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

One Hundred Hoppy Brown Ale is the next beer in my Homebrew Colorado 6 Pack Project. 

The recipe design was inspired by Boulder Beer Company's Flashback India Brown Ale, which appears to no longer exist. I guess one great thing about homebrewing is that I am able to brew my own and don't have to rely on commercial breweries making the beer that I enjoy.

I was up for the brew day before Denver's sunrise .. around 5 or 5:30. Of course in addition to the brewing steps, I had to take care of the barbecue. Sunday was a pork butt for pulled pork.

I got the mash started around 6AM and the pork was on the smoker around 6:45.

The mash went perfectly. My pre-boil gravity was right on. The meat also got on the grill perfectly.

The boil started around 7:30 AM. The smoker was right at 243 and the pork's internal temperature was 49 degrees.

I got all the boil additions into the beer at the right time. I was doing a "hop stand" by 8:30 and chilling 10 minutes after that.

The pork had an internal temperature just over 90.

I chilled the wort to around 84 degrees before switching to ice water recirculated with the pond pump.

I got the wort down into the low 60's and racked into the fermentor.

The yeast was pitched and the fermentor was in the basement by 9:30. The brew day cleanup was completed by 10AM.

Not bad for a brew day.

Of course, the meat still had several hours to go. The pork's internal temperature was around 140.

I let the meat cook until the internal temperature was 170, at which point I wrapped the pork butt in aluminum foil to finish up.

This was around 11:10AM.

Knowing that I wouldn't be doing anything with the pork for a couple hours, I got ready for a bike ride. 

I set off on the bike ride a little before noon.

It was hot this weekend. The temperature was in the high - 90's. Not great for a bike ride, but since I was riding "for the kids" I thought I shouldn't skip.

Plus ... the weather forecast this week called for snow ... and I didn't know how that would affect my ability to ride. I needed to stay ahead of the goal.

I got in 30 miles, and returned to find that the internal temperature of the pork was 203.

It probed tender, so I took the butt off the smoker and placed it into a cooler to rest for dinner.  

It was delicious.

The beer has been fermenting away. I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out.

As always, keep an eye on the regular SheppyBrew Channels to see what is happening with beer and other things: 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!


Take care and be healthy everyone.

Don't forget to check out my Great Cycle Challenge page.