Potato Barley Rye (PBR) ... Batch 395

I brewed a batch of beer last week, only my 9th of the year, but the 2nd brew this month.

I'm still way behind my usual brewing volume, and tracking to be one of the least-amounts brewed in any year since I started.

At this point, I'm thinking it is unlikely I'll catch up to my "normal" amount this year ... but I guess we'll have to see.

Currently, I have 4 beers "on-tap", which is my maximum, but 3 out of my 4 kegs are very close to being empty.

So ... I may need to brew a few more batches soon.

Anyway ... the beer I brewed last week is an interesting experiment (interesting to me) ....

Potato Barley Rye (PBR)

Yes, I brewed a "potato beer". 

Way back in 2016, I brewed a Sweet Potato Beer called #WeAreGroot. For #WeAreGroot I cut up and mashed actual sweet potatoes.

For PBR, I used boxed flaked potatoes, which I thought would be less of a pain. I didn't have to cut, boil, and mash the flakes, so I guess it was a little less of a pain. 

But, the flaked potatoes are a pain in their own way. The first thing I noticed was that it was extremely difficult to get all the "dough balls" out (potato balls?). With a bunch of stirring I guess I got them to an acceptable point, so that wasn't too terribly bad.

But ... even with rice hulls, the potato flakes were not very re-circulation friendly. I had the pump going very slow, and still got the dreaded "stuck mash".

Eventually, I just turned off the pump, so that was fine too.

Draining took a ridiculous long time. But, I wasn't really in a hurry, so I just let it go for a long time.

The mash absorbed much more water than my usual malted-grains do. I ended up having to add more than a whole gallon back to dilute.

The pre-boil volume / gravity was actually right on plan after the dilution water, so I guess the difficulties didn't seem to affect my mash / brewhouse efficiency. 

Cleaning up the potato "gunk" was also more difficult than a regular malt-based beer clean up.

The boil actually went well. This particular recipe calls for quite a few hops, and I got them all in where I intended.

I caused my own issue with chilling. I pushed the wrong button on the power, so while I was chilling, my Foundry was still heating.

Surprisingly, my chiller still got the wort under 90 degrees. I decided to rack into the fermenter at the higher temperature and letting my fermentation cooling system bring the temperature down to pitching temperature.

It took a couple of hours.

I pitched and the fermentation started up pretty quickly. As of now, we are about a week into fermentation. I'll keg this up and probably start drinking soon.

Should be an interesting 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!

SheppyBrew Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch

Brewery: SheppyBrew Style: Cow Beer ABV: 4.7% IBU: 23 SRM: 6.4

Appearance

Pale golden with a faint amber hue from the touch of specialty malt. A dense, creamy white head crowns the glass and lingers like a milk mustache on a happy cow. Brilliant clarity shows off the beer’s clean fermentation and careful conditioning.

Aroma

Soft grain sweetness and a whisper of corn mingle with light floral hops. There’s a subtle fruity note — pear and apple from the Kölsch yeast — balanced by a rustic, countryside freshness that evokes barns, fields, and gnomes laughing over pints.

Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch (Batch 394)

I brewed a couple Sundays ago for the first time since Bad Lands Kölsch (Batch 393).

Over a month between brew days. I'm still "on pace" for less than 75 gallons of beer, which would be the least amount of beer I've ever brewed in a year since 2009, the first year I brewed.

And ... back then I only did 2.5 gallon batches, so even though the volume was less, the number of batches would have been much higher that year.

Oh well! My beer supply isn't in danger of running out. 

Anyway ... as I mentioned in Bad Lands Kölsch vs. Spotted Cow, I recently traveled to Wisconsin, and picked up some Spotted Cow.

Back in 2020, I came up with a "tribute" recipe to Spotted Cow, but didn't have any to compare the two beers to.

I thought now would be a perfect opportunity to re-brew ...

Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch

A Brunette and Three Blonds

Those of you who have visited SheppyBrew Brewery generally have the opportunity to try a flight of beers we have on tap at the time.

It gives you a quick way to decide which beer(s) you might be interested in.

Every so often, I'll pour myself a flight and spend some time considering the beers I have.

Even though in 4th of July Steak and Corn, I listed and described the beers I have on tap, the Gnomes and I poured a flight to share.

4th of July Steak and Corn

For our 4th of July grilling, we took advantage of our grocery store's holiday sales on Ribeye Steak and Corn-on-the-Cob.

Both of these are things I feel like I have not perfected grilling.

My main issue with steak is that I hardly ever am able to consistently get them to the right temperature before searing. There is always one or two that cooks faster.

So, either one or two are over-done or one or two are under-done.

But ... Ribeyes are fairly forgiving even if cooked a little long, so I always make it work.

For corn, I'm just never sure how the best way to cook them is. Should I remove the husks and cook indirect? Should I remove the husks and cook them direct? Should I leave the husks on and when I do, should I cook them over the fire or off?

2026 Q2 SheppyBrew Stats

July! It is already July, which means it is time to report on the "Brewing Stats" for Q2 of the SheppyBrew Home Brewery.

If you read my Q1 report, you know that I was on track to brew the least amount of beer ever in 2026.

While, I did brew a little more in Q2, I didn't speed up very much. After brewing only 3 batches of beer in Q1, I brewed only 4 in Q2.

I'm no longer on track to brew the least amount of beer I've ever done in a year, but I'm certainly on track to be down to the 2nd or 3rd least amount.

Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager

Bad Lands Kölsch vs. Spotted Cow

This past week, we visited family in Wisconsin, home of New Glarus Spotted Cow. New Glarus does not distribute its beer outside of the Wisconsin boarders, and I decided to pick up some Spotted Cow and bring it back to my home brewery to compare to my Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch, which I plan to brew soon. 

I'm the meantime, my Bad Lands Kölsch is on tap, and Thursday I decided to compare it to the Spotted Cow. 

Ground Hog Premium Lager

Brewery: SheppyBrew
Style: Czech Premium Pale Lager
ABV: 5.0%
IBU: 38
SRM: 3.7

Appearance

A brilliantly clear pale‑gold lager with a soft straw hue and a tight, persistent white head. The foam forms a fine, creamy cap that lingers as a thin lace down the glass. Bright carbonation streams upward in steady, lively columns, giving the beer a crisp, polished look that immediately signals refreshment.

Aroma

Clean, elegant malt leads the way — lightly bready, faintly sweet, and reminiscent of fresh‑cracked grain. A subtle floral‑herbal hop note rises behind it, offering a gentle Saaz‑like spice without dominating. Fermentation character is impeccably clean: no esters, no sulfur, just a classic lager profile with a soft, inviting malt presence.

Bad Lands Kölsch (Batch 393)

If you read Ground Hog Premium Lager (Batch 392), you know I brewed last Saturday.

My wife was out of town on a "girls trip" for the weekend, so I had extra time on my hands.

With this extra time, I decided to brew Sunday also.

This should help get my beer inventory up. It actually also helps catch me up a little on tracking to a typical brewing year.

For this Sunday batch, after cleaning up the Ground Hog Premium Lager brew day, I prepared water etc... and a little later in the evening, I started an overnight mash.

For ...

Bad Lands Kölsch

Ground Hog Premium Lager (Batch 392)

I brewed this past weekend.

If you read and remember 2026 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats, you know that this year has been slow in regards to brewing.

Since Q1, before this past weekend I'd only brewed Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager (Batch 390) and Where'd My ManGo Wheat (Batch 391), so I really have not been catching up with my normal brewing cadence.

I was on track for the least amount of beer I've homebrewed since 2009. Back then I was doing 2.5 gallon batches.

But, I took advantage of the opportunity to brew Saturday ...

Ground Hog Premium Lager

Where’d My ManGo Wheat

Brewery: SheppyBrew 
Style: Mango Wheat (Fruit Beer)
ABV: 4.7%
IBU: 27
SRM: 6.2

Appearance

A hazy, sun‑gold wheat beer with a soft, glowing body. The head is pale and fluffy, leaving light lacing as it settles. It looks like summer in a glass — bright, inviting, and just a touch opaque from the wheat and fruit.

Aroma

A gentle wave of fresh mango rises first — not candy‑sweet, but ripe and natural. Underneath it sits a clean wheat backbone: light grain, soft dough, a hint of citrus. The fruit and wheat blend seamlessly, giving it a tropical‑but‑balanced nose.

Flavor

Soft wheat malt leads with a smooth, slightly creamy base. The mango comes through as a bright accent, adding a touch of sweetness and tropical lift without overwhelming the beer. Low bitterness keeps the profile refreshing. The finish is clean, crisp, and lightly fruity — the kind of sip that makes you immediately want another.

Where’d My ManGo Wheat Checklist

If you read Big Brew Day ... Where'd My ManGo Wheat (Batch 391), you know that the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) brewed with me last Saturday. 

She actually brews with me 3 or 4 times a year. I jokingly say that I make her brew with me so that I'll stay out of jail when the authorities find out I brew more than 100 gallons of beer in a year.

You see, according to federal law:

The production of beer per household, without payment of tax, for personal or family use may not exceed:
100 gallons per calendar year if there is only one adult residing in the household or
200 gallons per calendar year if there are two or more adults residing in the household

By the letter of the law, she doesn't actually have to brew to allow our household 200 gallons of beer, but it is fun for me to pretend that I need her to stay out of jail.

Big Brew Day ... Where'd My ManGo Wheat (Batch 391)

It was the American Homebrew Association's annual Big Brew Day this past Saturday.

If you follow along on this blog, you may remember that Big Brew Day is quite often a day that the Beer Model and I brew with one or more our homebrewing friends "Du" and "Doc".

But, this year the date sort of snuck up on us all and we didn't make plans for a get-together.

However ... the Beer Model and I had ordered and even picked up ingredients for a recipe that she was wanting us to brew ...

And ... so we decided to do it on Big Brew Day ... 

Where'd My ManGo Wheat

Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager (Batch 390)

I'm not brewing very much this year. As I've discussed, I'm on track to brew the least amount of homebrew for the year ever.

By a bunch.

But, I did brew a batch of beer this past Sunday.

Hopefully, I'll get another batch of beer in on Big Brew Day, which is coming up this Saturday.

So ... maybe I'll catch up some.

Even if I do, I don't anticipate catching up enough to get over that 100 gallon homebrewing limit.

Regardless, I got up early Sunday morning to start up the Anvil Foundry and brewed ....

Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager

Tengu vs. Samurai®

One of the beers I have on tap right now is "Whisper of the Tengu" Rice Lager.

"A rice lager brewed with reverence and restraint. Whisper of the Tengu is not a beer that shouts—it listens. It’s subtle, sharp, and quietly powerful, honoring the spirit of the mountain trickster with every clean, deliberate note. Ideal for quiet reflection, shared toasts, or moonlit mischief."

This is the first rice lager I've ever brewed (at least as far as I remember), and I think it turned out fantastic.

Rice lagers seem to have jumped in popularity somewhat recently, and I see them much more at commercial breweries than I did 5 and certainly more than 10 years ago.

I thought it would be fun to pick up a Rice Lager from a local brewery and compare it with Tengu.

So, I bought some of Great Divide's Samurai and this past Sunday I compared them side-by-side.

A to Z Denver Breweries Round 6

The SheppyBrew Beer Model and I are done with Round 6 of our A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts.

Hurray for us! 

In late 2024, we started off this round with A is for Arms, Call To Brewing Company (sadly now closed)

We recently just finished with Z is for MestiZo Brew Cantina.

In this round, we had to take way more "Artistic License" to slot breweries into letters than I like, and (obviously) a Round 7 would be even worse.

For most of the round, I thought the A to Z Series would now be complete. The Beer Model and I would need a new way to pick new breweries. 

However, the Colorado Brewery Map & List does still have lots of Denver-area breweries, and we probably could come up with some brewery for most letters. We'd have to come up with what to do if we cannot find anything that works for a particular letter. Let me know if you have ideas.

🍺 Chelsea Dagger Pre‑Prohibition Lager

Brewery: SheppyBrew 
Style: Pre‑Prohibition Lager
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 30
SRM: 3.6

Appearance

Brilliant pale gold with a bright, sunlit clarity that shows off its lean grain bill. A tight white head forms quickly and lingers in a thin lace, just enough to remind you this is a lager with backbone. The color sits right in that classic pre‑Prohibition range — light, but not fragile.

Aroma

A clean, crackery malt note leads, softened by a faint sweetness from the flaked corn. Cluster hops add their unmistakable American heritage: a mix of herbal spice, light floral tones, and a subtle rustic edge. The overall impression is crisp and inviting, with just enough hop character to signal that this isn’t a modern macro‑lager.

2026 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

It is already April. The first quarter of 2026 is done. Time to report on the Q1 SheppyBrew Brewing stats.

Both last year and 2024 yielded 95 gallons of beer, which is lower than any year since 2016. 

If the first 3 months are an indication, 2026 will be an even less volume. Significantly less. As I type this, I'm tracking to less than 60 gallons for the year, which would be the least amount of beer brewed EVER!

I'm not sure if the brewing will pick up this year or not. I guess we'll see.

So far in 2026, I've brewed 3 batches of beer.

• Hop-cember Pale Lager
• "Whisper of the Tengu" Rice Lager
• Mud Blood Baltic Porter

This 3 batches of beer totaled 15 gallons. I'm not sure when I've brewed only 3 batches of beer in 3 months. It may have occurred, but I don't think it has ever happened.

Hop-cember Pale Lager

SheppyBrew Brewery Replaced by AI Brew Master!

LITTLETON, CO – April 1, 2026:

Well, folks… it finally happened.

After years of brewing by hand, experimenting with styles, and occasionally arguing with the Beer Model about whether fruit belongs in beer (it doesn’t), SheppyBrew Brewery has officially entered the age of artificial intelligence.

I am both proud and mildly horrified to announce the newest member — and now sole decision‑maker — of the SheppyBrew team:

BrewBot‑9000™

“Optimizing Beer Since 3:14 AM This Morning”

🍺 Mud Blood Baltic Porter

Style: Baltic Porter Brewer: SheppyBrew ABV: 6.4% IBU: 27 SRM: 26

Appearance

A deep, opaque mahogany that borders on black, glowing with garnet highlights when caught by a strong light. The pour builds a dense, tan head with fine bubbles and excellent retention, leaving tight rings of lace as it slowly recedes. The beer looks rich and substantial without appearing syrupy — a classic dark lager sheen.

Aroma

Smooth layers of dark chocolate, toasted bread crust, and subtle roast rise first, followed by hints of dried cherry and plum. A clean lager fermentation keeps everything crisp and uncluttered. Beneath the malt depth is a faint whisper of earthy hops and a touch of caramelized sugar. Nothing sharp, nothing burnt — just deep, polished malt complexity.