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.

Electric Smoker Guy

So, you may remember that I got a grill / smoker for Christmas. Technically, I got a picture of the grill / smoker ... but that is a story of its own. And ... eventually I got the actual grill and the actual smoker box.

As a result of this gift, I've gotten into smoking meats.

If you want, you can take a look at all the blog posts about the smoking I've done so far: Sheppy's Blog: Smoked

I have started looking at different Barbecue / Smoker forums because ... well ... because I now have a smoker.

Cinco de Bealtaine Irish Stout

The 5th of May was the American Homebrew Association's Big Brew Day.

One of my Homebrewing Friends ("Doc") hosted an event at his house and invited me to brew at his house.

I usually brew alone, and I've never brought my equipment "on the road". Generally, I'm pretty inefficient at fetching and readying my equipment during brew day. I usually get the next piece of equipment or brewing ingredient "Just in Time", and quite often take several trips down to the basement rather than bringing everything up at the same time.

This helps my fitbit stats, but is rather inefficient. A manufacturing engineer would never approve of my process. A Time and Motion Study would yield all kinds of low-hanging-fruit-improvements to make the process smoother.

I don't care. It works for me.

However, it does mean that I'm not used to getting everything I need together for a brewing road trip.

Smoked Chicken Green Chili

So ... I had a work potluck on May 4th (May the Forth Be With You). We had a weird Mexican / Star Wars theme. Strange, but it works.

I decided I wanted to make green chili with smoked chicken Thursday night.

Given that I would not have a lot of time for smoking the chicken, it being a work-night and all, I decided to start with boneless skinless thighs.

Along with the chicken, I smoked some Anaheim and Jalapeno chilies. It took around 2 hours to smoke the things and stuff and not too much longer to get everything combined in the crock pot.

It really turned out great. My dish did not last long at all at the potluck.

Shipping SCOBY

As you may remember, I have been brewing Kombucha on a regular basis.

I basically have two one-gallon batches of Kombucha going at any time. One with a standard black tea base. The other is made from green tea.

According to my "records" I've done 22 batches of kombucha since September 30 last year.

Anyway, the SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast) gets pretty big after a few batches and I end up separating it and throwing most of it out periodically.

That is somewhat of a waste. I've reached out on facebook and instagram asking if anyone was interested in taking SCOBY off my hands. No one took me up on the offer.

Until this past weekend.

This past weekend, my sister texted me about the possibility of shipping SCOBY to her brother-in-law for his birthday.

Sasquatch Hunter Altbier and Smoked Pork Loin

I brewed and Barbecued last Sunday.

My award-winning Sasquatch Hunter German Altbier and my first time smoking pork loin on the grill.

I also drank a fair amount of homebrew, but ... well ... it was Sunday ... so of course I drank homebrew.

The Sasquatch Hunter German Altbier is the beer that won a Blue Ribbon in the Denver Region of the 2013 National Homebrew Competition.

It was my first homebrew to win any kind of recognition, so it was a pretty big deal.

More importantly, I really liked the beer.

For some reason, it has been 3 years since I brewed this recipe. Sunday seemed a good time to do it again.

Smoked Mac and Cheese

So ... I got to use my smoker a couple times last weekend.

Recently, I posted articles about Bacon Wrapped Onion Bombs and Smoked Salsa. I cooked both of these last Saturday on the smoker.

On Sunday, I made something else on the smoker.

Something even more delicious.

Macaroni and Cheese.  Yum! Yum! Yum!

It was sooooooo Guuuuuuuud.

So Good.

Really when it comes right down to it, there are tons of baked Mac and Cheese recipes out on the internet. Smoked Mac and Cheese is simply doing the same thing ... only cooking it on the grill.

Smoked Salsa

Homemade salsa is the best salsa. Last year around March, I made some fermented salsa, which turned out great. Fresh salsa is wonderful too.

I can actually put salsa on all types of foods. Brats. Burgers. Chips. Dips. Chains. Whips.

I digress.

Somewhere. Somehow. I came across the idea of smoking salsa.

I'm embarrassed to say that I don't remember where I got the idea.

I'm sure it was on the interwebs somewhere. It was probably a youtube video.

It might have been this youtube video: Brisket Tacos with Smoked Salsa at All Things Barbecue

Bacon Wrapped Onion Bombs

Since I got my Smoker, I've watched lots of Barbecue YouTube videos about smoking and grilling.

I've subscribed to some channels that I enjoy, and the other day a video came across my subscription list.

Bacon Wrapped Onion Bombs on No Hippie BBQ & Cooking

Hmmm ... Bacon! Thank you, Lyle!

The recipe looked guuud, and relatively easy. I decided to try it last Saturday. If you follow SheppyBrew's Instagram Page or SheppyBrew's Facebook Page you probably saw pictures.

2018 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

It is already April.

I think that means that the 1st quarter of 2018 is done.

As you may know, the Brewery likes to post quarterly updates on how much we have brewed. You can see all these updates (including the one you are reading right now) by following this link:  Sheppy's Blog: Brew Stats .

The SheppyBrew Brewery brewed 6 batches of beer in the first quarter:

• Arctic Vortex Winter Saison
• Oompa Loompa Mango Pale Ale
• Pats Disliker New England Pale Ale
• Imaginary Dragon Brown Ale
• Melting Stream Spring Saison
• Gringo Cerveza Popcorn Ale

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

These 6 batches yielded 30.5 gallons, putting me easily on pace to surpass 100 gallons for the year.

Gringo Cerveza Popcorn Ale

I brewed Wednesday. I had the week off work, so of course I had to get a brew day in.

Wednesday was the day.

The beer I brewed was based on a long-time SheppyBrew recipe. Gringo Cerveza.

Originally, I used this name for a Mr. Beer recipe. I even had a partial mash recipe.

And ... eventually it become an all-grain recipe.

Sometime along the way, it became a Popcorn Beer.

"Popcorn?" You ask. Yes Popcorn.

A popcorn jalapeño beer. The jalapeños have become optional.

I got the idea of using popcorn in a beer when I listened to an episode of The Session on the Brewing Network about Sun King Brewery of Indianapolis, Indiana. One of their beers was a popcorn beer.

I decided to try the popcorn mash. Seemed that concept would work well with a jalapeño beer.

Smoked BBQ Drumsticks

We had a busy day yesterday at SheppyBrew Brewery and Smokehouse.

We didn't brew any beer, but we started the day early by kegging Melting Stream Spring Saison.

We bottled a batch of green tea kombucha and stared a new batch.

And .. we prepared and made barbecue drumsticks.

I bought a package of drumsticks at Sam's Club in the morning.

I decided to make the whole package even though I knew it would be too much for our family of four. I like having leftovers for lunch. Yummy barbecue drumsticks for lunch will be great this week.

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

Imaginary Dragon Brown Ale

I'm brewing today.

I'm brewing today and I have not posted about my last brew day yet.

Lazy blogger.

I better do that now.

So ... I've been brewing quite awhile. I started with a Mr. Beer kit my sister bought me for the 2008 Christmas.

I used the hell out of that Mr. Beer Kit.

One of the recipes I came up with using the kit, was an American Brown Ale intended to mimic Big Sky Brewing Company's Moose Drool. I named it based on some dragon art work my child had done and another word for drool.

Not knowing that the name I came up with is slang for something horrible. You can look it up if you like (if you don't already know). You can't unknow once you know.

Pats Disliker NE Pale Ale

I'm glad that the Patriots didn't win the Superbowl LII.

Yes, I am a hater of the New England Patriots.

Not really like I hate the Red Wings or Packers. More like I dislike the Cowboys or the Raiders.

I'm a Patriots Disliker.

Lately if you're a craft beer geek like me, you've almost certainly noticed an alarming influx of "New England Style" IPA's.

I'm fine with a hazy IPA, but if there is yeast clouding up the beer, it is visually unappealing to me, and usually I don't find them all that great to drink.

I don't hate them like the Red Wings or Packers. I dislike them like the Patriots.

At the same time, there are some beers labeled "New England Style IPA" that I quite enjoy. As long as it is hazy rather than cloudy.

Reverse Seared Ribeyes

So ... you probably know I've been playing with my new grill / smoker recently.

See SheppyBrew: Grilling. Or SheppyBrew: BBQ. Or SheppyBrew: Smoked.

I've really been enjoying the food I've been making on the smoker.

Last weekend I decided to make some Ribeye Steaks. I love steak. Bone-in Ribeye Steaks are the ones that always turn out best for me. And that is what I got from the grocery store Sunday.

This time, I decided to try "Reverse Searing" the steaks. It is something I've read about, this this is really the first time I've done it.

In case you don't know, "Reverse Searing" is a technique used in grilling. Most of the references I've seen are around steak, but you can do it with other cuts of meat too.

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.

Oompa Loompa Mango Pale Ale, Kombucha, and Turkey Bacon Burgers

After brewing the Where'd My ManGo Wheat, I had some of the Mango Flavoring left.

Also, my Muggled Pale Ale didn't last real long.

I decided that it would be fun to make and drink a Mango Pale Ale.

Oompa Loompa Mango Pale Ale

I brewed it last Sunday

No big deal.

Some Pale Malt. Some Vienna Malt. Some Munich and some Pale Chocolate for a bit more color.

Equinox (aka Ekuanot aka HBC 366) hops. Centennial hops.

Apple Wood Smoked Chicken

If you've following this blog lately, you've noticed more BBQ articles.

That is because I got a new grill / smoker for Christmas this year, and I've been learning how to use it.

This past Saturday, I smoked a whole chicken.

Of course, I've done whole chickens on my older gas grill a few times. This was my first time adding smoke flavor.

The past two smoking sessions (see First time Smoking Ribs and Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork) both used hickory wood for the smoke. This time I decided to try something different, and I went with Apple Wood chunks.

SheppyBrew 2017 Year-End Brewing Stats

As you may know, the Brewery likes to post quarterly updates on how much we have brewed. You can see all these updates (including the one you are reading right now) by following this link: Sheppy's Blog: Brew Stats.

In the 4th Quarter, we brewed 4 beers.

Killer Cricket Porter brew day

• Killer Cricket Porter
• Where'd My ManGo Wheat
• 2017 X-Mas Ale
• Muggled Pale Ale