Well ... that isn't technically true. I don't HATE them. It would be much more accurate to say that Gnomes absolutely terrify me.
It creeps me out the way these little creatures sneak around causing mischief. The way they pretend to act like real people is unnatural. Their little voices send chills down my spine. Oddly enough, leprechauns and tommyknockers don't bother me. I can't completely put my finger on what it is, but something about gnomes are completely frightening. Quite often when I see several gnomes together, I scream like a little girl.
I can't help it, they freak me out. My wife has a similar issue with spiders. It certainly doesn't help that the use an unnecessary "G" in their name. Uggggg.
Why do I have Brewing Gnomes, then?
Well ... after one of the episodes of me seeing several gnomes together, and screaming like a little girl ... in front of my young boys no less ... my loving family thought getting me a "therapy gnome" would be a good idea.
For Christmas 2012, my family adopted Gnasty Gnome. Gnasty loves beer and the Chicago Blackhawks. The idea was that having so much in common would help me start to overcome my irrational fears.
I started to recover some, and it wasn't too long before Gnaughty Gnome also joined us. Again, Gnaughty loves beer and is also a Chicago Bears fan. How can I feat a kindred Bears fan?
Interestingly enough, having these brewing buddies made some people think I like Gnomes. (can you image people thinking I LIKE gnomes?)
At some point, a Chicago Cubs Gnome joined the group. For some reason, I never gave this Gnome a name (or maybe I just don't remember doing it) until recently.
Well, here it is August of 2026, and Gnorthside Gnome finally contributed a recipe to SheppyBrew Brewery.
We brewed it Sunday.
I won't waste your time explaining what a "Cold IPA" is. I'm sure you already know. You're probably not one of those people who would say "aren't all IPA's cold?"
Brew day went well. I didn't get started all that early. I basically got the mash going in the morning, letting it go through going to church.
After returning, I continued on the brew day.
The mash and boil went great, although the bag of Jasmine rice my wife had gotten me was less than I thought it would be, so I had to modify the recipe to accommodate.
Don't worry ... it was still "in style".
I also accidently measured out too much Mosaic hops, and was too lazy to get them out of the cup and put them back in the bag. So ... there are more Mosaic hops in this beer than Gnorthside Gnome originally intended.
Don't worry ... he didn't mind ... and it is also still "in style".
Technically, even though IP A stands for India Pale ALE, a cold IPA is a lager. (I didn't make this style ... I just followed Gnorthside Gnome's recipe )
So ... the beer is fermented with 34-70. The style calls for fermenting a little higher than a "traditional" lager.
I pitched my yeast at 60 - ish Farenheight.
As I type this, fermentation has not kicked off yet. By the time you read this, it certainly has. I'll have added one round of dry hops when you read this too. I'll add more dry hops into the keg too.
This is (probably?) the most hops in any SheppyBrew recipe. Gnorthside likes it that way.
We're looking forward to trying this beer.
As always keep watching the regular SheppyBrew Channels to see what is happening with my BBQ, Beer, Biking: SheppyBrew's Facebook Page; Sheppy's Twitter Feed; SheppyBrew's Instagram Page; and SheppyBrew's Website.Of course, don't forget to visit this blog often as well!
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