2025 "Seasonals"

If you've followed this blog at all this year, you know that I wanted to concentrate more on my BJCP Goal and my Roll-a-Style list in 2025.

As a side-effect, I purposely ignored most of my "SheppyBrew Seasonals". 

After brewing Mardi Blonde (Batch 370) Birthday Brew and Oisin Owl Irish Stout (Batch 371), I thought to myself that those could be considered February and March "Seasonals".

The Mardi Blonde fit right into the "Mardi Gras / Lent" season in place of  Mardi Bock, and of course Oisin Owl being an "Irish Stout", it was perfect for St. Patrick's Day in March.

At that point, I started thinking that maybe with a little planning, I could come up with replacement "Seasonals" for most months even while brewing new beers based on the Roll-a-Style list.

So ... like I had done with 2024 Seasonals, 2023 Seasonals, and 2022 Seasonals, I started tracking how I could slot 2025 beers into the monthly "Seasonal" matrix.

2025 Mardi Blonde

2025 Update on the BJCP Goal

If you follow this blog, you know I've renewed my old BJCP Goal.

My original BJCP Goal was to make sure I've brewed beers in every category of the BJCP Style Guidelines. I've now covered all the categories, and have decided to work through all the styles (although there are some I will probably skip).

I even came up with a "Roll-a-Style" concept to give me help deciding which style to brew.

At the end of 2023, I posted 2023 Update on the 2021 BJCP Goal and last year, I posted 2024 Update on the 2021 BJCP Goal.

And, now I decided I'm not going to brew any more new styles in 2025, so I'm doing another similar post for 2025. (Can you believe 2025 is almost over? I can't)

At the beginning of 2025, I planned on hitting the Roll-a-Style list harder. My unofficial goal was to reduce the list enough that I'll be rolling a 12 sided die by the end of the year (as opposed to the 20 sided die I had been rolling).

My Roll-a-Style list has 13 beer styles on it, so I could probably switch to a 12-sided die. I suspect I'll end up picking my next one instead of rolling. Then, I'll switch the list to 12. 

I actually don't think I'll do as many of these Roll-a-Style beers in 2026.

Keep an eye on Sheppy's Blog: Roll-a-Style, and you'll be able to continue to follow along how I'm doing. 

What the hell is up with Oisin Owl?

I have a confession to make.

Quite often on this blog when I say that I ask ChatGPT something, I am lying. For the purposes of this blog, I lump all AI Chatbots together, and refer to them all as ChatGPT.

I actually use MS Copilot a lot more. But, still on this blog I refer to them as ChatGPT.

 

Big Brew Day ... Halfway to Helles (Batch 375)

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, "Du" recently moved out of state and "Doc" was busy doing something else this year. So, the Beer Model and I did a brew day all by ourselves.

I had a Pork Butt thawed, and we decided to make a feast even though it was just the two of us.

If you are a regular on this blog, and were paying attention to the Roll-a-Style posts, you might actually have a guess as to which beer recipe we brewed:

Halfway to Helles Leichtbier

2025 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

Here we are already in April. Time to report on the 2025 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats.

The year is flying by and I have brewed quite a bit so far this year. Last year was a down year for me, not even reaching the 100 gallons. 

This year so far my brewing rate is a bit faster; I'm on pace to reach over 110 gallons this year.

In Q1, I brewed 6 batches totaling 30 gallons.

My 6 batches were:

• Tasman Devil Pilsner
• Merida Scottish Ale
• Mardi Blonde
• Oisin Owl Irish Stout
• Kemosabe Quad
• King Fergus Wee Heavy

At the time of me typing this blog post, Merida is the only of these beers that I've finished. King Fergus is fermenting. Kemosabe Quad is aging and not in the beer fridge yet. 

Oisin Owl vs Guinness Extra Stouts

So ... I recently brewed Oisin Owl Irish Stout with the intention of having it ready for St. Patrick's Day.

And, of course St. Patrick's Day was last week.

At some point, I thought it would be cool to grab some Guinness Extra Stout to compare with my homebrew. So, I bought some from a local liquor store.

The weekend before St. Patrick's Day, I tried them both side-by-side.

Oisin Owl Irish Stout

Style: 15C Irish Extra Stout
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 40
SRM: 41

Appearance: This stout pours a deep, opaque black with subtle ruby highlights when held to the light. The head is a creamy tan, thick and persistent, leaving a generous lacing on the glass with every sip.

Aroma: The aroma is a harmonious blend of rich roasted malt, dark chocolate, and freshly brewed coffee. Hints of caramel and toffee add a layer of sweetness, while subtle earthy hops and a whisper of dark fruit like plum or raisin round out the olfactory experience.

Oisin Owl Irish Stout (Batch 371)

I brewed this past Sunday.

This was already my 4th batch of beer of the year, and if I'm counting correctly, my 371st batch of beer I've ever brewed.

Of course, if you've been following along on this blog, you know that this year I'm concentrating on brewing BJCP styles that I've never brewed.

In the 16 years I've been brewing, I've brewed at least one beer in all 34 categories in the BJCP Style Guidelines, but now I've decided to check off most of the individual styles.

If you're curious, you can see which beers I've brewed in each category / style as of 2024 Update on the 2021 BJCP Goal.

And ... the beer I brewed this past Sunday was the 3rd new style in 2025 I've been able to mark off the list.... (4th if you count Tasman Devil Pilsner (batch 368))

Oisin Owl Irish Stout

Roll-a-Style 12: 15C. Irish Extra Stout

I've mentioned a few times that I want to concentrate more on my BJCP Goal and my Roll-a-Style list this year.

Early in the year, I brewed Merida Scottish Ale, using harvested Irish Ale Yeast, and I wanted to continue that yeast with an Irish Ale.

I have 15C. Irish Extra Stout on the Roll-a-Style List and with St. Patrick's Day coming up, I thought that would be a great beer to have on tap for this holiday.

So, I pretended to roll a 12

Which, of course corresponded to the 15C. Irish Extra Stout.