Kemosabe Quad (Batch 372)

Fat Tuesday / Mardi Gras was last Tuesday. Even though this year is as late as Easter can be, it blows my mind that we've already entered Lent.

Time flies.

If you've been following along, you might have caught that I've been picking beers to brew off my Roll-a-Style list rather than actually rolling to pick what to brew.

Part of the reason I've been doing this, is to use my harvested Belgium yeast to step up to a big Belgium Beer ... Roll-a-Style 9: 26D. Belgian Dark Strong Ale.

For quite awhile, I've been planning on using the whole yeast cake from Mardi Blonde (Batch 370) Birthday Brew to brew this big beer.

But, then when I kegged Mardi Blonde, I wasn't ready to brew yet. So, I kept putting off the brew day.

I finally got around to it last Tuesday on the same day I smoked a Chuck Roast for pulled-beef-sandwiches.

Hooligans vs Left Hand Milk Stout

As I mentioned on Tafel Mystère Belgian Single (Batch 367), I had some Pack o' Hooligans Stout on my last brew day, but wanted to give it it's own blog post.

As you probably know if you've been following along, Pack o' Hooligans is my Roll-a-Style beer for the BJCP Style 16A. Sweet Stout.

Now, when I think of "Sweet Stout", my mind goes to Left Hand Milk Stout as the defining commercial example.

I'm fairly lucky to be able to get Left Hand Milk Stout anytime I want and decided to compare Pack o' Hooligans Stout vs Left Hand Milk Stout.

I tried the two beers together last Saturday. 

 

Recent BBQ Photos

I have not posted much about my BBQ adventures recently.

I've been posting about Brewing and local breweries and biking.

Just no BBQ.

I believe the last time I posted about BBQ was over a month ago with Pork Butt Burnt Ends.

Of course, I have been cooking BBQ between then and now.

I thought I'd share pictures from some of those cooks.

On Sunday, August 11, I cooked some spare ribs on the weber kettle.

Snowy Chuck

We got a ridiculous amount of snow last Saturday, and we spent a rare weekend day completely at home.

I smoked a Chuck Roast, kegged my Said Strumpet Czech Pale Lager,  watched the Bradley Braves defeat the lowly Illinois State basketball team (if you can't go to school, go to state), and sampled this year's Arctic Vortex Winter Saison.

And shoveled tons and tons and tons of snow.

I probably did other things too, but those are the highlights.

I kegged the 2024 Arctic Vortex Winter Saison the weekend before, and although I had already sampled it a few times already, Saturday was the day that I poured a fully carbonated pint to drink "for reals".

Double Chuck Roast

We had my wife's family visiting this past weekend to help celebrate my younger son's graduation from high school.

On Saturday, we wanted some BBQ, but of course my wife also wanted me to spend time with the family.

If you follow this blog at all, you probably have seen posts about me smoking chuck roast for shredded beef sandwiches.

Chuck roast takes a long time to get tender enough to shred the beef, but I like to smoke it for a few hours in the morning and then put it in the Crock Pot for several hours afterward.

That way, I don't have to pay attention to the cooking meat for the majority of the time it is cooking ... at least after that couple of hours on the smoker.

2023 Arctic Vortex and Chucky

One thing you can pretty much count on at the SheppyBrew Brewery ... we'll brew 4 Saisons a year.

Winter / Spring / Summer / Autumn

I started brewing these Seasonal Saisons way back in early 2014 with Brewing Arctic Vortex Black Saison.

I skipped a Spring Saison that year, but followed up with Hail Storm Summer Saison and then Falling Leaves Harvest (Autumn) Saison.

Then, First Brew of 2015: Arctic Vortex followed by Melting Stream Spring Saison.

And ... other than missing that Spring Saison of 2014, every season I've brewed the Seasonal Saison appropriate for the time of year.

It being January and winter, it is, of course, time for our Winter Seasonal Saison ...

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

Chuck Roast in the Snow

Chuck Roast is something I end up smoking quite a bit.

Ever since Chuck Roast on Weber Kettle and Crock-pot ... way back in late 2019, my process in cooking Chuck Roast is to smoke it for 3 or 4 hours, and then put it in the crock pot for the rest of the day.

This allows me to get done with the smoking early in the day. When the chuck is in the crock pot, I don't have to pay attention to it.

So ... I can spend the part of the day when the rest of my family is up doing something else.

It works out great. At some point I may try the same process with a pork butt.

Anyway ... as I mentioned in a couple of posts recently, the Denver area got a bunch of snow Friday night into Saturday. I cleared out the snow to get a chuck roast on the kettle.

Boo Berry Wheat (Batch 307)

My wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) brewed with me Sunday.

We'll brew together from time to time. Sometimes I say I do it so that I'll have a second adult brewer in the household, making it legal for me to brew more than the 100 gallons per year.

Honestly, though, I'm quite certain no one pays that close attention to the homebrewing law, and I don't really have to establish her as a brewer to be ok with the law.

The real reason is that it is fun to pretend that she's in charge of brewing.

I'm not sure why she does it. Apparently she thinks it is fun to brew with me from time to time as well.

Sunday, we brewed one of her favorite recipes ...

Boo Berry American Wheat

Weekend BBQ Photos

I didn't brew this past weekend, but I did Barbeque and Bike.

As you know, I'm not afraid to BBQ in the Snow.

Good thing, because Saturday started out real snowy.

One of the things I really like to smoke is Chuck Roast for shredded beef sandwiches.

Chuck Roast is almost as guuud as Brisket, but it takes less effort to cook.

Generally, I smoke the Chuck Roast for 3 or 4 hours and then pull it off the smoker and put it in the crock pot until dinner time. (see Chuck Roast on Weber Kettle and Crock-pot as an example)

The result is tender and juicy and nicely smoked.

Great sandwiches that everyone in my family can enjoy. It also makes great leftovers. I love to make chili with chuck roast.

BBQ in the Snow

This past weekend, it snowed a lot in the Denver area. Like a historic amount of snow between late morning Saturday and Sunday night.

I don't know exactly how much snow we got here, but there were drifts over 4 feet in my driveway and yard.

Most of the day Sunday, the roads were pretty much unpassable without high-clearance four wheel drive.

Quarter Life Crisis (Batch 281)

Recently, I turned 40 years of age. Recent is a  relative term.

Even more recently, I turned 50. Time flies when you are having fun.

To be honest, I'm now significantly over 50. I think with all the biking I've been doing over the past few years, I might be in better shape than I was at 40.

At least I'm in better cycling shape.

Anyway, when I turned 40, I thought it might be a good idea to have a quarter life crisis, since I was obviously too young to have a mid-life crisis. 

I never did get around to having that quarter life crisis, but I did brew

Quarter Life Crisis Hoppy Red Ale

Learn to Homebrew Day: X-Mas Ale 2020 (272)

Saturday was the AHA's Learn to Homebrew Day. The SheppyBrew Beer Model and I have made it tradition to brew together on that day every year.

Of course we both know how to homebrew, but Saturday was the first opportunity for the Beer Model to brew with the Anvil Foundry I recently purchased (see Bud Lite Lime (271) on the Anvil Foundry).

There are two main reasons that the idea of electric brewing was extremely attractive to me.

First: most of the electric units I know about allow the ability to set a timer to start heating water. This means you can get your water all ready the night before and have the strike water to temperature when you get up in the morning.

That way, you can start the mash process immediately when you get up. 

Both times I've used the Anvil Foundry, I've taken advantage of this feature, although when brewing with the Beer Model, we get started so late, it wasn't as big a deal for me.

Dudocs Best Bitter (Batch 251)

It had been quite awhile since I brewed with my homebrewing buddies Du and Doc. Learn to Homebrew Day was the last time we had gotten together.

We made a plan to meet at Doc's house prior to all of Colorado's closings, and with all the covid-19 things going on, we considered cancelling.

But, none of us were feeling sick. We'd all been fairly separated from the world for awhile. We were planning on gathering in a group less than 10.

We decided to still go for our brew day.

And this happened Saturday.

Like last time we got together, I decided to go with a fairly simple extract recipe rather than doing a full all-grain batch.

It means I don't have to bring as much equipment and it means I don't have to pay quite as close attention while Doc's homebrew is distracting me. Plus, cleanup is quicker and simpler.

It just makes sense when I'm brewing away from my home brewery.

The recipe I came up with is

Dudocs Best Bitter

Galena Dave's Pale Lager (Batch 247)

Back in December, we had to visit rural Illinois for my father-in-law's funeral.

While there, we saw my wife's sister who lives in Galena, Illinois with her husband, Dave.

Dave told me that his yard was overrun by wild hops, and that he had collected some over the summer. He had them in his freezer.

He asked if I could do anything with them, and of course I said I'd take them.

So, he brought them to me in a plastic bag and I flew them back to Colorado.

They have been in my freezer since then.

Until this past Sunday. Sunday I made....

Galena Dave's Pale Lager

2020 Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

It is winter. Time to brew a Winter Saison.

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

Yes, here at SheppyBrew Brewery, we brew at least 4 saisons every year.

Winter Spring Summer Autumn.

I call them my Seasonal Saison series of beers.

The Arctic Vortex Winter Saison happens to be a black saison, because winter is generally dark ... and it would be boring to make all my saisons look the same.

This past weekend, I brewed this year's Arctic Vortex Winter Saison.

Got the ingredients on Friday. Made a yeast starter on Saturday. Brewed on Sunday.

Chuck Roast on Weber Kettle and Crock-pot

I've smoked Chuck Roast for "pulled beef" a few times. See Sheppy's Blog: Chuck Roast.

Sometimes it turns out great. Sometimes not so much.

Sometimes it come out a bit dry. Not terribly so. Just not as spectacular as it does when it turns out great.

A few weeks ago, I needed to make something for dinner that I didn't have to monitor.

At some point I came across a Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Recipe, and tried it out. Well ... of course I don't follow recipes very well, so it wasn't exactly that recipe, but the basics were the same.

It turned out Yummy. My wife actually complained a little that her shredded beef never turns out so well.

The only thing missing was that smokey / grilled flavor that I love so much.

More on the Weber Kettle

So ... you know that recently I got a Weber Kettle and have been smoking a few things on it.

I did shared that I had done chicken and deep dish pizza in I bought a Weber Kettle.

And ... of course I made pork butt for Big Brew Day in an Overnight Cook.

I really like my Weber Kettle. So far, it has really worked well for me. Probably even better than my offset smoker. Ideally it would have a little more cooking space, but it works out great for things I've made so far for my family.

A couple weekends ago, I had a Chuck Roast sitting in my fridge that I needed to cook up.

My kids had also been asking for Smoked Mac and Cheese . Since my youngest had just gone through his Confirmation at church, I thought it would be appropriate to have a celebration dinner of his choosing.

So ... I thought it would be fun to try these out on the new Weber Kettle.

Resilience IPA

As a general rule, I don't brew clone beers.

However, late in the year, the "Camp Fire" devastated Northern California and it hit close to home for Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. While the brewery was spared, many of Sierra Nevada’s employees, patrons and neighbors lost everything as the Camp Fire ravaged northern Californian.

To help raise much needed support for the recovery efforts, Sierra Nevada created a beer called Resilience IPA. Sierra Nevada, along with many of its professional brewing peers, brewed and sold Resilience IPA with all proceeds donated to the Sierra Nevada Camp Fire Relief Fund through Golden Valley Community Bank Foundation.

On the AHA Website, they posted a clone recipe for Sierra Nevada Resilience IPA, and wrote:

"It is our hope that homebrewers will make a batch of Resilience IPA in solidarity with Sierra Nevada and pro breweries across the country. While we can’t sell our creations and donate the proceeds, please consider donating to the Golden Valley Community Bank Foundation if you are able."

2018 Falling Leaves Autumn Saison

On the last day of September, I brewed my 2018 version of Falling Leaves Autumn Saison.

Falling Leaves is, of course, the Autumn version of my Seasonal Saisons series of beers. It is darker in color than the Spring and Summer Saisons, but not as dark as the black Winter Saison.

Just for the fun of it, I threw some pumpkin in the recipe as well.

The beer is pretty interesting.

It gets most of its color from a Dark Munich malt from Gambrinus Malting Corporation. The malt flavor is heavily Munich breadiness, but it does have the distinct French Saison taste from the yeast and lots of late Saaz hops.

It is a delicious beer.