Blogging Jan of 2014

This blog started off the year with another page-view record, just barely beating December, but beating it none-the-less. For awhile it didn't look like it was going to happen, but the blog had really strong traffic that last week of the month.

The posts most viewed this past 30 days were:

9 Beers I don't Drink

There is something I feel I must clear up.

I am not Eric Shepard, executive editor at Beer Marketer's Insights.

I'm not.

He and I are different Eric Shepards.

You may remember the other Eric Shepard from my post "Eric Shepard and the King of Beers", or more likely from one of these more recent (and more popular) posts:

No More Ads

I decided to remove the Google Adsense adds from this blog.'

They didn't make me much money and some of the ones that popped up didn't seem like things I would want to support. Plus, they were a bit annoying and on some browsers some of took awhile to load.

I think some of them threw javascript errors from time to time as well.

At some point I may bring them back, but for now, this blog is free of Google Adsense advertisements.

2013 SheppyBrew Stats

2013 has ended. SheppyBrew Brewery was pretty busy last year, and since the Brewery likes to post quarterly updates on how much we have brewed, it is time for another Brew Stats post.

If you are interested, can see all these past updates (including the one you are reading right now ... and if any I do in the future) by following this link: http://blog.ericshepard.com/search/label/Brew%20Stats .

Of course, as I've shared before, I entered my first home-brew competitions in 2013. I entered 3 competitions (4 if you include the National Round of the NHC as separate) , and two of my beers won blue ribbons. One also won 2nd in the Best of Show.

Against the Grain

I keep meaning to do more posts for "The Session" (aka Beer Blogging Friday), but I keep not getting around to it. Maybe I'll be better in 2014.

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about,  "The Session" is simply an opportunity once a month for beer bloggers from around the world to get together and write from their own unique perspective on a single topic. Each month, a different beer blogger hosts the Session, chooses a topic and creates a round-up listing all of the participants.

If you want to know more ... feel free to visit Brookston Beer Bulletin and read about "The Sessions".

Anyway, the first topic of 2014 comes from Rebecca at The Bake and Brew. In her article, Announcement! The Session #83 – Against the Grain, she asks ....

"How much is our taste or opinion of a craft beer affected by what friends and the craft beer community at large thinks? What beer do you love that no one else seems to get? Or what beer do you say “no thanks” to that everyone can’t get enough of?"

Interest topic ... right? Personally, I think there is lots of "peer pressure" in the craft beer community.

Brew Day: Schnockered to Comfortably Numb

Back at the beginning of November (see Fall Back ... Brew a Morlock Porter), I brewed my Category 12 Porter. This meant that I only had one more BJCP Category left to brew in my quest to have brewed at least one batch in all 23 BJCP Categories (see SheppyBrew Styles).

Since then, I've brewed a couple of old favorites, leaving the last category for the very end of the year. Monday, I took the day off work to brew a Category 19 Strong Ale. (Actually, I took the day off because my employer has a use-it-or-lose-it policy on vacation days. The brew-day was just a bonus)

If you want to see the recipe, go to the SheppyBrew website and look at

Schnockered to Comfortably Numb Barleywine

December 2013 Blogging

December had more page-views than November, making December the new all-time page view record holder. For most of the month, it looked like it would easily blow away the record, but the week between Christmas and New Year's was really slow ... very similar to how things were at my workplace. The page views beat November's by a very narrow margin, needing that whole extra December day to do it.

Anyway, just in case you are wondering ... the 10 most viewed posts in December were:

2013 X-Mas Ale Vertical Tasting

Every year, (since way back in 2009 when I started home-brewing) SheppyBrew brewery brews an X-Mas Ale. Every year (since way back in 2009 when I started home-brewing) I get out a bottle of all the years' X-Mas ales and try them together. Last year, I finished my last 2009 bottle, so this year I could only taste 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

The SheppyBrew Beer Model helped me out, but even so, 4 12 ounce beers of 7.9, 7.3, 8.3, and 7.8 abv is a bit much. I might have to rethink the way the vertical tasting works. With 2014 in the mix next year, I will have 5 beers to drink.

A Brunette, a Read Head, and a Blonde

SheppyBrew Brewery currently has more beers kegged and "on tap" than it usually has. I actually have four beers kegged, carbonated, and ready to drink.

Bummer that my keggerator only has room for two kegs, but I am able to compensate by putting picnic taps on the extra two kegs and simply icing them. Since it is winter, I can just put these iced kegs in the garage or the patio and not have to worry about the ice melting away too quickly.

At some point, I need to address the issue of only having a two-keg keggerator. But, for the most part, it has worked out ok. Usually, by the time I need to chill a new beer, one of the old kegs kicks and a spot opens up. This time, I wanted to have 3 beers available for holiday guests to drink, though, and the Boo Berry Wheat is not gone yet.

Anyway, in addition to the blueberry beer, I also have recently brewed a Blonde, an Irish Red, and a Porter. All three are ready to drink.You could say I have a Blonde, a Red Head, and a Brunette.

BrewTrail.com

I got another email from the Contact Me form on this blog. I've been a little more selective about what I share from those emails. It was getting a little ridiculous. People's definition of what matches the overall theme of this blog were much different than what I thought the overall theme of this blog is.

However, this one fits perfectly. Ironically, I let it sit in my inbox longer than I usually do before posting one of these that I get from Contact Me. 

Basically, it was a press release for a new (new at the time I got the email) website:

BrewTrail.com

I thought I was going to do a proper analysis of the site and I just never got around to it. I'll just say that I think this is awesome. Basically, it is a website to help beer geeks like me find breweries to visit. As a guy who likes to drink from local breweries ... no matter where I am ... I have quite often wished I had something like this.

I'm Awesome

I like this guy. His songs amuse me.

Note ... these videos contain Crude Language. If you are sensitive to such things, do not watch them.

Spose: I'm Awesome

Resurrecting the Wetta Blonde

My father-in-law is a full-blooded Mexican, and gave my mother-in-law the nickname "Huera", which is apparently Mexican slang for white girl or light-haired girl.

It usually sounds like "Wetta" to my gringo ears, especially when people saying it have been drinking (or maybe the relevant part is that I have been drinking).

Regardless ....

One night, not too long after I started home-brewing, I was sharing beers with my in-laws. Huera went on and on about how she really liked the Classic American Blonde Ale. Of course even at this early stage of my brewing experience, I knew that I would rather do recipes a bit more personalized than that one. I told her that I would make a blonde ale recipe and name the beer after her. I told her I was going to spell her name with a W, although neither my wife nor Huera remembered I had said it months later when I introduced the Wetta Blonde.

November 2013 Blogging

November had its page-view ups and downs but for the most part was pretty strong throughout. It did manage to beat October fairly easily.

The blog posts that got the most attention over the 30 days of November were:

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.