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

Pork Belly Burnt Ends

So ... it has only been fairly recent that I've been able to get Pork Belly at my local Sam's Club, which is where I buy most of my BBQ meat.

And in mid-June I finally attempted Pork Belly Burnt Ends.

They turned out delicious, but I didn't give myself enough time really, so they were not as tender as they could have been.

Saturday, I decided to try Pork Belly Burnt Ends again ... with a couple of little modifications ...

My kids are both away, so it is just me and the wife. I therefore only used half a Pork Belly.

Pork Belly Burnt Ends

So ... I've tried making "Burnt Ends" a couple times, but not really in what I would consider a "traditional" way.

And ... it has been quite awhile.

I tried Pork Butt Burnt Ends a couple years ago, and "Poor Man Burnt Ends" made from a Chuck Roast a little later.

It could be just me, but when I think "Burnt Ends", I think it should be made from a Brisket point or Pork Belly.

Part of the reason I've never done them is my Sam's Club didn't sell Pork Belly for quite awhile. But, recently I started seeing it there. Last time I was there, I picked a 5.88 lb. Pork Belly.

And ... about a week ago I used it to make Pork Belly Burnt Ends.

Brisket!

I love brisket, but OMG beef is expensive now-a-days.

The cost and the time commitment make smoking a brisket less than ideal, and the last time I actually did one was Humdinger of a Brisket in November of 2023.

I've had a 10 pound full packer in the freezer for awhile, so it certainly isn't simply the cost.

I decided that I would smoke this brisket the Sunday before last and so a few days before I pulled it out of the freezer to thaw.

And on Sunday, I smoked it.

Saturday, I applied Montana Steak Seasoning to the meat to sit on there overnight. 

2026 Easter Ham

Well ... I let my kids talk me into making ham again for Easter dinner.

While ham is not my favorite holiday food, I aim to please, so I went ahead and decided to do my "typical" Double Smoked Ham.

My wife got the standard spiral cut ham, around 10lbs.

On Easter morning I made a glaze / sauce with a coke base, a little honey, and various spices. 

I also made a special "rub" for the ham.

After church, I placed the ham in a cooking pan and applied the rub and let it sit while I prepared my Weber Kettle.

Hop-cember Pale Ale (Batch 387)

I brewed for the first time in 2025 this past Sunday.

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you might have seen the brew-day post.

This is my first time brewing since I got the Skadoosh Blond Ale (Batch 386) batch done.

As I mentioned in SheppyBrew 2025 Year End Brewing Stats, I only brewed 95 gallons last year. I was actually planning on brewing this batch before the end of the year, but the timing just never really worked out.

So, I finally brewed it last Sunday. 

If I'm counting correct, this is my 387th batch of beer in my brewing career and my 101st batch of beer in my Anvil Foundry ...

Hop-cember Pale Ale

Skadoosh Blond Ale (Batch 386)

I brewed some beer a couple Sundays ago. 12/12/2025.

If I'm counting correctly, this is my 19th batch of 2025, putting me at 95 gallons brewed this year.

It's the 386th batch of beer I've ever brewed. 

It is a new recipe, my 15th new one of the year and 346th unique recipe I've brewed.

I actually have quite a lot of beer inventory, but I have family coming to visit around Christmas and the beers I have are not really beer-flavored-yellow-beer-drinker-friendly styles.

And ... at least one of the people visiting is/are beer-flavored-yellow-beer-drinker(s).

So ... I came up with a simple blond ale recipe to (hopefully) be ready to go by Christmas.

Skadoosh Blond Ale

2025 Thanksgiving Turkey

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving.

Since 2018 (Cherry Wood Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey), I've been the one in charge of cooking / smoking / grilling the turkeys at the SheppyBrew house.

It's fun for me, and it frees up the oven for the various sides my wife generally makes.

And, I think smoked turkey tastes better than it would if we cooked it in the oven.

Over the years, I've tried several techniques for actually cooking the turkey.

I've smoked a few roasted whole. I've done spatchcocked. I've halved the bird and last year, I quartered the bird.

My plan this year was to repeat the Quartered bird like I did with the 2024 Thanksgiving Turkey. However, for whatever reason, this bird was just being difficult when I was cutting it.

I ended up just deciding to try the spatchcock method again.

Tri-tip photos

I've had a tri-tip in my freezer since sometime in mid-ish October. 

Tri-tips were on sale I guess and I purchased two. One I grilled on October 13. The other I grilled this past Saturday.

I never posted about the first one. Now, lucky reader, I'm posting photos from this past cook.

I really enjoy grilling eating tri-tip, but they are expensive enough that I never buy them unless they are on sale.

Tri-tips are pretty simply to make, and my process is always pretty much the same. I apply a salt / pepper / garlic rub hours before I want to cook.

I generally prepare my grill around an hour and a half before dinner. I'll set up the grill for a reverse sear. Indirect for the first hour to hour and fifteen minutes and then direct for the last little bit.

Crock-pot Smoked Pork Butt

There are quite a few posts on this blog about my Pork Butt cooks.

Generally, this is an all-day commitment (or at least a significant portion of the day), and although most of the time allows multi-tasking, I have to mostly stay around to make sure things are going ok.

The past few pork-butts I've cooked, I've borrowed a "technique" that I've been using for Chuck Roast for quite awhile, and it helps free up time for other things.

Basically, I'll smoke the pork for 2 to 3 hours on my Weber Kettle and then move the butt inside and finish it off in the crock-pot.

Double Spare Ribs

So ... remember not too long ago I did "hot and fast" Individual Spare Ribs for the first time.

I really liked how they turned out.

The past Tuesday I had another rack of Spare Ribs, and decided I would do something similar.

I trimmed the ribs on Tuesday morning. This time, I cut them into pairs of two ribs instead of the singles I did last time.

Then, I applied rub and let them sit until the afternoon.

As I mentioned in Individual Spare Ribs, I thought I could have put them on the grill about half an hour later than I did. This time I did wait and got them on just after 3:30 for a 6pm supper time.

Individual Spare Ribs

So ... I have not shared any of my BBQ adventures recently.

I've been smoking / grilling every week, but just have not had anything I've taken the time to share.

Sunday, I did something new, though.

I've tried various ways to smoke BBQ Spare Ribs. all of which take several hours to make.

On various BBQ forums, I've seen pit masters do ribs "hot and fast". Some of them cut the ribs into individuals before putting on the grill.

Theoretically, individual ribs cook faster than a big rack of ribs.

With all the riding I'm doing this month, long cooks are a little more difficult to pull off. So, I decided to give this technique a try on Sunday.

Hickory Smoked Mac and Cheese

So ... I don't make it a whole lot, but my kids REALLY like my smoked mac and cheese.

Well ... not just my kids. Just about anyone who has ever tried it has raved about it. I love it too. Unfortunately, it isn't the healthiest of meals, and that comes from someone who makes a ton of BBQ.

Anyway ... a couple weeks ago, my older son had his girlfriend over and my son requested that I make my smoked mac and cheese.

 

Stuffed Peppers on the Kettle

So ... this past Sunday, I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner. 

I feel like I've been in a little BBQ rut lately, making the same things. Not experimenting all that much.

While thinking about making something new, my google notifications showed that Hey Grill Hey had posted a new youtube video: Grilled Stuffed Peppers.

I had never made Grilled Stuffed Peppers, and figured it would be easy to get ingredients. So, I decided that is what would be for dinner Sunday night.

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

Easter Ribeye Roast

I know that it has already been awhile, but I did holiday cooking on Easter.

Of course I did.

If you follow along at all on this blog, you know that Ribeye Roast is one of my favorite holiday meats.

As luck would have it, I had a Ribeye Roast vacuumed packed and waiting in the freezer. 

For whatever reason, we must have purchased extra last Christmas.

And ... that is what I cooked this past Easter.

The process is pretty much the same as always. I smoke the meat to a rare internal temperature. Then, I sear the roast for a bit to get a nice crust on the meat.

Ribs and Belgian Beers

I made some spare ribs a few weekends ago.

I have not really published many BBQ posts on this blog this year, and I took photos when I made the ribs. 

So I thought I might as well go ahead and share. 

My spare rib process has changed some over the years, but for the most part it remains basically the same.

I set up charcoal in sort of an ugly snake with chunks of (usually) hickory wood.

For a 6pm dinner, I'll aim to get the ribs on the kettle around 5pm.

I cook the ribs between 250 and 275 for between 2 and 3 hours ... usually closer to 3.

Glop

On Sunday, I had planned on getting a Chucky on the Weber Kettle in the morning to use in pulled-beef sandwiches for dinner.

But, I totally forgot until a little later in the day when I wasn't sure I'd have enough time to get it pull-apart tender.

So ... I decided to save it for our Mardi Gras dinner (Tuesday, which is the next time I was "scheduled" to make dinner).

So, I needed something fairly quick to make.

I actually had a loose plan and ingredients to make an Smoked Green Chili Hashbrown Egg Bake for Fat Tuesday. For some reason, my wife and kids have traditionally wanted breakfast-for-dinner on Mardi Gras. I find this weird, but generally I play along with their wants.

X-Mas Ribeye Roast

Well ... you may remember that I generally really like to grill / smoke / reverse sear Ribeye Roast on holidays when they go on sale at our local grocery stores.

This past Christmas, my wife had picked up a 9 pound roast and I cooked it up for our family along with some visiting guests.

I gave myself about 4 hours before our dinner to get the roast to a rare to medium rare doneness.

There were a couple of people who prefer the meat more "well done", and I figured that I could give them the ends, but it was probably a little less done than they claimed they liked.

But, they also say they loved the meat.

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.