2024 Seasonals

Early in 2022, I spent some time identifying "SheppyBrew Seasonals". I tied a specific SheppyBrew beer to every month in the year.

For whatever reason, after the year was done I shared 2022 Seasonals I had brewed during the year. I had brewed all but 3 of the "Seasonals".

I reported on the 2023 Seasonals as well, missing 4 months. Now that I've established the pattern, I feel like I have to share my brewed "Seasonals" for 2024.

I actually made it a brewing goal in 2024 to brew all my "SheppyBrew Seasonals". Around July or August, I got tired of the idea, but I had hit all the months so far, so I forced myself to finish them up.

2024 Mardi Bock

2024 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

 It feels like I say this a lot ...

The year is flying by. Not just this year. Every year flies by. Crazy how fast it all goes.

Anyway ... here we are in April, which means that the first quarter of 2023 is done. It's time to report on the  SheppyBrew Brewing Stats for the quarter.

Remember that last year, I kept saying I would slow down brewing and end up brewing less volume than I had in 2022.

I did end up slightly down by the end of the year, but it certainly never looked like I had slowed down at all.

At the end of the first quarter last year, I had brewed 6 batches of beer and had 31 gallons.

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

Mardi Bock

Behold the Mardi Bock, a reverent libation steeped in the rich traditions of German brewing and the spiritual fervor of monks. Picture a deep, mahogany elixir cradled in a vessel, a testament to the dedication of those Teutonic artisans who, like monks in meditative silence, craft this masterpiece.

As you raise the stein to your lips, envision the solemn Lenten season, where German monks toil with monastic devotion to birth this robust Bock Lager. Mardi Bock emerges as the triumphant celebration, a resurrection of flavors after the somber fast, akin to the joyous bells ringing in Easter morn.

A Blonde, two Redheads, and a Brunette

I currently have 4 gorgeous SheppyBrew Beers on tap.

A Blonde. A couple of Red[heads]. A Black beer (brunette)

 

2024 Mardi Bock (Batch 351)

I brewed in the garage this past (Super Bowl) Sunday.

We got a decent amount of snow again on Saturday, and so the back patio (where I usually like to brew) was covered, and I took advantage of the slightly warmer garage for brew day.

This is my 3rd batch of 2024. It's my 351st batch all-time. This is the 69th time I've brewed in my Anvil Foundry.

After Sunday, I've actually brewed this recipe (with minor tweaks, I'm sure) 4 times.

The day this posts will be Shrove Tuesday, aka Mardi Grad, aka Fat Tuesday, aka the day before Lent, and so it is an appropriate time to brew the  seasonal beer ....

Mardi Bock

2023 Seasonals

So ... a couple of years ago, I spent some time identifying "SheppyBrew Seasonals".

I didn't really pay much attention to "Seasonals" in 2023, but a couple weeks ago, looking through my blog, I came across 2022 SheppyBrew Seasonals. That made me want to check out which of these seasonals I did brew in the past year.

I figured that I had not done nearly as many as I had in 2022, but as it turned out ... I was actually pretty close.

The fact that I always brew the Seasonal Saisons every year gives me a little of a head-start.

Arctic Vortex 

 

Easter Brisket

I like brisket. I like making brisket. I like eating brisket. It's GUUUUD.

I would probably make it more if it wasn't usually quite so big. 

A 10 pound brisket is about perfect to fit on my 22 inch Weber Kettle, but it is rare to find a brisket in my local Sam's Club (which is where I get my briskets) under 15 pounds.

15 pounds is just a little too big. I can make it work, but it isn't ideal.

So ... whenever I see a 10 pound Prime "packer" brisket at my Sam's Club, I grab it.

Well ... about a week and a half before Easter, I saw an 11 pound packer brisket at Sam's. Close enough. I grabbed it.

2023 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

Here it is ... already April, which means that the first quarter of 2023 is done. It's time to report on the  SheppyBrew Brewing Stats for the quarter.

I keep claiming that I will brew less beer in 2023 than I did last year, but so far I have not slowed down. At all.

Last year, in Q1, I had brewed 5 batches, 30 gallons.

This year so far I've brewed 6 batches for 31 gallons. 

• Grumkins and Snarks Oatmeal Stout
• Arctic Vortex Winter Saison
• Doodle Bop Belgium Single
• Mardi Bock
• Dubbel Minor
• No Drums Jack Black Lager

Grumkins and Snarks Oatmeal Stout

More Chicken in the Vortex

Well ... like I mentioned in Whole Chicken in the Dutch Oven, I was pretty sure that next time I grilled a whole chicken I would do it in the Vortex ...

... Like I did in Whole Chicken in the Vortex ...

... and ... Another Whole Chicken in the Vortex ...

Lots of people say spatchcock is the best way to cook birds, but I have not found spatchcocking to make my birds turn out as good as cooking the whole thing upright like beer can chicken.

Cooking the bird upright on the kettle brings the top of the chicken close to the lid of the kettle, so at some point I decided to try to cook on the charcoal grate rather than the cooking grate.

The Vortex (or the Dutch Oven) protect the meat from too much direct heat while allowing the bird to be down with the coals.

Pressure Fermentation (sort of) Fail

As I'm typing this blog post, I'm drinking the Mardi Bock that I brewed on Super Bowl Sunday. 

You may recall (if you read that article) that this is the first (and so far the only) batch on which I've used my new 7.9 Gallon Fermenter King Chubby.

I got the "Chubby" because I thought it would be fun / interesting / educational to try Pressure Fermentation.

Pressure fermentation is the process of fermenting beer inside a closed and pressurized vessel. 

Typical fermentations allow CO2 to escape the fermenter through an airlock or blow-off tube. In pressurized fermentation, the fermenter is sealed and the CO2 produced by the fermentation is trapped inside.

You can't just let all the pressure remain in the fermenter, you need a valve that allows pressure to escape above a certain psi. This valve is called a "spunding" valve.

Mardi Bock and other Sunday Activities

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday. 

It was also my first Brew Day after Fixing the Foundry.

And ... it was my first brew in which I'm using a new toy and trying out Pressure Fermentation.

Of course, it being Super Bowl Sunday, I had to make food for the game.

And ... it was beautiful out, so obviously I had to get a bike ride in.

It was a busy day for me.

I was up ridiculously early. Not necessarily because I wanted to be. I just couldn't sleep.

But, regardless, I woke up at 4:00am. I sort of half heartedly tried to go back to sleep, but it was not happening. I got up and started brewing ....

Mardi Bock

SheppyBrew Seasonals

While out for a walk earlier in the week, I was thinking about homebrewing (surprise surprise).

One of the things that popped into my mind was beers that I always brew about the same time of year.

I was wondering if I had seasonal beers for every month of the year.

An obvious example is my Seasonal Saison series of beers. January is almost always when I brew Arctic Vortex Winter Saison. I usually brew Melting Stream Spring Saison in March or April, Hail Storm Summer Saison in June or July, and Falling Leaves Autumn Saison in September or October.

May is easy. The tag line for Helles in a Hand Bock-sket is "Will Drink in May". 

Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale makes the most sense for October.

Decemberfest Lager has "December" right in the name. 

2021 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

Q1 of 2021 is already over, which means its time to report our brewing stats for the year so far.

Continuing on the trend from last year, I brewed a ridiculous amount of beer over the first 3 months of the year.

The first quarter of 2020, I brewed 7 whole batches with 35 gallons. In 2021, I brewed even more in Q1 ... 

I brewed 8 batches and 42 gallons of beer.

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

Mardi Bock 2021 (Batch 279)

Mardi Gras is less than 3 weeks away! Can you believe it?

I am trying to make even more lagers this year, and the realization that Lent was so close made me think about the Bock I made back in 2019 as a Lent beer ... Mardi Bock.

It was one of those beers that both the Beer Model and I liked a lot. When I mentioned it to her, she was pretty excited that it was coming and even said she'd help brew it.

So ... last week, I modified the recipe to a bit to tailor it to the Anvil, and picked up the ingredients.

On Saturday, we brewed the beer. 

Mardi Bock

It was a nice enough day that I would have preferred to brew outside on the patio, but when I asked  the Beer Model, she indicated that she wanted to brew in the garage.

So ... of course that is what we did.

2019 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

It blows my mind, but the first quarter of 2019 is over. But, it is. It really really is.

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 had a big Q1, brewing 6 batches of beer and 30.5 gallons:

• Arctic Vortex Winter Saison
• Popcorn Barley Rye (PBR)
• Mardi Bock
• 5th Season Blood Orange Saison
• Melting Stream Spring Saison
• Bridge Fog California Common

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

Mardi Bock

I brewed my 228th batch of beer on Saturday. It was one of those brew days on which I brought my brewing stuff over to a friend's house and brewed there.

Anyway ... you may remember my homebrew friend "Doc" from Cinco de Bealtaine Irish Stout and Learning to Homebrew.

The weekend before, SheppyBrew Beer Model and I had met Doc and his wife at a new brewery for some beers. He had mentioned that he was brewing Saturday with "Dan", another homebrewer we know.

He invited us over.

The Beer Model couldn't attend, but I decided to go.

I had to decide what to brew. SheppyBrew's PBR was almost done in primary, so I had lots of lager yeast I could harvest. I wanted to do a big lager.

The Beer Model said we should make a "Mardi Gras Beer". It took us a bit, but we came to the conclusion that a Bock would be a good Mardi Gras / Lent Beer.