2018 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

It is already April.

I think that means that the 1st quarter of 2018 is done.

As you may know, the Brewery likes to post quarterly updates on how much we have brewed. You can see all these updates (including the one you are reading right now) by following this link:  Sheppy's Blog: Brew Stats .

The SheppyBrew Brewery brewed 6 batches of beer in the first quarter:

• Arctic Vortex Winter Saison
• Oompa Loompa Mango Pale Ale
• Pats Disliker New England Pale Ale
• Imaginary Dragon Brown Ale
• Melting Stream Spring Saison
• Gringo Cerveza Popcorn Ale

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

These 6 batches yielded 30.5 gallons, putting me easily on pace to surpass 100 gallons for the year.

Gringo Cerveza Popcorn Ale

I brewed Wednesday. I had the week off work, so of course I had to get a brew day in.

Wednesday was the day.

The beer I brewed was based on a long-time SheppyBrew recipe. Gringo Cerveza.

Originally, I used this name for a Mr. Beer recipe. I even had a partial mash recipe.

And ... eventually it become an all-grain recipe.

Sometime along the way, it became a Popcorn Beer.

"Popcorn?" You ask. Yes Popcorn.

A popcorn jalapeño beer. The jalapeños have become optional.

I got the idea of using popcorn in a beer when I listened to an episode of The Session on the Brewing Network about Sun King Brewery of Indianapolis, Indiana. One of their beers was a popcorn beer.

I decided to try the popcorn mash. Seemed that concept would work well with a jalapeño beer.

Novelty Beers ... Oct 2012 "Session"

Until last month, I had not heard of  "The Session" (aka Beer Blogging Friday). I only discovered it because I was mentioned on the blog "This is Why I'm Drunk" in the article When this baby hits 88 miles per hour … Aug. 2012 “Session” , which was part of the whole session thing. I'll let you read more about the concept here: http://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/the-sessions/

I looked at the October 2012 topic, Novelty Beers: A shout-out for October’s The Session, and decided I would participate. Why not?

With the onslaught of even weirder beers than before, I can’t help but wonder if novelty beers are going too far. Or maybe not far enough? LOL! As a merchant of beer, I can see the place for novelty beers, as I am choosing for some customers who say, “I want the strangest beer you have”. We’ve even seen some novelty beers in our top-sellers. But beer traditionalists sometimes frown on these new and bizarre concoctions.

 My initial response when reading the topic was, "Sheppy, we don't drink or brew novelty beers. What will we write about?"

But "Novelty" is a matter of perspective, isn't it?

Jalapeños in the Popcorn

Well, I got my second article posted on the HomeBrew Academy's blog. Jalapeños in the Popcorn is up there right now. Check it out and leave a comment. It is about adding jalapeños and tasting SheppyBrew's Gringo Cerveza Jalapeño Ale.

It is, of course, my follow up to the wildly popular article Popcorn Jalapeño Cream Ale . I can tell it was wildly popular because of the large number of facebook shares and tweets shown there on the post.

The new article has not generated nearly as much "buzz". Not sure why. I suppose everyone got everything they wanted out of the first article. The concept of popcorn in the mash with jalapeño flavoring is apparently old, worn out news.

Doesn't matter. I enjoy the beer.

Adding Jalapeños

Well, you might have heard that Billy B of the HomeBrew Academy allowed me to write a guest post on his blog. Check it out: Popcorn Jalapeño Cream Ale .

It describes my brew day for Gringo Cerveza Jalapeño Cream Ale. I talked about my inspiration and intention to brew this on this blog at Popcorn Beer #HomeBrew.

Being a guest blogger was a fun and interesting experience. The HomeBrew Academy's blog is followed more extensively than my little blog, so I am getting more exposure by posting there than I do here. If I add up the Facebook and Tweet numbers on the top of the page, just the people who posted it to Facebook or Tweeted the article would put this well into the top 10 all-time viewed posts on my own little blog.

6 Gallons @bonfilsdotorg

Well, I mentioned back in January that the next time I gave blood I would get my 6 Gallon pin from Bonfils Blood Center. Well, last night I stopped into a blood bus and donated my 48th pint (which is 6 gallons), and got my "6 Gallon Donor" pin.

Pretty cool, don't you think?

I don't go to the mobile buses as often as I go to donation centers. The other couple times I've given on a bus, it was not very crowded. Last night was pretty busy when I went in and the cramped area seemed more obvious. The bonfils workers did a great job as always, though.

I may have to seek out these mobile buses more often.

Popcorn Beer #HomeBrew

A couple of nights ago, I was listening to The Brewing Network Sunday Session February 13, 2012 episode with Sun King Brewery. The main part of the show was a great interview with Clay Robinson who is one of the founders, owners, and brewers at Sun King Brewery of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Sun King won a ridiculous number of medals at the 2011 GABF. If my memory is correct, they got 4 golds, 3 silvers, and 1 bronze. Getting any kind of medal at the GABF is an amazing feat. Getting 4 golds is mind-blowing. Getting 8 medals is downright unbelievable.

If I have had any Sun King beer, it was at GABF. It doesn't appear in my notes, so if I had any I don't remember anything about it. I hope I remember to try to find it this year.

My favorite part of the interview was when Clay talked about their Popcorn Pilsner. If you download the episode from the link above, this part is at about the 1:42:20 mark of the pod-cast.

One of the ingredients used in Popcorn Pilsner is (are you ready for this?): Popcorn.