Sasquatch Hunter Altbier and Smoked Pork Loin

I brewed and Barbecued last Sunday.

My award-winning Sasquatch Hunter German Altbier and my first time smoking pork loin on the grill.

I also drank a fair amount of homebrew, but ... well ... it was Sunday ... so of course I drank homebrew.

The Sasquatch Hunter German Altbier is the beer that won a Blue Ribbon in the Denver Region of the 2013 National Homebrew Competition.

It was my first homebrew to win any kind of recognition, so it was a pretty big deal.

More importantly, I really liked the beer.

For some reason, it has been 3 years since I brewed this recipe. Sunday seemed a good time to do it again.


I did my typical early-morning start to the brew day. Not as crazy early as I sometimes start, but it certainly was not a late start at all.

Everything went well. I got the strike temperature perfect and the mash went right at 152 as planned.

The pre-boil gravity was pretty much right on.

The boil went great.

I also had these pork loins that I had to prepare....

I made a garlic / onion mixture that I pushed into the meat. I also applied a rub. I didn't write down my rub recipe this time, but it was likely very close to the pork rub on Some useful Recipes for Barbecue if you want to try something similar.

I let the rub sit on the meat for awhile.

In the meantime, I finished up my brew day ... chilled the wort. Racked to the fermentor. Pitched the yeast. You know the drill.

And ... I made a mustard Barbecue sauce ...

I also didn't write it down, but it probably had things like beer and mustard in it. Maybe a little kombucha or apple cider vinegar. Perhaps some lime juice. Garlic. Onions. Different spices. Honey. Typical mustard based BBQ Sauce ingredients.

I had intended to smoke at 225 for 3 hours and then add the sauce at 400 or so for another 45 minutes. Then finish it off with a half-hour rest.

As often happens with me, though, time got away from me and I had to condense that time line.

I didn't get the pork on the smoker until almost 3pm. I started it out at about 260 and smoked it for around 2 hours with hickory smoke, averaging about 250 I think.

Around 5, I moved it to the gas grill at about 400 degrees and let it cook for 15 or 20 minutes.

The pork was then able to rest for about half an hour before we ate it.

The pork loin was good. It was perhaps a bit overdone, but not too bad. Lower and slower probably would have helped.

But it was great and made great leftovers a couple times during my work week.

All in all a busy productive day at the "Brewery and Smokehouse".

Anyway ...

As always, you can always keep an eye on the regular SheppyBrew Channels to see what is happening with this beer (and many others): SheppyBrew's Facebook Page; Sheppy's Twitter Feed;SheppyBrew's Instagram Page; and SheppyBrew's Website. Of course, don't forget to visit this blog often as well!

Go Rockies!