2023 #GABF Saturday Photos

I posted 2023 #GABF Friday Photos just a couple days ago.

As I mentioned, I took a break from my Great Cycle Challenge for the weekend to attend both the Friday night and Saturday afternoon sessions. 

Sunday was a rest day.

As I post this, I have actually finished up my #1000MileSeptember, so I was fine taking that break.

The Saturday afternoon "Brewers Only" session has always been my favorite session.

It was interesting have family attend with us.

Anyway ... here are some photos from Saturday night ...

2023 #GABF Friday Photos

This past weekend, I took a break from my Great Cycle Challenge.

Don't worry, I'll still finish my #1000MileSeptember with miles to spare.

There is still plenty of time to donate to fight kids cancer ...

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/riders/EricShepard

This year, the Great American Beer Fest was earlier in the year by a couple of weeks than usual, so it interrupted the Great Cycle Challenge. Next year it will be back in October so I won't have to worry about it.

Anyhoo ... it is a tradition for the Beer Model (aka my wife) to attend GABF. 

Like usual, we attended both Friday night and Saturday afternoon ...

Roll-a-Style 9 ... Historical Beer: Kentucky Common

After pretending to Roll-a-Style 9 ... Hazy IPA ... I actually did roll the Online 20 sided die 

I rolled: 

On my Roll-a-Style list, 18 corresponded to Style 27A. Historical Beer: Kentucky Common.

A Kentucky Common is:

An American original, Kentucky Common was almost exclusively produced and sold around Louisville, Kentucky from some time after the Civil War until Prohibition. It was inexpensive and quickly produced, racked into barrels while actively fermenting, and tightly bunged to allow carbonation in the saloon cellar. Before the style died, it accounted for about 75% of sales around Louisville.

Some have speculated it was a dark variant of Cream Ale, created by immigrant Germanic brewers who added darker grains to help acidity the local carbonate water.

Shoddy IPA (Batch 343)

Well ... if you read Roll-a-Style 9 ... Hazy IPA, you already know that I brewed Sunday.

When I planned the brew day and bought the ingredients, I thought that I was hosting a brew day with my friends Du and Doc, but plans changed and it was a solo brew day.

I always thought that a Hazy IPA would be a great beer to use "Short and Shoddy" techniques to brew.

The short boil time in particular is something that I think helps keep haze in a beer, and the recipe I developed used a 15 minute boil because of that theory.

Kveik Voss is also a great IPA yeast and since you don't have to chill the wort very far to use Kveik yeast, this is also a time-saving ingredient.

Also, to save time in the morning, I decided to do an overnight mash so that I could skip that mash step on Sunday.

Shoddy IPA

Roll-a-Style 9 ... Hazy IPA

Well ... I thought I was going to have a group brew day coming up, and I have a bunch of IPA hops in my freezer.

I pretended to roll the Online 20 sided die and pretended that I rolled ...

9 Corresponds to 21C. Hazy IPA.

A Hazy IPA is

An American IPA with intense fruit flavors and aromas, a soft body, smooth mouthfeel, and often opaque with substantial haze. Less perceived bitterness than traditional IPAs but always massively hop-forward.

Another #GCCUSA2023 Century Ride

I did another Great Century Challenge Century Ride yesterday (Labor Day).

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 I type this, I've done a total of 321 miles in September. By the time you read this, I will almost certainly have even more miles ridden.

So far, I've raised $2,911, hoping to get to $5,000 by the end of the challenge.

If you'd like to help out or just follow along, feel free to visit my GCC profile page:

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

First #GCCUSA2023 Ride

Yesterday, I started my Great Cycle Challenge with a Century Ride.

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.

I have committed to riding 1000 miles over the course of September. I always try to get a good start over the first few days and the long Labor Day Weekend so that I'm not worrying about miles towards the end of the month when who knows what might be going on.

By the time you read this, I will probably have gone on another long ride. If you'd like to follow along or make a donation ... follow the link:

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard