2025 Thanksgiving Turkey

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving.

Since 2018 (Cherry Wood Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey), I've been the one in charge of cooking / smoking / grilling the turkeys at the SheppyBrew house.

It's fun for me, and it frees up the oven for the various sides my wife generally makes.

And, I think smoked turkey tastes better than it would if we cooked it in the oven.

Over the years, I've tried several techniques for actually cooking the turkey.

I've smoked a few roasted whole. I've done spatchcocked. I've halved the bird and last year, I quartered the bird.

My plan this year was to repeat the Quartered bird like I did with the 2024 Thanksgiving Turkey. However, for whatever reason, this bird was just being difficult when I was cutting it.

I ended up just deciding to try the spatchcock method again.

2025 Thanksgiving Beers

Thanksgiving is here! Merry Thanksgiving from SheppyBrew Brewery.

In lots of ways, it honestly feel like 2025 just began and now it's getting close to being over.

Here at the SheppyBrew Home Brewery, we have a pretty decent lineup of beers available for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Tri-tip photos

I've had a tri-tip in my freezer since sometime in mid-ish October. 

Tri-tips were on sale I guess and I purchased two. One I grilled on October 13. The other I grilled this past Saturday.

I never posted about the first one. Now, lucky reader, I'm posting photos from this past cook.

I really enjoy grilling eating tri-tip, but they are expensive enough that I never buy them unless they are on sale.

Tri-tips are pretty simply to make, and my process is always pretty much the same. I apply a salt / pepper / garlic rub hours before I want to cook.

I generally prepare my grill around an hour and a half before dinner. I'll set up the grill for a reverse sear. Indirect for the first hour to hour and fifteen minutes and then direct for the last little bit.

Learning to Homebrew: 2025 X-Mas Ale (Batch 384)

Saturday was Learn to Homebrew Day. Originally I thought maybe I'd be brewing with one or more of my homebrewing buddies, but Doc was busy and Du has moved away ... so it was just me and the SheppyBrew Beer Model this year.

Doc and I might get together in a couple weeks, but we'll see.

You may remember from Roll-a-Style 20: 17D. English Barley Wine (X-Mas Ale 2025) that this year's X-Mas Ale is a little different than the usual Winter Warmer that I generally brew.

This year, I'm marking 17D. English Barley Wine off my Roll-a-Style list, and since a Barley Wine is a bigger beer than I usually brew, I decided to pitch right onto the yeast cake of Gnomeberry Hollow Cherry Porter (Batch 382).

This meant, I had to keg Gnomeberry Hollow before getting started on Saturday. 

2025 Q3 SheppyBrew Stats

Here it is October already. We're over three quarters through the year! 2025 is flying by.

At the SheppyBrew Brewery, Q3 was another lighter than average brewing quarter, with only 4 batches of beer and 20 gallons of beer.

This means we've brewed 14 batches and 70 gallons so far in 2025, putting us on track to hit 92 gallons this year.

I don't expect I'll pick up my volume all that much in Q4, but I guess we'll have to see how it goes.

My Q3 batches were:

• Cuttlefish Czech Amber Lager
• Voodu Magic Tropical Stout
• Johnny McClure Rainier Lager
• 1519 Barker Exportbier

As I'm typing this, Cuttlefish is gone, and Voodu Magic, Johnny McClure, and 1519 Barker are still "on tap". 

Cuttlefish Czech Amber Lager

 

1519 Barker Exportbier (Batch 361)

If you've been following my Great Cycle Challenge, you know that I've been pushing pretty hard to log miles this month.

I've already done my 2nd Century of the Challenge, and as I type this I've logged over 500 miles on my bikes.

Sunday, I decided to take a bit of a break, and brew some beer.

I'm still taking a bit of a break from my Roll-a-Style list, and I thought I'd brew another lager.

You may remember that last September I brewed 1519 Barker Exportbier (Batch 361), which was a tribute to my college days.

There were enough issues with the first batch that I knew I'd like to brew it again.

This seemed like a good time to get the 2nd batch done.

1519 Barker Exportbier

 

SheppyBrew vs Breckenridge Autumn Ales

One of the SheppyBrew Beers I have on tap right now is Will-o'-Wisp Autumn Ale (no pumpkin).

It is a malty, dark amber, medium to low alcohol berer with caramel flavor and notes of dark chocolate. It is basically the base-beer of my world-famous Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale ... minus the pumpkin and the spices.

One of the commercial beers I have in one of the beer fridges is Breckenridge Autumn Ale. 

"Our fall seasonal hit combines the malty goodness of a German lager with the clean crispness of an American ale. Brewed with Munich malts and a delicate blend of Bavarian hops, it's full-bodied with a nutty-sweet middle, a warming alcohol level and notes of toasted grain. A pre-winter winner."  

In Search of Michelob

There's a little story behind the name 1519 Barker, which I shared both on the recipe page "1519 Barker Exportbier", and on the brew day blog post 1519 Barker Exportbier (Batch 361)

My intention of brewing 1519 Barker was to capture the essence of how I remember my favorite beer in college. 

 

1519 Barker Exportbier

Style: Dortmunder / Export
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 17
SRM: 5.5

Description:

Embark on a journey back to the roots of German brewing with 1519 Barker Exportbier, a classic Dortmunder Export that pays homage to the rich brewing traditions of Dortmund. This golden lager pours with a brilliant clarity, crowned by a creamy white head that invites you to savor its balanced and refined character.

2024 Q3 SheppyBrew Stats

It is already October, which blows my mind. Where did the summer go?

Of course, this means the 3rd Quarter of 2024 is done. We can report on the Q3 SheppyBrew Brewing Stats. 

When it comes right down to it, I'm sure no one besides myself really cares, but I like to look back on these posts to see how much I've brewed and what I was planning on brewing at certain points of the year.

As I've been saying, I expect that I'll brew less beer this year than I have for the past several years, and so far it does look like I'm tracking for a lower volume than 2023.

In fact, as of October 1 ... I was on track for just over 93 gallons for 2024, which would be the least amount I've brewed since 2018.

In this quarter, I brewed 4 batches of beer:

• Hail Storm Summer Saison ... 2024 Hail Storm Summer Saison (batch 359)
• N.T.S. Faux Pilsner ... N.T.S. Faux Pilsner (Batch 360)
• 1519 Barker Exportbier ... 1519 Barker Exportbier (Batch 361)
• Falling Leaves Autumn Saison ... 2024 Falling Leaves Autumn Saison (Batch 362)
  
  

1519 Barker Exportbier (Batch 361)

I've been pretty busy with my #GCCUSA and have not brewed in awhile. My last brew day (before this one) was on August 4th.

This year, I'm actually tracking to finish the year with less than 90 gallons brewed, which would be the least amount since 2014.

Luckily, I have not been drinking a whole lot of homebrew compared to previous years either, and I am fine on my beer inventory.

But, I did kill a keg of Summer Lovin' fairly recently and thought I'd like to brew a beer to give me a little buffer.

So ... I got a yeast starter going a couple days ago, and I decided to brew a rare workday-brew-day yesterday.

1519 Barker Exportbier