Company ... and other breweries, you know that the Beer Model and I spent Memorial Day Weekend down in Colorado Springs.

It went really fast.

On Monday, after packing up from the hotel, the Beer Model wanted to visit Garden of the Gods.

We discovered that parking is difficult to come by on Memorial Day mid-morning in the main area of the park.

We ended up closer to the south end of the park and jumped on the hiking trails.

Here are the photos that we took while walking around ...

C is for Cerberus Brewing Company ... and other breweries

So ... remember I mentioned in Paint Mines: Mini - Bad Lands, the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) and I spent Memorial Day Weekend away.

After our Paint Mines visit, but before check-in time for our hotel room, we had a few of hours to kill.

First off, we had to find lunch, and as luck would have it, there was a nice little brewery with a food truck between the Paint Mines and Colorado Springs, where we were staying.

We stopped at one of Black Forest Brewing Company and had a couple flights along with some Mexican food from a food truck.

Both the food and the beer was really good. If you find yourself in the Colorado Springs area, this is a good place to visit.