No Pumpkins were harmed in the brewing of this beer

I brewed an Autumn Ale last Sunday.

No pumpkin or pumpkin spice was harmed in the brewing of this beer.

My wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) told me earlier that she didn't want to brew a pumpkin ale this year.

I'm not sure if it was because she didn't like the last one I made or if she got sick of me bitching that the pumpkin spice ale lasted from September to March last time I brewed it.

Regardless, I don't have a problem not brewing a pumpkin spice beer. In fact, I prefer it.

I do really like the name, though. And, I actually have always thought the base beer of my pumpkin beer is really good.

Will-o-Wisp Autumn Ale (no pumpkin)

J is for Jade Mountain Brewery and Teahouse

Well ... if you read I is for {"Immersion Brewing","Immigrant Son Brewery","Independence Brewing","Independent Brewing Company","Insight Brewing Company","Ivanhoe Park Brewing Company"} ... you know we cheated a little on the "I" brewery of our A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts.

Shameless.

We need to get our "J" brewery posted so we can get the taste of that unfortunate post out of our figurative mouths.

I'm glad to say that we actually had a couple of good local brewery choices for our "J" brewery.

Last weekend the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) and I played Pickle Ball, and then we headed out to lunch at a brewery ...

J is for Jade Mountain Brewery and Teahouse

I is for {"Immersion Brewing","Immigrant Son Brewery","Independence Brewing","Independent Brewing Company","Insight Brewing Company","Ivanhoe Park Brewing Company"}

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 (DTC)

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

In previous rounds ... "I" has an interesting history to the posts.

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.

When we got to round 3, Intrepid Sojourner had closed and we headed down to Castle Rock for I is for Iron Mule Brewery.

Thankfully, Iron Mule hasn't closed, but we don't have any more local "I" breweries.

#5000MilesIn2022

On Wednesday October 5th, I passed my Strava goal of cycling 5000 miles in 2022 on a bike ride home from work.

Since then, I've increased my Strava goal to 6000 miles for the year.

The weather is starting to get colder, so I probably won't ride quite as much over the last few months of they year, but an extra 1000 miles shouldn't be too difficult.

As I type this, I still need 753 miles, and I'm 496 ahead of plan to reach it.

I need 26,388 to reach my #10EverestsIn2022 goal. With 2 and a half months left in the year, that should be even more of a sure thing than the mileage goal.

2022 #GABF Pictures

As you saw if you follow SheppyBrew on Instagram or Facebook, the Beer Model and I attended the Great American Beer Festival last weekend.

If you have been following this blog for awhile, you know that we attend the GABF just about every year.

It is always in Denver and as a member of the American Homebrewers Association, I'm allowed to buy tickets before the general public. 

And it is fun, so the Beer Model and I make the effort to get there.

See Sheppy's Blog: GABF to see all the blog posts I've done.

Of course, we have not been since 2019, because it was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.

We attended the Friday night session and the Saturday "brewers only" session again this year.

H is for Holidaily Brewing Company (DTC)

Fairly recently, I posted G is for Golden City Brewery, and if you're familiar with the A to Z Series of posts on this blog, you know I now have to find and type up something on an "H" brewery.

In the G post ... I wrote:

According to the Colorado Brewery Map & List, there are a bunch of "H' breweries in Colorado. However of the ones close to us, we've covered them already. I'm not sure where we'll end up ... but we'll come up with something.

Last time through the alphabet, I used H is for Holidaily Brewing Company.

Somehow I missed it, but my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) pointed out that Holidaily Brewing Company opened a second location. 

I didn't have a better idea for our H brewery ... so ...

H is for Holidaily Brewing Company (DTC)

Mr. Awesome Merican Lager (Batch 321)

Recently, I brewed Jethro Bud Nelson Merican Lite Lager for the second time (see Jethro Bud Nelson (Batch 319)).

For whatever reason ... I've been into Craft American Lagers recently. It seems to be a trend ... and I am following along.

Last time I brewed Jethro Bud Nelson, I didn't get to drink much of it. I took the beer to a family vacation at the Lake of the Ozarks and the family there finished off the keg in a couple of days.

So ... I knew I was going to brew it again sooner rather than later.

As I was Drinking my Merican Lite Lager, I noted that it would be great to have it on tap at the same time as my "Merican Premium Lager" ....

Mr. Awesome Merican Lager

Last Saturday, I kegged the Jethro Bud Nelson, and last Sunday I brewed Mr. Awesome, so I should get the chance to try these two beers side-by-side.

2022 Q3 (and 2) SheppyBrew Stats

Well ... crap ... here it is the end of Q3 ... and I just realized I never reported on SheppyBrew's 2nd Quarter.

Oh well.

As you may know, the Brewery likes to post quarterly updates on how much we have brewed. You can see all these updates (including the one you are reading right now) by following this link: Sheppy's Blog: Brew Stats.

You just will not see one for 2022 Q2. I think this is the first quarter I missed since I started doing these updates.

Must be getting old.

So ... just a quick update on the 2nd quarter ... I brewed 5 batches of beer for 26 gallons. There were 2 new recipes during that time, and I brewed 2 lagers.

Colorado Vienna Lager

 

Falling Leaves Autumn Saison (Batch 320)

As you know if you've been following along,  I've been pretty busy cycling over September.

But, of course live goes on. Here it already is ... Autumn.

And at the SheppyBrew Brewery ... Autumn means it is time to brew up one of my Seasonal Saisons ... Falling Leaves Autumn Saison.

2022 is the 9th year I've brewed this beer. 

That last sentence sort of blows my mind away ... where did the time go? I still sort of consider my idea of Seasonal Saisons a newish thing ... but 9 Autumn Saisons says otherwise.

Anyway, last Sunday (not yesterday, the one before that), I brewed up 

Falling Leaves Autumn Saison

As with most of my saisons, I got started the night before and did an overnight mash. I figure saisons are supposed to be dry, so the long mash with temperatures on the lower side of the beta amylase range make the overnight mash perfect.

#1000MileSeptember

If you follow me at all on this blog or facebook or instagram .. you know that I've been participating in the Great Cycle Challenge all last month.

I've pledged to ride September to raise money and awareness for the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard