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.

Spare Rib Coil

So ... Spare Ribs are one of my favorite meals to smoke.

They are easy to find and comparatively inexpensive, and when done right, they are delicious.

Not too long ago, I was watching the BBQ Pit Boys YouTube Channel, and they were doing "St Louis Beer Can Split Ribs".

And then ... a few days after that video, I saw them doing "Crown Pork Ribs the King of Ribs".

When I make Spare Ribs, one issue I have is the amount of space they take up on the grill.

It isn't really a problem when the kids are away (like they are now), and even when they are here, 2 racks is more than enough to feed us all.

But two racks pretty much takes up my whole 26 inch Weber Kettle, and it is a little crowded. I don't have room for anything else.

Smoked Chicken Bombs

I subscribe to and watch various BBQ Youtube channels. One of my favorites is Hey Grill Hey.

Recently, Susie had a video called Amazing Smoked Chicken Bombs with a cheesy jalapeno center! So easy anyone can can do it!.

 

#5000MilesIn2022 and #10Everestsin2022

I started a little slow this year.

By the 10th of February last year, I had cycled 541 miles with 34,687 feet climbed.

Here it is the 10th of February ... and this year I've only cycled 370 miles with 20,279 feet climbed. Not even 1 Everest.

There are various reasons for my slow start this year. I won't go into them. Honestly, 370 miles with 20,279 feet elevation gain in a Colorado winter isn't really all that bad for an old couch potato such as myself.

I'm sure at some point I'll catch up. If not, I'll still ride more than most people.

232 ... Blackberry in Bed (Bam-ba-Lam)

I brewed my 232nd batch of beer on Good Friday.

232nd all-time. 7th of the year. 1st of the quarter.

Sadly, my closest home-brew shop is closing. While I was in there looking for going-out-of-business deals, I saw they had some Blackberry puree and flavoring.

The Beer Model had mentioned that she thought a Blackberry Beer would be good, so I decided to snag the puree and flavoring.

I also picked up a new 15 gallon brew kettle pretty cheap from the closing shop. Friday was the first brew day for my new bigger pot.

Because I had a much bigger pot, I decided to do a 7 gallon batch this time to take advantage of the extra capacity.

I considered a few names. Most had to do with song lyrics.

"Back in Blackberry" was a strong possibility ... derived by AC/DC's "Back in Black".

I almost named it "Never Go Back".

I went with "Blackberry in Bed" after listening to the Squeeze song "Black Coffee in Bed". I have fond memories of college days drinking and listening to that song with friends.

For the recipe, I went with my standard "Summer Lovin" base. I'll add the puree in secondary and the flavoring at kegging time. The formula works for me. I don't really have any reason to change it up.

Blackberry in Bed American Wheat

Smoked Pork Steaks and Sausages

I don't know if you can tell from this blog, but I really enjoy Smoking and Grilling meat.

I'm not great at it ... I won't be winning (or entering) barbecue competitions any time soon ...   but I really enjoy doing it and the food tastes great despite my lack of talent.

I'm learning.

I like meat.

I'd make a horrible vegetarian. I'd be a complete failure as a vegan.

So, I try to cook something outside at least once a weekend. For the most part I succeed in that goal.

2018 Hail Storm Summer Saison

Summer time. Hooray for summer. It is going too fast.

Of course, with the change of seasons, I am required to make another Seasonal Saison.

Hail Storm Summer Saison to be more precise. Yum.

Yes ... Sunday, I brewed my Summer Saison.

If you follow my brewing patterns on this blog or social media, you probably have realized that I brew at least four Saisons a year. One for every season (saison is French for season). I call them my Seasonal Saison Series.

The Summer Saison is fairly light in color. Golden to light orange. It is designed to be around 5.5 to 6% ABV. It is fairly hoppy with Tettnang hops, but not at all bitter. Like most of my Seasonal Saisons, I use WY3711 French Saison (The Real Super Yeast).

Delicious.

Fermented Cauliflower and Broccoli

At work the other day people were talking about cauliflower. Weird thing to talk about at work ... right?

Lately, I've seen quite a few posts on instagram and facebook about cauliflower. Or at least more than I ever remember seeing before. I guess it is healthy. It seems to be a big part of some popular diet at the moment.

Anyway ... I mentioned that I sometimes ferment cauliflower. People were intrigued. I said I would bring some in sometime and let a few people try it.

And ... as you might have seen on the SheppyBrew Instagram Feed or Facebook Page, I prepared some.

Actually, I got myself some Cauliflower and Broccoli.

Of course, I had to also add in some jalapenos.

Obviously.

Smoked Pork Shoulder and Brew Day

You may remember that back in January, I smoked a pork butt for pulled pork sandwiches. See Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork if you need a reminder.

It turned out great. And it was lots of fun.

At least it was lots of fun for most of the day.

To get that 9 lb pork shoulder done in time for dinner, I got started very early in the morning and kept the meat on the smoker for 13 hours.

My smoker is not a set and forget cook, so I was paying attention to the cooking meat most of the day.

At the end of Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork, I mentioned that in the future I would consider getting the butt to the wrap and then finish off in the oven.

2018 Melting Stream Spring Saison

It isn't Spring yet, but here in Denver, it feels like it is close. I'm hoping we get a couple more big snow falls still this year, but right now the weather is starting to get very warm.

I decided it was a good time to brew my Spring Seasonal Saison this past Sunday.

The Spring version of my is Seasonal Saison very light in color. It uses WY3711 for that delicious and refreshing saison flavor. It is hoppy.

Yummy yummy beer. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Melting Stream Spring Saison

SheppyBrew YouTube Channel

SheppyBrew now has a YouTube Channel ...

See SheppyBrew Smokehouse and Brewery

Currently there is just one video on the channel ... a short video of me making Kombucha. Eventually there will probably be more.

Check it out. Subscribe. Hopefully the content and quality of the videos will increase over time.

Snowshoeing in the Mt. Evans Wilderness

 We went snowshoeing in the Mt. Evans wilderness last weekend.

I love snowshoeing. It is so peaceful to be out in the wilderness and there is something about the pure white snow that makes it even more amazing to me. I also really like the opportunity to get exercise. As a bonus, dragging the kids along gets them exercise too.

Homemade Frozen Yogurt

So, my youngest son asked for and received an ice cream maker for Christmas. Santa was good to the entire family in this regard. I do not know if you've ever had homemade ice cream, but it out absolutely fantastic. My boy has made a few batches so far and they have all been great.

Recently, I've discovered the joys of making my own homemade yogurt (see Making the Bluefield Yogurt and  More Yogurt). You might say that I've become a little obsessed with it. My favorite breakfast over the past few weeks has been homemade yogurt mixed with thawed mixed berries.

As I've mentioned a couple times, I wanted to try homemade frozen yogurt using my homemade yogurt. Makes sense, right?

Sledding

We went sledding during the day on New Year's Eve this year. There is a Jefferson County Open Space Park called Meyer Ranch. We've seen people sledding there, but never tried it ourselves. This time, we decided to head down 285 to try out this hill.

Not sure why it took me so long to share these photos and videos, but here they are ....

Snowshoeing

My kids had all of Thanksgiving week off from school. I also took it off from work. On Wednesday, my wife suggested, "Let's go snowshoeing".

When my wife says something like "Let's go snowshoeing" or "Let's go hiking" or "Let's go for a bike ride", she never has an answer when I ask "where". It is one of the things I find amusing about her.

The "usual" place we go snowshoeing, and anyplace relatively close to our house doesn't really have enough snow in November to justify snowshoeing.

This means it was up to me to come up with the "where".

We ended up going just West of Nederland, Colorado into the Indian Peaks wilderness. We could not drive very far up the forest access road, so we ended up hiking up the road itself.

#StoutDay & #GnomesLikeBeer

As I am sure you know, today is International Stout Day.

Yes it is.

The first Thursday in November always is. It is not as popular as #IPADay, but .... well ... you know.

As a Beer Geek, I was aware of  #StoutDay, and planned ahead. I got myself some Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro. You may remember that in my Colorado 6 pack, I included this beer. Both the Nitro version and the non-Nitro version are delicious. The reason I picked the this beer for my #StoutDay beer was that untappd had another badge specific to the Nitro version "Pour Hard".

Eric's Red Brew Day

I brewed twice this weekend.

I already told you that I brewed a little batch of Gruntled Sour Weisse on Saturday.

On Sunday, I brewed a regular-sized batch of Eric's Red. I guess you could say that Eric's Red is one of my "flagship" beers. It actually started out as a Mr. Beer recipe later to be converted to my own all-grain formulation. I have been calling it an "Irish Red", although I'm not really convinced it is. This time, I added Citra hops, which certainly isn't very Irish. It is simply a beer that I enjoy.

It doesn't really matter what style it is. Is it simply Eric's Red.

Hanging Lake

I mentioned in my last blog post (see Pictures Rescued from my Camera) that we spent Labor Day weekend in Glenwood Springs.

We had a great time. The weekend went way too fast. But then, they always do, don't they?

One of the things we did while in the area is that we hiked up to Hanging Lake. If you have never been, it is an absolutely gorgeous spot. You should try to visit if you get a chance, but make sure you get to the trail head early. The parking lot gets full.

Here are some pictures.

A.L.S. #IceBucketChallenge

My wife was challenged by her niece (see link on youtube: #IceBucketChallenge Tracy).

Then, she challenged me. (see link on youtube: Eric's #IceBucketChallenge)

And I challenged my son (see link on youtube: Tyler #IceBucketChallenge)

and ... it goes on and on and on and on.

To learn more about the Ice Bucket Challenge, go to: http://www.alsa.org/news/archive/als-ice-bucket-challenge.html. To make a donation go to: http://www.ethnomedicine.org/

August Backpacking Trip Part 2

A couple of days ago, I posted August Backpacking Trip Part 1. Now, it is time to continue the story.

We woke up pretty early (but not too early) the next day. The sky was very blue with no clouds.