About Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch

So ... I brewed Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch a little over a month ago (see Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch (Batch #399)), and kegged it towards the beginning of October.

Despite the name, this is not really a Kölsch. And ... no Khupacabras were harmed in the brewing of this beer. Come to think of it, Kolorado isn't really a thing either.

The yeast I used for this beer was from a small Colorado yeast lab "Propagate Lab", and they named it Colorado Kolsch (#MIP-511). I harvested this from my newest version of Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch, which also wasn't really a Kölsch. I had harvested that yeast from my latest batch of Bad Lands Kölsch, which actually is a Kölsch style beer.

So ... if Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch isn't really a Kölsch, what is it?

Originally I thought it would be closest to an American Pale Ale. After tasting it, though, it seems more like a Session IPA. It is a light, dry low ABV hop-forward beer. The dry hopped IPA hops come through nicely.

As I mentioned in 3 Blondes and a Redhead, I was surprised when my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) said she liked the beer.

Quite often, she says she doesn't like "hoppy" beers, and certainly stays away from anything named "IPA".

It probably shouldn't have surprised me, though. Quite a few of my most hoppy beers are ones she calls her favorites ... as long as I don't call them "hoppy" or "IPA" or "American Pale Ale" or "bitter" or something similar. 

But regardless, Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch did turn out to be a nice, drinkable, hoppy beer, and we've been drinking the heck out of it.

 

Why Khupacabra in the name?

Well ... I often see coyotes on various bike rides or hikes in the area by the SheppyBrew Brewery. From time to time, I see a strange looking coyote. It is darker in color and it looks like the fur isn't as full and bushy as a "normal" looking coyote. When I see these weird-looking ones, I think and tell people I am seeing a chupacabras.

For the beer name, I switched the "C" with a "K" to match the "K" in Kolsch.

Similarly, "Kolorado" is Colorado with a "K" instead of a "C".

Yes, probably weird, but I will name my beers what I want. You name the beers you make what you want.

Anyway ... 

As always ...keep an eye on the regular SheppyBrew Channels to see what is happening with beer, barbeque, biking and other things in my life: SheppyBrew's Facebook Page; Sheppy's Twitter Feed; SheppyBrew's Instagram Page; and SheppyBrew's Website.

Random Photos

I have not posted on this blog in awhile.

I don't really have anything to say, but here are some random photos:

1519 Barker Exportbier (Batch 400)

I had a day off on Monday after being away for a wedding in north Minnesota (stone throw from Canada) over the weekend.

I did a run in the morning. Then I went on a bike ride. 

After the ride, I had lunch and then lay down for a little nap.

I had grains for a brew day ... and around 2pm ... I decided to brew a batch of beer.

It just happens to be my 400th batch of beer I've brewed since I started making beer.

This is actually the third time I've brewed this particular recipe ....

1519 Barker Exportbier

3 Blondes and a Redhead

So .... I actually have 4 wonderful SheppyBrew beers on tap right now. It has been awhile since it has been the case that all my taps have a beer on them.

Catching up with Buckwheat's Belgium Pale Ale (Batch 398) and then Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch (Batch #399) seem to have done what I hoped.

The beers I have "on tap" are

• GNorthside Gnome Cold IPA 
  Hoppy "Cold IPA" ... a hoppy rice beer brewed as a lager with IPA hops. The citrus hops come through nicely in a crisp, clean base.
  
  
• Brain Freeze Rauchbier 
  My Roll-a-Style 6B. Rauchbier, which is basically a smoked Marzen. The amount of smoke malt is less than 10% of the grain bill, which isn't really as much as most Rauchbiers. I the smoke comes through nicely without being overpowering.
  
  
• Buckwheat's Belgium Pale Ale 
  This SheppyBrew Classic has been brewed 15 times with various grain bills and yeasts. The past few times have been pretty consistent. I refer to this as "fat tire light". The Beer Model says this is her favorite SheppyBrew Beer, which is why it has been brewed so often.
  
  
• Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch 
  Actually not much of a "Kolsch" ... it really presents more like a session IPA. It was designed a my first "No-chill" beer with only CTZ in the boil, but Cascade, Centennial, and Citra added as a dry-hop. 

2026 Q3 SheppyBrew Stats

Well ... it is October, putting us past the 3rd Quarter of 2026. We can report on the SheppyBrew Home Brewery "Brewing Stats" for Q3.

If you read the Q1 report, you know 2026 started off very slow. Slow enough that I was on track to brew the least amount of beer EVER.

In the Q2 report, I had brewed a little more, and was no longer on track for the least volume of beer ever, but still probably the lowest since my Mr. Beer days. 

Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch

September 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, although a couple of aches and pains (not quite injuries) do seem to be slowing me down a bit (at least on running).

Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch (Batch #399)

Last Saturday, the Brew Model and I normally would have probably gone on a bike ride.

However, the Denver Century Ride was going on, and we didn't really want to navigate bike paths with potentially hundreds of others.

Originally, Saturday the 26th was going to be "Doc's Quad Brew Day", which meant my buddy Doc would brew a batch. His wife would brew a batch. The Beer Model would brew a batch. I would brew a batch.

Plans changed and we did it the previous Saturday, with Buckwheat's Belgium Pale Ale (Batch 398). And, our hosts decided they would only do one batch that day.

When they were not doing two batches, we decided to "only" do one too.

This meant that we had ingredients ready to brew with. Last Saturday we used them on the "original" planned brew day without Doc and his wife .

Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch