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.

Kemosabe Quad (Batch 372)

Fat Tuesday / Mardi Gras was last Tuesday. Even though this year is as late as Easter can be, it blows my mind that we've already entered Lent.

Time flies.

If you've been following along, you might have caught that I've been picking beers to brew off my Roll-a-Style list rather than actually rolling to pick what to brew.

Part of the reason I've been doing this, is to use my harvested Belgium yeast to step up to a big Belgium Beer ... Roll-a-Style 9: 26D. Belgian Dark Strong Ale.

For quite awhile, I've been planning on using the whole yeast cake from Mardi Blonde (Batch 370) Birthday Brew to brew this big beer.

But, then when I kegged Mardi Blonde, I wasn't ready to brew yet. So, I kept putting off the brew day.

I finally got around to it last Tuesday on the same day I smoked a Chuck Roast for pulled-beef-sandwiches.

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.

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

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. 

 

Christmas vs X-Mas Ales

Sunday, I posted SheppyBrew vs Breckenridge Autumn Ales where I compared Breckenridge Autumn Ale with my Will-o'-Wisp Autumn Ale (no pumpkin).

Of course, I also have my X-Mas Ale 2024 on tap, and it just so happens that I also have some bottles of Breckenridge Christmas Ale.

Breckenridge Christmas Ale actually inspired my traditional base beer recipe of my X-Mas Ales.

"The chill of winter calls for a beer with extra flavor and strength! An abundance of carefully roasted malts create notes of caramel and chocolate, while Chinook and Mt. Hood hops contribute a spicy quality for balance and a clean finish."

SheppyBrew vs Breckenridge Autumn Ales

One of the SheppyBrew Beers I have on tap right now is Will-o'-Wisp Autumn Ale (no pumpkin).

It is a malty, dark amber, medium to low alcohol berer with caramel flavor and notes of dark chocolate. It is basically the base-beer of my world-famous Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale ... minus the pumpkin and the spices.

One of the commercial beers I have in one of the beer fridges is Breckenridge Autumn Ale. 

"Our fall seasonal hit combines the malty goodness of a German lager with the clean crispness of an American ale. Brewed with Munich malts and a delicate blend of Bavarian hops, it's full-bodied with a nutty-sweet middle, a warming alcohol level and notes of toasted grain. A pre-winter winner."  

2024 Thanksgiving Turkey

Since 2018, which was the year I started becoming obsessed with BBQ, I've been in charge of smoking the Thanksgiving turkey outside.

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 different ways to cook the turkey, and this year I actually tried something new.

Last year, I spatchcocked, and halved the bird, which is how I generally cook my whole chickens now.

This year, I came across a youtube video where the author "quartered" the bird. I decided to do the same thing on my cook this year.

 

2024 Learn to Homebrew Day

If you read Roll-a-Style 14 ... 16A. Sweet Stout, you know that Learn to Homebrew Day was the first Saturday in November.

I had plans to get together for a brew day with my buddies Du and Doc.

My turn to host has been overdue, and the Beer Model and I decided that we would go ahead and have Learn to Homebrew Day at our "brewery".

We also invited some non-brewers over to "Learn" on Learn to Homebrew Day. These people were also available to help us eat BBQ and drink beer.

I was a little more ambitious than I probably should have been, planning to brew two batches of beer, smoke a pork butt, and make some chicken wings.

Bacon Wrapped Tenderloin

Sometime over the weekend, I picked up some pork tenderloins from my local Sam's Club.

According to a search I just did on this blog, I've never blogged about making pork tenderloin, but I think maybe at least one of my Sheppy's Blog: Pork Loin posts may have actually been tenderloin.

It honestly doesn't matter. The only difference between how I would cook the two is that the pork loin would probably cook just a bit longer.

Anyway ... Tuesday, I wrapped these tenderloins in bacon, applied some rub and cooked them up on the Weber Kettle.

Guuud stuff.

Recent BBQ Photos

I have not posted much about my BBQ adventures recently.

I've been posting about Brewing and local breweries and biking.

Just no BBQ.

I believe the last time I posted about BBQ was over a month ago with Pork Butt Burnt Ends.

Of course, I have been cooking BBQ between then and now.

I thought I'd share pictures from some of those cooks.

On Sunday, August 11, I cooked some spare ribs on the weber kettle.

Shotgun Shells

Lately, I feel like I've seen quite a few posts / videos about Smoked Shotgun Shells, and it is something I'd never made before.

Every post seems to do them slightly differently, but basically, shotgun shells are typically made by stuffing pasta tubes with flavorful fillings, wrapping them in bacon, and then cooking them to crispy perfection.

At least one of my sources suggested cooking the noodles (manicotti) for 4 or 5 minutes before hand.

Most others I saw suggested not doing that.

For my first attempt, I decided to pretty much follow Hey Grill Hey's recipe, and she did suggest pre-cooking the noodles.

Pork Butt Burnt Ends

Remember that in Pork Butt Steaks, I cut about half of a pork butt into steaks.

The other half, I vacuum sealed and froze for a future meal.

On the same day I did 2024 Hail Storm Summer Saison (batch 359), I cooked that other half.

I decided to cut the meat into cubes and do Pork Butt Burnt Ends.

A Pork Butt isn't a real common cut to make Burnt Ends. Usually, you hear about them made with the point of a brisket. 

or ... 

Sometimes people use the pork belly cut for burnt ends.

Pork Butt Steaks

I've been wanting Pork Steaks recently, and therefore looking to buy them.

For whatever reason, my Sam's club hasn't had them when I looked, and my wife didn't see any at our grocery store when I asked her to look last time she was there.

Some time ago I saw a youtube video where someone (I don't remember which channel this was on) removed the bone from a port butt.

Since I wasn't finding pre-cut pork steaks, I thought I could simply make steaks out of a pork butt.

So ... I got a pork butt from Sam's and cut it up this past Tuesday.

Early in the morning, I cut the bone out of the shoulder. It went pretty good, but I am sure with more experience I'd be better at this process.

Workday Pork Butt

My oldest son graduated from college this past weekend.

It is sort of hard to believe I'm old enough to have a kid this old .... but ... anyway ...

We had some family in town to help celebrate, and my wife thought I should cook on Friday when the family was going to be arriving.

It was a work day for me, but I decided to smoke a Pork Butt.

Generally, it takes me about 8 hours to smoke a Pork Butt on my Weber Kettle.

Since I work at home, and making pulled pork is mostly just waiting for the pork to slowly cook, it was a very do-able activity while doing my job.

I pretty much had the butt seasoned and the Weber Kettle going by 6:30 AM.

Photos of Poppers and Ribs

I'm sure this will come as a shock to all of you .... but ...

I. Love. Ribs.

I really really like smoking and eating just about any kind of ribs.

Pork spare ribs. Baby back ribs. Beef ribs. Country style ribs (which are not really ribs).

The kind that I make the most are Spare Ribs, for sure, and the weekend before this past one I made spare ribs for dinner.

Just for the fun of it, I added on some Jalapeño Poppers as well.

If you've followed along on this blog at all, you probably know how I make both of these things. If not you can check out Sheppy's Blog: Spare Ribs and Sheppy's Blog Jalapeño Poppers and find lots of information on how to make these.