Hail Storm Summer Saison

Saisons are an interesting style of beer. Sometimes I really like them. Sometimes I really don't. For the most part, the ones that I really like are a bit lower in alcohol. They are also ones that either don't use non-beer flavors (ie anything other than hops yeast water and malt), or use them sparingly enough that the makes yeast and hops can shine through.

For quite awhile, I've known I wanted to brew a summer Saison. Last summer, i thought the article Billy Brew's Summer Saison was going to be the thing that pushed me to do it. I never got around to a summer Saison last year. I did brew my Arctic Vortex Winter (black) Saison, but never got around to a more tradional Saison.

Pineappling the Wheat

So, you may remember that I brewed the base beer for a pineapple what a few weeks ago. If not, feel free to check out Pineapple Wheat Brew Day . When I make a fruit beer, I add the fruit flavoring after primary fermentation is done in a secondary fermentor.

For this Sunny Pineapple Wheat, I decided to add the fruit by using frozen concentrated pineapple juice.

Killing some more Glutens

I brewed SheppyBrew's Laser Salt Sandy Blonde Ale Sunday. My wife's friend "Gretchen" calls this beer "The Gluten Killer" because eveytime I make it, I add some White Labs Clarity-Ferm to reduce glutens.

Clarity-ferm's purpose is to help clarity in beer by eating away at proteins that can cause a haze. It just so happens that glutens are some of those proteins that get eaten away.

I have fed my beer to brave gluten-sensitive guinea-pigs (including my wife's good friend "Gretchen"). These guinea-pigs say they don't get nasty reactions to my beer, and it tastes much better than typical "real" gluten-free beers.

In my opinion, sorghum beers taste awful. This beer tastes fantastic.

All Day IPA

Well, if you follow this blog, you probably know about Zymurgy's 2014 Best Beers in America list. When I last blogged about this list, I mentioned:

"To be honest, I picked up another one of these in Florida. I'll "officially" check it off the list after I blog about it."

Here I am blogging about it. The beer I picked up in Florida was Founders All Day IPA.

It sort of sucks that Colorado doesn't get Founders beers, when Florida does. I am not going to complain about it, though. It is what it is, as they say. At least I was able to pick this up.

BOB .... Brew on Broadway

Last Sunday, after my brew day, I decided to go on an afternoon bike ride.

There is a brewery in Englewood that was celebrating its one year anniversary called "The Brew on Broadway" aka "The B.O.B.". Until a few days ago, I did not realize it existed. Actually, I was probably aware of it at some point, but it was not part of my current consciousness until I saw posts and tweets mentioning its anniversary weekend.

Lately, I've actually been surprised to discover a few new breweries in the South Denver metro area. I used to think I was pretty good at keeping up with new breweries. Lately, I am beginning to think my feeble little mind is having a hard time keeping up just due to the ridiculous (in a good way) number of tiny little local breweries opening up in and around Denver.

2014 Q2 SheppyBrew Stats

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: http://blog.ericshepard.com/search/label/Brew%20Stats .

2014 continues to be slow going at the brewery. You may remember that in Q1, I brewed only 4 times.  Well, in Q2, I brewed only 3 times, and didn't brew at all in June. Pathetic.

Pineapple Wheat Brew Day

I brewed Sunday. Earlier last week, I had been thinking about doing a Summer Saison, but I never made it to the Local Home Brew Shop (LHBS) with the Saison yeast that I like. Saturday, I dropped by the newer, closer LHBS that I mentioned in Brewing Buckwheat's BPA (again). to pick up grains for the Summer Lovin base beer that I use for most of my fruit beers.

This newer, closer LHBS didn't have honey malt, so I substituted a Crystal 15. Sometimes that is how recipes come to be.... just grab was it available and see what happens.

My plan with this version is to make a pineapple orange beer. Similarly to how I flavored the "Un-Wheat", my plan is to use frozen juice concentrate in a secondary step. This time, I plan to use pineapple orange juice, and I plan to use two cans instead of the one I used on the "Un-Wheat". I think that will give it enough pineapple that you can taste it. Hopefully it doesn't come across as too much.

Jai Alai IPA

Cigar City Brewing doesn't distribute to Colorado. It always has a huge line at GABF. I have a policy of trying to avoid huge lines, so I've never had Cigar City beers there. In fact, when Zymurgy's 2014 Best Beers in America list came out (see my blog post of the same name), I had never had one of their beers at all. Ever.

Cigar City Brewing does appear to be wildly popular. I always felt I should try it some time.

And this year, Cigar City's Jai Alai IPA made the list at #42.

My wife's family gets together every 2 years for a week or so for a family reunion. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may realize that this is the reunion that inspired the T.Ra.Sh. Mexican Lager. As luck would have it, this year's reunion was in Florida. I'm not a fan of visiting Florida in the summer, but this time it works out for my quest. I was able to pick up and try the Jai Alai.