Some Black Friday Beer Motivation

Did y'all have a fabulously wonderful Thanksgiving? I hope so.

Here are some "Motivational" posters that might put a little smile on your face during Black Friday. If you follow the SheppyBrew Brewery Facebook page, you might have already seen them, but I think they are even better together like this.

One thing is for sure ... you won't see me at the malls today.

Saison

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I stopped by a tiny little brewery called Saint Patrick's Brewing Company. I do not think I mentioned that I brought home a bomber of their Saison, but I did. I really liked this beer at the "tap" room and wanted to bring one home to enjoy.

Then,  I opened and poured the bomber a couple weekends ago.

The bottle says it is brewed with fresh orange zest, and lightly spiced with vanilla bean and ginger. The citrus and spices are balanced by 11 different malts and six hop varieties. It has 39 IBU. Its SRM is 7,and its ABV is 6.3%.

Still More @Untappd Badges 13

It has only been about a month since I've done a report on my untappd badges, and I already have enough new ones that it is time to do another. Most of these are simply new levels of badges I've previously earned.

I can't imagine why you would want to, but you can look at all the posts (including this one) by going to the "untappd" label on this blog.

Since Still More @Untappd Badges 12, I've earned the following:

Brewing Eric's Red

I brewed Eric's Irish Red on Sunday. With all the attention I've been paying to new styles (see BJCP goal), I have really not brewed a lot of my old favorites this year. Since all I have left is Category 12 Porter and Category 19 Strong Ale to finish up before the end of the year, I though now would be a good time to brew one of the SheppyBrew flagships.

Eric's Red is one of those recipes that has been around since my Mr. Beer days. It has obviously changed quite a bit over that time, but I really like the all-grain rendition that I have come up with, and the only difference between this time and last time is the yeast selection. This time I used London Ale Yeast harvested from Jolly Morlock Porter, just because the timing was right.

Some Beer Motivation for a Friday

Every once and awhile I'll come across on of those "(De) Motivational Posters" on the internet that amuse me. If you follow the SheppyBrew Brewery Facebook page, you'll see me post them from time-to-time. If you have not already, PLEASE go like the SheppyBrew Brewery Facebook page.

Anyway, it has been awhile since I've assembled these in a blog post, so I thought I would do that today. Let me know if you find these amusing as well by leaving a comment below or on the SheppyBrew Brewery Facebook page.

Have a great weekend everyone.

What Kind of Beer do You Like?

On my way home from work yesterday, I decided to stop by a tiny little brewery called Saint Patrick's Brewing Company. You may remember that the Beer Model and I came across them at this year's GABF Friday session. They are right on my way home from work. In fact they are right along one of the bike paths I take when I bike to work. I have never been to them because their tap room hours were pretty inconvenient for me. They just recently added Friday night, and last night I decided to stop in.

Anyway, I walked into their tiny little tasting room last night, and asked the guys behind the counter if I could try some of their beers.

"What kind of beer do you like to drink?"

If you know me at all, you probably can guess basically what my answer was.

 "Pretty much everything".

Turns out that "pretty much everything" is what they had, so that was good.

Fall Back ... Brew a Morlock Porter

Until about mid-week I was not planning on brewing today. Between it being the end of Daylight Savings time (giving me an extra brewing hour) and there being no Bears or Broncos football games, I thought it was just too opportune a day not to do it, though. Plus, yesterday was the AHA's Learn to Homebrew Day. I can't not brew on the weekend of Learn to Homebrew Day, can I?

Of course I can't.

So, I quickly put together a porter recipe. As many of you know, one of my 2013 goals was to round out my brewing experience, by making sure I had brewed at least one all-grain batch of all 23 BJCP beer categories (see SheppyBrew Styles). At the beginning of the year, I had brewed just over half, so brewing 11 was not that big of an undertaking. All I had left as of this morning was Category 12 Porter and Category 19 Strong Ale.

Now, I only have the Strong Ale left.

Scary Beer Feminists!

I have not done a post for "The Session" (aka Beer Blogging Friday) since May. Not sure why. Just have not been into it. I did just tell myself that I should get back into the habit. November's topic sneaked up on me, but it just seemed too good to pass up.

Is "sneaked" really the past tense form of "sneak"? I thought it was "snuck", but the FireFox spell-check likes "sneaked" and does not like "snuck". I suppose I could look it up in a real dictionary ....

But I digress ...

This month, November, the topic comes from Nicole (aka Nitch), who does a beer blog called "Tasting Nitch". Her topic is "Women and Beer: Scary Beer Feminists or a Healthy Growing Demographic?" You can read all about it at: The Session #81 Announcement- Scary Beer Feminists!

"Feel free to write about what you want as long as it is beer and woman related!"

 I like women. I like beer. This seems like the perfect topic to get back into the habit of participating in  "The Session".

October 2013 Blogging

October had a very strong mid-month. Thank you #GABF. For awhile it looked like it would blow away August, but it was a very lack-luster end of the month. October still has the new page-view record, but just barely. I hope November picks up from the end of October.

Anyway, in case you are wondering, here are the blog posts that have been the most looked-at over the past 30 days:

Pretzels

My boys and I made big soft pretzels Sunday.

They turned out awesome. They are a little different than your typical soft pretzel in that they use a significant amount of whole wheat flour and honey.

They are really really tasty in my humble opinion.

They pair really well with SheppyBrew's Weizened Doonkle.

Brew Dogs in "Denver"

Have you been watching Brew Dogs?

I have, and I really enjoy the show. The fact that I like it means it probably will not last very long, so you should probably watch it now before it gets cancelled.

The show is about James and Martin from BrewDog Brewery. You know ... of the famed End of History 55% ABV beer. James and Martin travel across the United States exploring craft beer towns. In every episode, they meet up with one iconic brewer and work on brewing a beer that uses local ingredients that capture the essence of the area they are in. If you are a craft beer geek ... especially a home-brewer, I don't think you can help but like this show.

Brewing up some Boo Berry Wheat

I brewed Sunday.

Before the weekend, I actually had not been planning on brewing. However, as I mentioned,  I killed the keg of She Who Must Be Obeyed Wheat. This left the beer choices for the Beer Model sort of limited in the SheppyBrew Brewery. Apparently, I've been giving away too much beer lately. My keg of Sloth Man English Mild is also getting low.

So, anyway, Saturday I decided to go to my Local Homebrew Shop and buy ingredients to make Boo Berry American Wheat. The Beer Model wanted to go too, so we packed ourselves and the Brewing Assistants (aka our kids) into the mini van and headed over to the shop. This is the shop that is closer to my home. I usually get my grains from the Homebrew Shop that is closer to my place of work, so I am not quite as familiar with the layout of this one.

The kids .... er ... I mean the Brewing Assistants helped me find and scoop grain. They also helped me decide which wheat malt and 2 row malt to use. It was sort of fun for them apparently. They actually had a little argument over who was scooping more of the grain. Sometimes those kids fight over the stupidest things.

More Doonkle than Weizen

Last night, I killed the keg of She Who Must Be Obeyed Wheat. It sort of surprised me as it didn't seem that it had been around very long. As I look back at the bottling date, though, it was in existence for almost a month and a half.

This was a beer that both the Beer Model and I liked. It was sort of Buckwheat's BPA meets Summer Lovin' Wheat. The flavor profile was really unique. It's ester profile along with the malt bill came across a bit nutty. I actually tasted a nice bit of almond, which to me was really pleasant. When both the Beer Model and I like a beer, it generally doesn't last that long, so it should not surprise me that the keg died last night.

I am absolutely going to have to brew this one again.

Still More @Untappd Badges 12

As you may know if you've been following this blog long enough, I've been reporting on the untappd badges I earn. I can't imagine why you would want to, but you can look at all the posts (including this one) by going to the "untappd" label on this blog.

Since Still More @Untappd Badges 11, I've earned the following:

Thoughts on 2013 #GABF Winners

So, you know the SheppyBrew Beer Model and I attended GABF this weekend. See 2013 #GABF Friday Night  and 2013 #GABF Members Session if you want to read about it.

I didn't really get much of a chance Saturday or Sunday to look through the competition winners. Now that I have looked through, I have some thoughts.

Fair warning ... I'm a bit of a "homer" when it comes to my favorite breweries. I actually make an effort to stay away from local breweries at the festival, because I want to try beers that I might not get as much a chance to otherwise. However, I still am a fan of Drinking Locally.

2013 #GABF Members Session

After Friday night, (see 2013 #GABF Friday Night), we were not done. We got up Saturday morning ready to head over to the Members Only Session of GABF. This is always the best session to attend in my opinion. Part of the reason is that there are not as many people at this one, but this year it did seem crowded ... especially towards the end.

For the first time, my wife spent the time to mark down breweries that she wanted to visit, so I ended up (for the most part) following her from brewery to brewery. Basically she found pumpkin beers with cool names, and we visited those booths. I didn't have all the pumpkin beers, but every booth had at least one of something else I wanted to try.

I did have more beers during this session that I thought were "just ok" or were even "bad" than I ever recall having at GABF. I don't think that was a function of chasing pumpkin beers, but it might be.

2013 #GABF Friday Night

I survived my first night of GABF. Not only did I survive, but I think I did pretty well in regards to My Friday Night #GABF Plan. Surprisingly, my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) agreed to go separately to the Convention Center. She dropped off the kids and I got into the festival line before the place opened. Now I owe her one.

I think this is actually the first time I got into line before the doors opened. I got sort of antsy not moving. I think it is better just to get there after the line starts to move. You get in a little later, but you don't have to wait as much.

This was not part of the original plan, but my first stop was AC Golden. I know that being owned by Coors, they are not technically considered a Craft Brewery but I like their beers generally and I keep hearing about how wonderful their sours are. There, I had American Wild Ale, which I thought was a fantastic sour ale; Peche, which was a great peach flavored sour; and their IPL, which was also awesome. I also hit Asher Brewing Company, which was right there.

My Friday Night #GABF Plan

If you've been following my blog over the past couple days, you know I've started to formulate a Game Plan for the Great American Beer Festival. In case you have not been following along, you can catch up with #GABF Game Plan Beginnings and #GABF Week (I've been slacking).

Do I need a Game Plan? Probably not, but I like to have one. When you walk into the huge hall at the festival, it is a bit overwhelming, and I find that it helps to have at least some sort of direction to follow. So, at least for the first night I always write down a plan. This is the first year I am not going to the Thursday night session, so this year, Friday Night is the first night I have a plan for.

This year, it looks like dropping the kids off where they need to be is going to introduce complications to the time-line, so the plan depends on when we get to the convention center. If things get too terribly screwed up, we might have to move some of the beer drinking to the Saturday session.

#GABF Game Plan Beginnings

Soon after I posted, "#GABF Week (I've been slacking)", I got an email from GABF telling me that all the beers are available on their website and on their iPhone and Android apps.

Awesome. One thing that drives me crazy every year is that I never know what beers are going to be at the festival until after I get there Thursday night. Of course, it figures that the one year I don't go Thursday they get those announced before the first session, but I'm not going to complain (much). It still would be nice to get the list of beers (or at least most of them) a little earlier, but at least they are moving in the right direction.

So, now that I know what beers are going to be there, it is easier to start to formulate a game plan.

#GABF Week (I've been slacking)

I've been slacking.

It seems like all the beer blogger in the world (or at least those that show up in my rss feed) have been busy blogging about the Great American Beer Fest and/or the tons of events in and around Denver this week.

Take a look at Denver off the Wagon's beer category and see how many GABF related articles you see. Go ahead ... I'll wait.

Check out the Denver Post's First Drafts blog and browse through the amazing collection of "Scouting GABF 2013" articles. Again .. Go ahead ... I'll wait.

Go peruse Brewtally Insane  for Mark's day-by-day GABF Calendar.

It seems like the guys at The Full Pint have been providing useful GABF information for the past couple months, and certainly have not slowed down now that GABF week is here.

Of course, my buddy Dave at Fermentedly Challenged always has Denver area information, which by default means GABF information this week.

I could go on and on, but my slacking attitude prevents me from listing much more in this post.