2020 Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale (batch 268)

The SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) brewed this weekend.

Really, she did.

I helped, but she was the Brew Master Sunday. In fact, I had to leave right when the boil started, so for a significant portion of the brew day, she was the only brewer.

Every Autumn since 2014, SheppyBrew has brewed a pumpkin spice ale, "Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale".

The base beer is an awesome Autumn Ale, and we basically flavor it with a pumpkin pie spice tincture.

I wouldn't brew it if the SheppyBrew Beer Model didn't like pumpkin spice beers, but you know what they say ... Happy Wife - Happy Life.

Anyway, Sunday we brewed it. 

As with all brew days that the Beer Model participates in, we got started later than my usual start time.

W is for Woods Boss Brewing Company

If you're following along, you may remember that I the SheppyBrew Beer Model and I visited Vail Brewing Company to knock out "V" in our "A to Z Denver Breweries Project".

Vail Brewing Company isn't really a local brewery, but there were not really a whole lot of choices close to Denver.

And, it was local to where we were when we visited.

Anyway ... 

As you may or may not know ... 

After "V" comes the letter "W", and so we had to find a brewery that starts with the letter "W".

There were actually a couple of local options for "W" breweries in the Denver area.

Last Saturday, we packed up a lunch, got on our bikes, and headed down the bike trails to downtown Denver.

W is for Woods Boss Brewing Company

I got my Spiderman GCC Jersey

 As I mentioned in my post "#5000MilesIn2020" ... I raised enough money on my Great Cycle Challenge to earn a "Super Hero" jersey.

I think it is real cool looking. Based on the pictures below ... maybe I should have gone a size smaller. 

Chances are, though, I'll find the SIP weight I lost, so maybe I should not have gone smaller.

Anyway .. I received the jersey last week and wore it on several rides, already. 

As you probably know if you've been following me on this blog or Instagram or Facebook, I've committed to cycling 1000 miles over September.

As I am a little ahead of schedule. You can always check out my page to see exactly how far I've ridden when you read this. 

And ... if you wanted to donate ... you sure can do that as well.

Sheppy's Great Cycle Challenge Page

Galena Dave's Pale Lager (Batch 267)

Remember my brother-in-law, Galena Dave?

Back in December, he gave me some wild hops from his yard. He had been keeping them in his freezer since picking them.

He let me take them home and brew a beer with it.

I brewed a beer with them around the end of January.

Galena Dave's Pale Lager

I got a text from Dave around the end of August letting me know it was about harvest time and asking me if I wanted him to send me hops again.

I said "Yes", and he mailed some to me. This time, I got a lot more and they were considerably more fresh. It should be really interesting to see how they turn out in a beer.

#5000MilesIn2020

 I did it.

Sunday, I went on a couple of bike rides that pushed me over 5000 miles for the year.

V is for Vail Brewing Company

So, I don't know if you remember, but before shelter-in-place mandates around the pandemic, I was flying through breweries on the 2nd round of my "A to Z Denver Breweries Project".

I started with A is for Alternation Brewing Company on February 26, 2019.

Only a little over a year later, I was already on S is for Station 26 Brewing Company published on March 3, 2020.

Averaging over 1.33 breweries a month, which is way faster than my first time through.

Then, COVID hit and breweries closed.

So, I was on timeout on my brewery list for a few months.

Finally, at the end of July, I was able to get back into the project, with a bike ride to T is for Two22 Brew. 

I thought I was back on track, but I had a difficult time coming up with a "U" brewery, and had to cheat a little with U is for oUter Range Brewing Company.

On the same trip, my wife and I visited ...

V is for Vail Brewing Company

One Hundred Hoppy Brown Ale (266)

Before I get started ... the day this post will publish is "Kick Cancer's Butt Day". 

A generous donor will be matching up to 1.2 million dollars donated today for the Great Cycle Challenge.

So, if you've been waiting to donate to the challenge, today is the best day to do it.

If you are able, feel free to hit the "Donate Now" button on my Rider Page ... 

I would appreciate the support.

And now ... on to the regularly scheduled blog post ...

I brewed and barbecued on Sunday. I also got a bike ride in to continue my Great Cycle Challenge.

It was a busy day.

The recipe I brewed was one that I've brewed before ...

One Hundred Hoppy Brown Ale

Century Ride

I did a Century Ride last Friday.

Yep, 100 miles. 
That's right ... On my bicycle. 
Yep, in one day. 
No, my butt is fine. 
Nope, I'm not crazy. 
Yes, I know you don't like to drive that far. 

As you know if you've been paying attention at all ... September is the month that I'm riding for the Great Cycle Challenge. 

I pledged to ride 1000 miles over the week of September, and convinced a bunch of people to donate money to help fight childhood cancer.

The money goes to support the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

Anyway, 1000 miles is a lot of biking to do in one month. I've never done a century ride. I thought it would be fun to see if I could do it. 

If I'm honest, I knew I could do it. 

U is for oUter Range Brewing Company

As far as I know, there is one brewery in the Denver area that begins with the letter U, and I used that in round one of my "A to Z Denver Breweries Project".

U is for Ursula Brewery.

I knew from the beginning of round 2 that I'd have to take liberty on some of the letters.

Not only does this "U" brewery not begin with the letter "U", but it also is not a Denver Brewery.

Oh well ... 

You get what you get. Don't throw a fit.

My wife, aka The SheppyBrew Beer Model, and I traveled up into the mountains last weekend, and for lunch on the way up, stopped in Frisco, Colorado.

After lunch, we stopped at ...

August Progress on #5000MilesIn2020

If you follow this blog fairly regularly, you might remember that I've made it a goal to ride 5000 miles in 2020.

If you don't know what I'm talking about ... you can catch up by checking out Sheppy's Blog: #5000MilesIn2020.

Now that August is complete, I thought I'd give another quick update.

As you may remember from July Progress on #5000MilesIn2020, my goal was to ride 600 miles in August.

I only got to 406 miles.