K is for Kettle, Copper Brewing Company

On my 3rd round of the A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts, I have not had to take any artistic license on any of the names yet.

I've gone from A is for Altitude Brewing & Supply to J is for Jackass Hill Brewery following the alphabet.

When it came to "K", though, the Colorado Brewery List didn't have any breweries close enough for me to want to visit.

I could have gone to Boulder or Longmount, but I didn't want to drive that far (and the Beer Model certainly didn't want to cycle that far).

And I had a brewery that I thought was close enough ...

K is for Copper Kettle Brewing Company

N.T.S. Faux Pilsner (Batch 295)

As you know if you read Shoddy Pale Ale Take II (Batch 294), I had a problem with my Lithuanian Farmhouse yeast and had to pick up a pack of dry LalBrew Voss - Kveik Ale Yeast to ferment the beer.

I fermented out that batch of Shoddy, and harvested some of it to brew again.

This past Sunday, I decided to brew up a beer with it.

I have to take advantage of the hot August days.

One of the things I see people talk about online quite a bit, is using Kveik yeast for "Pseudo-Lagers". 

To be honest, I'm not sure I believe that Kveik yeast ferments out that clean, and actually Voss is not a strain that is supposed to produce a lager-like profile.

Even so, I thought I'd give that concept a try, and came up with a recipe very similar to some of my real lagers.

N.T.S. Faux Pilsner

T.Ra.Sh. Light Mexican Lager vs Ska Mexican Logger

What the hell happened to the summer? August is almost over. My kid is back in school. WTF?

It seems like just a little while ago that I posted Updating the Homebrew Colorado 6 pack. However ... that was back in MARCH! Almost 5 months! Almost half a year ago!

WTF?

So ... at the time I had Sin Lima Mexican Lager on tap and figured I could get Ska's Mexican Logger any time. But apparently, I misjudged how quickly the seasonal Mexican Logger would be available, and by the time I found it in any stores, Sin Lima was gone.

J is for Jackass Hill Brewery

Well, we're moving right along on the A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts. 

It wasn't too terribly long ago that I was stuck on E is for Evergreen Brewery for a couple months.

I've gone from F is for Fiction Beer Company to I is for Iron Mule Brewery in less than a month.

The Beer Model (aka my wife) has been keeping us going from brewery to brewery.

And so far this round, I have not even really had to take creative liberties with any of the names.

As I mentioned in My Second Century Ride, I stopped by our house at mile 70 and picked up The Beer Model to go to lunch. 

If you looked closely at the pictures in that blog post, you realize that we hit a "J" brewery.

J is for Jackass Hill Brewery

Shoddy Pale Ale Take II (Batch 294)

It's August in the Denver area. Hot. The highs have reached into the 90's pretty consistently for quite some time now.

As you know, if you remember my Lithuanian Farmhouse posts ... I go a Lithuanian Farmhouse yeast from a local brewery and have been propagating for over a year.

This yeast loves hot fermentation temperature. High 80's into the 90's are just fine.

Shoddy Pale Ale (Batch 288) used this Lithuanian yeast. I mentioned in that post that the beer is designed to make for a quick brew day.

As I mentioned in that blog post, I thought I could cut the brew day down even more by using my propane brew kettle for the boil (in addition to the overnight mash and half hour boil I used in that batch)

So ... on Sunday, I brewed up this batch with this small change to the process

Shoddy Pale Ale

My 2nd Century Ride

 I did my second Century Ride last Saturday. 100 miles on my gravel bike.

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.

If you've been following me, on this blog, you know I'm "training" for September. 

In September, I'm riding 1,000 miles to help raise awareness and money for the Children's Cancer Research Fund with the Great Cycle Challenge.

If you can afford it and are against childhood cancer, you should donate some money to help with the cause. If you want to help my fundraising effort ... you can donate at

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

Spare Ribs and Corn

As usual, I barbequed this past Sunday. A family favorite ... Spare Ribs.

Spare Ribs are certainly a time commitment, but well worth the effort. 

Not only does it provide a delicious dinner, but I always cook a couple of large racks, which always results in left-over that I can enjoy as lunches the following week.

For the first time in quite awhile, I used the Weber Rib Rack to smoke these ribs.

I guess I still have not decided on the best way to smoke my ribs.

I also made Corn on the Cob. I am still in the process of fine-tuning grilling corn. I think I'm close.

Sin Lima Mexican Lager (batch 293)

I brewed this past weekend.

You may have noticed that I am slowing down a little bit. Earlier in the year, I was on track to match the amount of beer brewed last year. Now, I'm tracking to brew about 20 less gallons.

We'll see how things progress going forward the rest of the year.

Sunday was my 293rd batch of beer that I've brewed in my brewing "career".

It was SheppyBrew's 17th batch of 2021, and the 22nd batch done in the Anvil Foundry.

It is the 2nd Mexican Lager in a row that I am making.

It is also the 2nd time I've brewed this particular recipe this year.

I really like this beer, and I am wanting to add it to my "Homebrew Colorado 6 Pack" to replace commercial beers that don't exist anymore.

Sin Lima Mexican Lager

I is for Iron Mule Brewery

If you're following along on this round of the A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts, you know that we recently checked "H" off the list.

H is for Holidaily Brewing Company

If you're familiar with the English alphabet, you realize that next up is "I".

The first time through the list, we did I is for IronWorks Brewery and Pub. At the time, it was the only "I" brewery I could find in the Denver area.

By the time we got to round 2, Iron Works had closed, but another "I" brewery had popped up, and we did I is for [The] Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project.

Again, there was only one "I" brewery in the Denver area.

Sometime between the time that Intrepid Sojourner disappeared and now ... still another "I" brewery popped up for us to go to.

I is for Iron Mule Brewery

Friendship Bread on the Kettle

It has been awhile that I've talked about Amish Friendship bread.

See Sheppy's Blog: Friendship Bread.

What is "Friendship Bread"?

“Amish Friendship Bread is a type of bread or cake made from a sourdough starter that is often shared in a manner similar to a chain letter. The starter is a substitute for baking yeast and can be used to make many kinds of yeast-based breads, shared with friends, or frozen for future use.”

Or ....

“It’s a gloopy, unappetizing substance in a bag that you mash for ten days before baking the most heavenly bread in the world.”

Either way ... you can find information about how to make it and what to make with it at The Friendship Bread Kitchen.

KFC on the Vortex

I've been playing around with Kettle Fried Chicken (KFC) for a few months now. 

When I got my "Vortex" for father's day, one of the things I really wanted to try on it was KFC to see how it affected that recipe.

This past weekend, I had chicken thighs I wanted to grill, and I decided to use them to make KFC and test out the "Vortex" to make them.

So. That is what I did.

I started early in the afternoon by combining flour, bread crumbs, corn starch, and various spices in a bag.

H is for Holidaily Brewing Company

If you are following my A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts, you know that the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) and I are working through our third round of breweries.

Last week, we hit Grist Brewing Company (Rare) to get our 3rd "G" brewery checked off.

If you're familiar with the alphabet, you probably realize that next up was to find a brewery that starts with the letter "H".

There are quite a few "H" breweries on the Colorado Brewery List, but most of them are either too far away, or breweries we've already visited.

In fact, there was one logical choice to visit next. And, this past Saturday, we decided to give it a visit ...

H is for Holidaily Brewing Company

Pork Butt and Corn on the Cob

If you follow this blog ... you'll see me posting about smoking Pork Butts on my Weber Kettle quite a bit.

The family really likes pulled pork sandwiches, and Pork Butts are fairly easy to smoke. They are also pretty economical to buy.

It is pretty much an all-day commitment, but that is ok on most Sundays.

I can let the pork cook while I'm doing a lot of other things. As long as the charcoal is set up well at the beginning, the cook just sort of takes care of itself for the most part.

So ... it is a great meal for Sundays.

Last Sunday I made a pork butt for pulled pork sandwiches again.