Fatty!

Remember my Easter BBQ? 

Along with my Ribeye Roast, I smoked a bacon wrapped fatty.

What is a fatty? 

Well ... a fatty is ground meat surrounding a filling wrapped with bacon.

In my case, the filling was a mixture of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and onion with spices. 

The ground meat was 1 pound each of ground Italian sausage and ground beef.

The bacon was ... well bacon.

This past weekend, I thought I would like to make another fatty. 

So I did.

Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager (Batch 286)

As I type this, my beloved Blackhawks are in 6th place in the Central Division of the NHL.

At this point, they are 7 points out of the playoffs, and I have not seen anything that makes me optimistic that they'll make up that gap.

I'm doing my part, but I'm just one person, and years and years of being a Blackhawk fan have proven that my efforts are not enough without a great team out there on the ice.

I miss those years when the Hawks won 3 Stanley Cups in 6 years.

Sigh.

But, never say never. I won't give up quite yet.

This last Sunday, I helped the team by brewing up my wonderful beer ...

Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager

Weekend BBQ Photos

I didn't brew this past weekend, but I did Barbeque and Bike.

As you know, I'm not afraid to BBQ in the Snow.

Good thing, because Saturday started out real snowy.

One of the things I really like to smoke is Chuck Roast for shredded beef sandwiches.

Chuck Roast is almost as guuud as Brisket, but it takes less effort to cook.

Generally, I smoke the Chuck Roast for 3 or 4 hours and then pull it off the smoker and put it in the crock pot until dinner time. (see Chuck Roast on Weber Kettle and Crock-pot as an example)

The result is tender and juicy and nicely smoked.

Great sandwiches that everyone in my family can enjoy. It also makes great leftovers. I love to make chili with chuck roast.

3rd Everest of 2021

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I have climbed over 87,700 feet on my bike this year.

This means, I've passed my 3rd Everest for the year. Everest is 29,032 feet high. 3 x 29,032 = 87,096.

Due to a broken spoke on my wheel and a snowy April, I've fallen slightly behind my Strava goal of climbing 300,000 feet in 2021.

I'm sure I'll catch up once the weather starts cooperating, so I'm not worried about missing the goal.

If you'd like to follow along and see how I'm doing throughout the year ... bookmark Sheppy's Blog: #10Everestsin2021

Anvil Foundry ... 15 Batches in

 I've been brewing with my Anvil Foundry All-in-One Brewing System since early November. If you want ... you can go back to my first brew day with it (see Bud Lite Lime (271) on the Anvil Foundry). You can see many of those brew days at Sheppy's Blog: Anvil.

If I'm counting correctly, my Helles in a Hand Bock-sket (Batch 285) brew day was the 15th time I've brewed on the Foundry.

That's something like 78 gallons of beer I've brewed on the system.

Overall, I really like the Foundry. There are awesome advantages. There are also some minor annoyances. 

I don't think I'm going to get rid of my old  mash-tun-in-a-cooler and propane-burner system any time soon.

Helles in a Hand Bock-sket (Batch 285)

For a really short amount of time, I thought it would be awesome to enter homebrew competitions.

I thought it would be fun and I thought it would be a good way to get feedback on my beer.

In 2013, I entered 3 competitions, and in two of those competitions, I came away with blue ribbons.

The first one was at my local homebrew shop. I entered two beers. One wasn't really ready. The other wasn't really in the right style.

I didn't win anything in that first competition.

My second competition was the 2013 National Homebrew Competition Denver Regional. I did come away with a first place win in that one.

My third and final competition was the "Battle of the Homebrews" in the 2013 Arapahoe County Fair.

My beer got a blue ribbon in its category and placed second in "Best of Show". Honestly, I thought the judges really picked a great beer.

Helles in a Hand Bock-sket

Easter BBQ

My wife (aka The SheppyBrew Beer Model) let me decide what to have for Easter dinner this year.

Awesome.

Around holidays, I enjoy getting Ribeye Roasts because they are generally about half the price as usual around holidays. 

And, I figured I'd pick one up for Easter this year.

Because ... I like to cook them on my smokers. And ... because I really like eating them.

Yum!

When I got to my local grocery store to pick one up, there were two available. They were both around 12 pounds.

A 12 pound Ribeye Roast is more meat than a family of 4 needs, but I have a vacuum sealer and a freezer, so I figured I could save half for some other time.

2021 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

Q1 of 2021 is already over, which means its time to report our brewing stats for the year so far.

Continuing on the trend from last year, I brewed a ridiculous amount of beer over the first 3 months of the year.

The first quarter of 2020, I brewed 7 whole batches with 35 gallons. In 2021, I brewed even more in Q1 ... 

I brewed 8 batches and 42 gallons of beer.

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

Going Vegan

I think I should go vegan. 

Meat is evil and unhealthy, and I cannot continue to support the institutionalized exploitation of animals to satisfy my nutritional needs.

I feel like I have to demonstrate true compassion for animals by discontinuing to capitalize on their suffering to make my clothing or other products that make my life more luxurious.

If by restricting my diet to plant based nutrition can save even one Cow or Pig or Chicken ... I feel like it is the least I can do.

And, of course it isn't about me, but as veganism is healthier, I will lose weight. Reduce cholesterol. Get my blood pressure under control.

I'll be able to lift  more weight and I'll live longer. With reduced body weight, I'll be faster and stronger on the bike.