If you follow this blog at all, you probably have read that I want to concentrate more on my BJCP Goal this year.
As of the time of this post, if I'm counting correctly, I've brewed 84 of the 108 styles in the 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines. Since the beginning of the year, I've already brewed 6 new BJCP styles (7 if you include Tasman Pilsner).
I have my Roll-a-Style list, which helps me keep track of styles that I still need to brew.
The idea is that I use a 20-sided online die to decide which style to brew next.
June is here, and I did my Big Brew Day ... Halfway to Helles (Batch 375) at the beginning of May, checking off my 84th style. I think it is time to pick another beer to brew.
I rolled my 20-sided online die, and rolled a 12 ...
I have a confession to make.
Quite often on this blog when I say that I ask ChatGPT something, I am lying. For the purposes of this blog, I lump all AI Chatbots together, and refer to them all as ChatGPT.
I actually use MS Copilot a lot more. But, still on this blog I refer to them as ChatGPT.
It is rare that SheppyBrew Home Brewery makes a "big", high alcohol beer.
By some standards, you might even say that SheppyBrew has never brewed a big beer.
Generally, my beers are in the 4 - 6% ABV range. Sometimes I go a little higher. But, not very often at all.
For me, two of the beers I have on tap right now Kemosabe Quad and King Fergus Wee Heavy are high abv beers at 8.5% and 8%.
Category: Strong Scotch Ale (Wee Heavy)
Brewer: SheppyBrew Home Brewery
ABV: 8%
IBU: 21.6
SRM: 15.3
Aroma:
Richly malty with a strong caramel component. Subtle smoky notes add complexity, while low to moderate esters suggest hints of dried fruit like plums or raisins.
After doing the updates mentioned in New SheppyBrew Website, I had copilot rewrite my SheppyBrew Home page.
To be honest, I can't decide if I like copilot's version better or not.
Just in case I think I want to go back, I'm storing what it was before here.
Let me know what you think.
........
I spent some time recently updating the SheppyBrew Website.
The tech stack used on the site was very out of date and making any code changes to the site was very difficult.
If you're a computer geek at all, you could probably tell with the use of .aspx pages, and the fact that it really was not great on smaller screens.
But, really the main reason I felt I had to get the thing updated was that my hosting company sent me an email letting me know that support for the version of .NET was being removed from their servers "sometime this quarter".
If you follow this blog at all, you probably have read that I want to concentrate more on my BJCP Goal this year.
As of the time of this post, if I'm counting correctly, I've brewed 83 of the 108 styles in the 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines. Since the beginning of the year, I've already brewed 5 new BJCP styles (6 if you include Tasman Pilsner).
I have my Roll-a-Style list, which helps me keep track of styles that I still need to brew.
The idea is that I use a 20-sided online die to decide which style to brew next. However, sometimes, I have decided what I want to brew and "pretended" to roll the number I wanted to brew.
May is coming up, which would be a time to brew the "seasonal" Helles in a Hand Bock-sket, and I thought this year it would be fun to brew a lower ABV German Lager to replace the Hand Bock-sket beer.
My spare rib process has changed some over the years, but for the most part it remains basically the same.
I set up charcoal in sort of an ugly snake with chunks of (usually) hickory wood.
For a 6pm dinner, I'll aim to get the ribs on the kettle around 5pm.
I cook the ribs between 250 and 275 for between 2 and 3 hours ... usually closer to 3.
Here we are already in April. Time to report on the 2025 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats.
The year is flying by and I have brewed quite a bit so far this year. Last year was a down year for me, not even reaching the 100 gallons.
This year so far my brewing rate is a bit faster; I'm on pace to reach over 110 gallons this year.
In Q1, I brewed 6 batches totaling 30 gallons.
My 6 batches were:
Category: 26D. Belgian Dark Strong Ale
Brewer: SheppyBrew Home Brewery
ABV (Alcohol By Volume): 9%
IBU (International Bitterness Units): 25
SRM (Standard Reference Method): 16
Aroma: The aroma is rich and complex, featuring notes of dark fruit such as raisins, figs, and plums, intermingled with caramel, toffee, and molasses. Subtle hints of spice, clove, and mild phenolics from the Belgian yeast add depth. A faint earthy and floral hop presence is detectable, balancing the malt sweetness.
LITTLETON, CO – April 1, 2024:
In a groundbreaking revelation that's sure to delight beer enthusiasts and health gurus alike, SheppyBrew Brewery is proud to announce that our beers are now officially classified as "health drinks"!
This momentous news follows extensive research confirming the undeniable benefits of enjoying a SheppyBrew pint.
So ... I recently brewed Oisin Owl Irish Stout with the intention of having it ready for St. Patrick's Day.
And, of course St. Patrick's Day was last week.
At some point, I thought it would be cool to grab some Guinness Extra Stout to compare with my homebrew. So, I bought some from a local liquor store.
The weekend before St. Patrick's Day, I tried them both side-by-side.
I've mentioned a few times that I want to concentrate more on my BJCP Goal this year.
As of the time of this post, if I'm counting correctly, I've brewed 79 of the 108 styles in the 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines. Since the beginning of the year, I've already brewed 4 new BJCP styles (5 if you include Tasman Pilsner).
I'm hoping to brew another 8 or 9 before the end of 2025.
If you've been following along on this blog, you know that I have my Roll-a-Style list, which helps me keep track of styles that I still need to brew.
The idea is that I use a 20-sided online die to decide which style to brew next. However, the past few new styles, I have decided and "pretended" to roll the number I wanted to brew.
But, recently, I actually rolled the online die, and got 19 ...
It blows my mind that we've already passed the ides of March. The year seems to be flying by.
I know that I'm the only one who really cares, but I have not mentioned any 2025 cycling goals on this blog yet.
In the past few years, I've probably overshared how much cycling I do and how I'm tracking towards various mileage and elevation goals.
I have not done that at all so far this year.
I have these 2025 goals. I just have not taken the time to "share" them.
Again, no one really cares other than myself, but I do like to have these to go back and look at from time to time.
So now, here I am posting my 2025 Cycling Goals.
Appearance: This stout pours a deep, opaque black with subtle ruby highlights when held to the light. The head is a creamy tan, thick and persistent, leaving a generous lacing on the glass with every sip.
Aroma: The aroma is a harmonious blend of rich roasted malt, dark chocolate, and freshly brewed coffee. Hints of caramel and toffee add a layer of sweetness, while subtle earthy hops and a whisper of dark fruit like plum or raisin round out the olfactory experience.
I don't know if I ever mentioned it on this blog, but if you follow SheppyBrew on Instagram or Facebook, you might have caught that when I was picking up ingredients for Tasman Devil Pilsner, I stopped by Dry Dock Brewing company.
In a wild coincidence, Dry Dock had a New Zealand Pils on tap called "Tasman Pilsner" ... Great Minds Think Alike I guess.
Obviously I had to try it and I really liked it.
Style: Belgian Blonde Ale
ABV: 7.4%
IBU: 25
Aroma: The nose is greeted with a bouquet of light malt sweetness, delicate floral notes, and a hint of fruity esters reminiscent of ripe pears and apples. Subtle touches of honey and freshly baked bread add depth to the aromatic profile.
Flavor: On the palate, Mardi Blonde strikes a harmonious balance between malt and hops. The initial sip reveals a smooth malt backbone with flavors of biscuit and light caramel, followed by a gentle hop bitterness that lingers just long enough to create a crisp, clean finish. The nuanced flavors of citrus zest and white grape add a refreshing twist, making each sip more enjoyable than the last.
So ... after posting Roll-a-Style 9: 26D. Belgian Dark Strong Ale, I decided to look a little closer at the 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines.
First, I had never known exactly how many individual beer styles were listed in the guidelines, so I counted.
If I counted correctly, there are 108 styles, and I've brewed 79 of them (actually, as I type this, I have not brewed the Belgian Dark Strong Ale, but once I brew it I will have completed 79).
I've mentioned that there are some styles I'm not really interested in brewing, and so I left those styles off my Roll-a-Style list. Most of these are sour beer styles, but as it turns out, a couple were ones I just didn't look closely at and thus didn't really understand.
I've mentioned a few times that I want to concentrate more on my BJCP Goal and my Roll-a-Style list this year.
Late in 2024, I harvested yeast from Tafel Mystère Belgian Single (Batch 367), which I used to ferment Mardi Blonde (Batch 370) Birthday Brew.
I had 26D. Belgian Dark Strong Ale on my Roll-a-Style List, and thought it would be a good idea to use the whole yeast cake of Mardi Blonde to ferment such a big Belgium beer.
So, I pretended to roll a 9 on my 20 Sided Online Die.
Crafted with the finest hops, including Motueka from New Zealand and the unique Eclipse from Australia, this Pilsner embodies the harmony of its enchanted origins. Each batch is a celebration of craftsmanship and a tribute to the timeless tradition of fine beer-making, infused with a touch of magic and the spirit of collaboration between mythical creatures and nature's wonders.
If you've been following along on this blog for awhile, you may remember that I have been sharing my Strava YearInSport stats over the past couple of years.
I pay more attention to my cycling goals and totals on Strava, but the YearInSport stats cover all activities.
Sort of interesting to me. Not sure if any blog readers care, but I'll share regardless. To be honest, this just helps me compare year-to-year how I do.
Well ... if you've been following along on this blog, you know I've decided to concentrate on renewing my BJCP Goal with a "Roll-a-Style" list.
The concept is pretty simple. I have a list of beer styles that I have not brewed. I assign numbers (1 - 20) to the styles. When I want to brew something new, I roll a 20 Sided Online Die, and brew that style associated with the number I rolled.
Sometimes I actually pick the style I want to brew and "pretend" I rolled the die, but either way, I'm working the list down of styles that I've never brewed.
There are more than 20 beers, so I include a "bench" of beers to move into the list once another gets brewed.
There are some beer styles I decided not to include because I know I won't like drinking them.
When I was going through 2024 Update on the 2021 BJCP Goal, I realized that there are some beer styles that are not on my list, but probably should be.
So ... I decided to add a few more beer styles to my "bench".
