Christmas vs X-Mas Ales

Sunday, I posted SheppyBrew vs Breckenridge Autumn Ales where I compared Breckenridge Autumn Ale with my Will-o'-Wisp Autumn Ale (no pumpkin).

Of course, I also have my X-Mas Ale 2024 on tap, and it just so happens that I also have some bottles of Breckenridge Christmas Ale.

Breckenridge Christmas Ale actually inspired my traditional base beer recipe of my X-Mas Ales.

"The chill of winter calls for a beer with extra flavor and strength! An abundance of carefully roasted malts create notes of caramel and chocolate, while Chinook and Mt. Hood hops contribute a spicy quality for balance and a clean finish."

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."  

T is for Tilray Beer Brands, Littleton

Honestly, you'd think that we'd have plenty to choose from the letter "T" on our A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts.

And, yes, according to the Colorado Brewery Map & List there are quite a few Denver area breweries starting with the letter "T".

However, we've already used T is for TRVE Brewing Company, T is for Two22 Brew, T is for Tivoli Brewing Company, and T is for Tommyknocker Brewery, and most of the other "T" breweries on the Colorado Brewery Map & List are too far away for just a brewery visit.

There is another local brewery I could use, but honestly, I've never thought this brewery makes very good beer, and I didn't really want to subject myself to beer I don't like.

So ... I am taking a little "artistic license" here ...

T is for Tilray Beer Brands, Littleton

Beer Bike Ride

I like to bike.

I like to drink beer.

Fairly often, I combine the two activities. For example ... remember BOB .... Brew on Broadway and Biking the Beermuda Triangle?

Well, recently, some exciting things happened in the South West Denver Metro Area.

First, Locavore Beer Works opened, becoming my most local brewery ... right along my route home from work.

Not too much after that, Saint Patrick's Brewing Company opened in its new location a couple blocks East of Locavore. The new location was right on the South Platte River's bike path.

Then, Breckenridge Brewery opened its new "Farm House" brewery South of St. Patrick's, also right along the bike path.

Most recently, as I reported in D is for Draw, Boggy, opened basically on the corners of the Bear Creek Bike Path and the Platte River Bike Path.

SheppyBrew X-Mas vs Breckenridge Christmas

I've mentioned a couple of times that I think the 2014 version of my X-Mas Ale was based originally on a clone recipe I found (years ago) for Breckenridge Brewery's Christmas Ale. I don't know where the recipe would have come from, and it may be that I imagined this memory. Of course, even if it started as a clone, I would have made significant changes to it. That is just the way I do things. I never copy recipes completely.

Even so, I knew that I would be trying a side-by-side tasting of the two beers, just to see how they compared. I've done it a few times this year, and if you follow the SheppyBrew Facebook page, you may have seen pictures.

Until today, though, I have not gotten around to blogging about the comparison. Here we go ....

They are certainly not the same. They are both winter warmers, but I don't think anyone who tried them both would confuse the two.

Biking the Beermuda Triangle

So, Denver has lots of breweries.

Take a look at Dave's map on Fermentedly Challenged. Sure looks like a lot. And the number is growing all the time.

I should visit more of these breweries. I've been thinking for some time that it would be a good idea to put together a series of bike-rides to visit sets of breweries. Sort of brewery/biking mini-tours.

One set of breweries that I thought would be perfect, recently started calling themselves the "Beermuda Triangle Coalition". Take a look at Westword's article "West-side brewers form the Beermuda Triangle coalition in the face of increasing competition".

The breweries in this area between Lincoln Street and Federal Boulevard, Alameda and Colfax avenues (really more of a square ... but whatever) are:

• Renegade Brewing Company 925 W 9TH AVE, DENVER, CO 80204
• Breckenridge Brewery 471 Kalamath Street, Denver, CO 80204
• Black Sky Brewery 227 Broadway #101, Denver, CO 80203
• Trve Brewing Company 227 Broadway #101, Denver, CO 80203
• Wit's End Brewing Company 505 West 2nd Avenue #13, Denver, CO 80219
• Strange Craft Beer Company 1330 Zuni, Unit M, Denver, Colorado 80204

I put together a google map to give some perspective: See it by following this hyperlink.

Ground Hogs' Day in Breckenridge

My loving family decided to bring me up to Breckenridge for the weekend before my birthday. Breckenridge is a nice weekend getaway spot for us. We've developed a couple of family traditions there over the years. We go there just about every year for the Duck Races. We also go up there quite often to check out the International Snow Sculpture Championship. As far as I can tell, I've only blogged about last year's (see Beervertising and Snow Sculptures), but we have been several times. Breckenridge is just an easy town for our weekend get-aways.

And, this year, we got-away for the Ground Hogs' day weekend. (aka Sheppy's birthday weekend).

I suppose the Breckenridge Ground Hog saw his shadow (see how sunny it is below). Of course, if he was smart he would not have ventured out into the cold.

2012 Duck Race Pictures

The Colorado Shepards attended the Breckenridge Duck Races again this year.

We are now officially on a winning streak. Connor's duck came in 28th in the Kids' Duck Dash and came away with a gift certificate to one of Breckenridge's fine establishments (in your face, Tweedle Beetles).

Here are some pictures:

Breckenridge Pictures

As the 4th was in the middle of the week this year, we decided to delay my wife's birthday get-away until the following weekend.

As usual, we went up to Breckenridge for this. As usual, we had lots of fun.

Here are some pictures ...

We headed up the gondolas to the Peak 8 Fun Park. We didn't really do much up there except walk around. The free gondola ride was fun, though.

Weekend Getaway

Perhaps you recall that our little yellow duck courageously fought his way to a 12th place finish in the 2011 Breckenridge Duck Race. Well, he did. (see Pictures from the 2011 Breckenridge Duck Races). When you are talking thousands of ducks, 12th place is pretty impressive.

It is in fact impressive enough that it earned the Colorado Shepards a prize.

That little yellow ducky won a gift-certificate to Beaver Run, which is a resort in Breckenridge. The amount on the gift-certificate was enough to cover one night in a two-bedroom suite during a non-peak time of year (it would have covered about half a night during ski season).

My wonderful wife figured out that based on everything else we have going, this weekend was when we would have to use this.

So, we headed up to Breckenridge this weekend.

Beervertising and Snow Sculptures

Remember that back in May I posted 5 youtube videos by Breckenridge Brewery? The "Truth in Beervertising" videos are funny commercials making fun of some of the advertising concepts of big beer companies.

If you don't remember, check them out.

• If you touch it and it's cold, then it's cold
• "Sevendruple-Hopped"
•  Lucky U IPA
• "Gravity activated pouring."
• One that ties all these truth in beervertising commercials together

Recently, Breckenridge Brewery posted 2 new to the series: http://www.breckbrew.com/videos:

Pictures from the 2011 Breckenridge Duck Races

If you've been following around in the recent developments on the whole Tweedle Beetle saga. (especially my last blog entry) , you know that the Colorado Shepards attended the The Summit Foundation 24th Annual Great Rubber Duck Races.

You also know that this year (for the first time EVER) we overcame the cheating efforts of the Tweedle Beetles and WON! Yes, it was only 12th place, but that was good enough to make the list of winners and get a prize.

IN YOUR FACES, Tweedle Beetles!

Here are some pictures from Race Day:

Breckenridge

Well, my wife's birthday is July 3rd, and our tradition is that we always (well usually anyway) go away to some mountain town for the 4th of July weekend. This year, like last year, I intended to get started making reservations earlier, but it always seems to sneak up on me. And, like last year, I panicked and reserved a condo in Breckenridge. Breckenridge always works well because I know how to find last-minute 2 bedroom condos in Breckenridge at pretty reasonable prices (at least during the non-snow-skiing months). We are also familiar enough with Breckenridge that I do not have to investigate activities before we go.


Anyway, we ended up in Breckenridge again this year for Tracy's birthday. We spent the 4th downtown playing on the inflatable playthings they always have for kids and then watching the independence day parade. Connor and I went back to the condo for a nap before the parade was done. Not sure if I will be able to survive these mountain mini-vacations when Connor no longer takes naps, because as it turned out, I really needed the nap too.


On the 5th, we drove our bikes down to Frisco (about 15 minutes from Breckenridge) and rode along Lake Dillon. The ride was a bit more hilly than I remembered, but Tyler really did a good job on the hills. There were a couple of places he had to stop and walk up the end of a hill, but he surprised me on a most of them, making it up by himself. He also did a good job staying over to the right and even navigated a stretch that goes right by the rode pretty well. It was a good ride to a playground in Dillon where we had lunch and played on the playground equipment.


And, on the way home on the 6th, we stopped by an overlook over Lake Dillon to take a family picture over the lake. Those of you who have been in our house might remember the poster-sized photo we have of the family before Connor was born. We (or at least I) keep telling people that we should update the picture now that we have Connor, and now we finally have done the first step towards that goal. Now we just have to order a poster-sized print and there we have it.

So, we had fun in Breckenridge. The weekend flew by as they always do, and I really did not want to wake up to go to work this week. But, it was worth it, I'm sure.