U is for Ursula Brewery

Well ... you may remember that in November and December, I made a lot of progress on the the A to Z Denver Breweries series.

Since mid-November until late December, I moved from N is for New Terrain Brewing Company to T is for TRVE Brewing Company.

I even covered Q with Q is for Queen Bee Brews. When I started this project, I thought I'd never find anything for Q.

Wondering what the hell I'm talking about ... check out Sheppy's Blog: A to Z ... I think you'll be able to figure out the concept.

It is as simple as A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T.

And now ... What comes after "T"?

You guessed it ... "U".

U is for Ursula Brewery

Jalapeño Zucchini Sauerkraut

So, you may recall (see Fermented Zucchini) that I got this  Go Ferment! Fermenting Kit with a Christmas gift certificate.

As I mentioned, I had ingredients for Jalapeño Sauerkraut. I just needed another wide-mouth mason jar.

Sometime during the week, I got another wide-mouth mason jar (actually 4 of them). So, this past Sunday, I made up some of this Jalapeño Sauerkraut.

Just like the Fermented Zucchini, the recipe is super simple.

• One head of cabbage.
• Some Jalapeños (I got 5 I think).
• 2 tablespoons Sea Salt

Snowy Pictures up at Echo Lake

Winter means snow.

Snow means snowshoeing.

Snowshoeing usually means we go up to Echo Lake.

If you've followed this blog at all over the years, you've seen us at Echo Lake in the snow a bunch.... with and without snow shoes.

I guess we're boring that way.

We tend to do the same things over and over.

Anyway ... we went up there again this weekend.

Here are some more pictures of us in the snow up at Echo Lake ...

Fermented Zucchini

So ... I got a couple Amazon gift cards for Christmas.

One of the things I got with part of that money was a Go Ferment! Fermenting Kit. If you would like read up on these, you can check out the GoFerment Website.

Essentially, all this is a couple lids that can screw onto wide-mouth mason jars. Along with the lids are airlocks to allow fermentation gases to escape without allowing oxygen to get in.

Wide-mouth mason jars are not included, but you can get a bunch of those for a few bucks.

And the purpose of these simple little things ... to make fermented food.

So simple. It is one of those things you say to yourself ... "why didn't I think of that?"

Well, I didn't think of it. GoFerment did.

SheppyBrew 2016 Year-End Brewing 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: Sheppy's Blog: Brew Stats.

Just as I started writing this blog post, I noticed that in 2016 Q3 SheppyBrew Stats, I said ...

"Q3 of 2016 at the SheppyBrew Brewery, we only brewed one batch of beer."

However, I wrote that before Q3 was over. I must have been thinking that September was part of Q4. So, I actually brewed a few more beers in Q3.

• Laser Salt Sandy Blonde Ale
• Blending Kölsch
• Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale
• Falling Leaves Autumn Saison

So, I lied to you. Sorry about that. Forgetting that September was part of Q3 transformed it from a light quarter to a pretty busy one.

The 2017 Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

It is that time of year again.

Winter. Snow. Arctic cold. Icy roads. Skiing. Snowshoeing. Sledding. Winter Saisons.

Yes ... Winter is time to brew SheppyBrew's Arctic Vortex Winter Saison.

Arctic Vortex was the first of my Seasonal Saisons. I decided to make it a Black Saison because I thought winter is the time when it is darkest longest.

I brewed it Sunday. This is the 4th time I've brewed this beer. For the most part it has stayed pretty much the same. I did include some simple sugars in the malt bill this time to help dry out the beer a little. We'll see what I think when I taste it.

This year, I did go back to WY3711 (aka the Real Super Yeast). The yeast I used last year did work out ok. I just tend to prefer 3711 both in flavor and in performance.