H is for Halfpenny Brewing Company

I modified the rules a little bit for my "H" brewery.

I made the rules, so I can modify them. If you don't like it, go visit your own set of breweries A to Z.

As I mentioned in "G is for Goldspot Brewing Company", I only knew of one "H" brewery in the Denver area that I have not visited.

But ... I didn't want to go to that one.

The "H" brewery I'm thinking of is a Gluten Free brewery, and I don't really like any of the Gluten Free beers I've had.

I just like my Glutens too much.

At some point, I should give this place a chance ... maybe my third time through the alphabet.

But, rather than pick a brewery I wasn't excited about this time around, I picked another brewery. It is a brewery that I've been to one time. That one time, I had one beer. I never mentioned it on this blog.

Until now ...

H is for Halfpenny Brewing Company

2019 Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale (batch 240)

Pumpkin. Spice. Ale.

If you follow this blog at all ... you probably know that the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) enjoys drinking Pumpkin Spice Ales.

Mid September, 2014, I brewed my first Pumpkin Spice Ale. Mostly, I did it to make my wife happy.

Happy wife. Happy life.

I'm not proud of it, but I am pretty good at brewing Pumpkin Spice Ales.

I'll even drink some of mine without complaining too much.

It being close to mid-September, now is the time to brew a Pumpkin Spice Ale for it to be ready by Pumpkin Spice season.

So, last weekend, I made the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) help me brew. (I actually can't make my wife do anything she doesn't already want to do).

Since it has been such a hit in the past, we left the recipe pretty much the same as it has been since 2014 ...

Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale

My First Brisket

This past weekend, I smoked a brisket.

Honestly, the fact that it took me so long to smoke one is somewhat embarrassing. There really is no excuse.

If I'm honest ... I was a little scared of briskets.

I can't always find brisket at my Sam's club, and often when I see one it is really more expensive than I want to pay.

Part of the reason it took me so long to do one is that I'm nervous about screwing it up. A brisket is not nearly as "forgiving" as "pork butt" ... or at least that is what I've heard / read / seen.

And it takes a long time to smoke a brisket. It sort of sucks to spend all day making something that turns out less than awesome.

But a few weeks ago, briskets were on sale and I grabbed a 10 pound packer. I had intended to smoke it sooner, but my plans changed and I ended up freezing that brisket.

This past weekend is when I finally got around to doing it. Turns out I didn't really have to be afraid.

Schreck Gartenzwerg Pilsner (Batch 239)

I brewed a couple weekends ago. As you may remember, I wanted to brew more lagers and more new recipes this year.

The last lager I brewed was "Bridge Fog California Common" back at the end of March, and I thought it was past time to brew another.

I recently won some money and I had decided to treat myself to an Anvil Stainless Bucket Fermenter with part of those winnings.

And ... part of the reason I decided to go with Anvil was because it has a cooling system that goes with the "bucket".

I hope to write more about the Anvil Stainless Bucket Fermenter and its cooling system in later blog posts ... stay tuned for that.

Those two things arrived the Friday before, and it was a no-brainer to brew a lager over the weekend.

The recipe I came up with was a German Pilsner:

Schreck Gartenzwerg Pilsner

Another Overnight Pork Butt

Soooooo ... Remember back in May, I did an Overnight Cook on my Weber Kettle using the snake method.

Set up charcoal around the perimeter of the kettle in a "snake", light up one end, and let it burn. The burning coals will light unlit coals slowly until they are all burned out.

I was able to get over 12 hours of fairly consistent heat this way. Perfect for allowing myself to get sleep while performing a long smoke.

Last weekend, I used this technique again. This time, I wasn't shooting for lunch time, but wanted to be done early afternoon so I could let it sit until dinner while actually doing things on Sunday afternoon.

Chicken and Hatch Chile Stew

In Smoked Green Chili Hashbrown Egg Bake, I mentioned that at my work, we have this "Friday Breakfast Club". People on one of my teams take turns bringing in breakfast for the rest of the group every Friday.

Recently, one of my people brought in what he called "Chicken and Hatch Chile Stew".

I really liked it and thought it would be a good thing to make to help me use up left over smoked meat.

This past Saturday, my family wanted to go to Saturday night church (I was out-voted as I usually am).

When we go to church on Saturday night, I try to make something I can throw in the Crock-pot. And it seemed like a good opportunity to try this "Chicken and Hatch Chile Stew".

G is for Goldspot Brewing Company

If you were following along during the D, E, F posts, you might have thought I was going to knock of a "G" Brewery at the same time.

A short block away from De Steeg is The Grateful Gnome Sandwich Shoppe and Brewery.

And ... if you look closely at the collage on each of the D, E, F posts, you can make out a flight that shows the logo of Golden City Brewery.

While both are great "G" breweries, we've been to both, so I could not use them for my A to Z Denver Breweries Project. It just isn't allowed.

Unless I changed the rules.

So ... you know two breweries that I didn't use.

Unless I changed the rules

If you remembered my first time through the alphabet or wanted to look it up, you would have known that I wouldn't pick Great Frontier Brewing Company, because I've already done that one.

Unless I changed the rules

Big G little g. What begins with G? (Goat and Googoo Googles?)

Goldspot Brewing Company G G G.

Alabama Pelican Brown Porter (Batch 238)

A couple months ago, my family visited Gulf Coast Alabama to meet my wife's family for a Family Reunion Type thing.

I am not the sort of person who can lie on the beach or by the pool for vacation. I have to be moving around at least a little.

Most of the rest of the group doesn't have the same problem with just sitting around.

So ... I spent quite a few hours walking the beach by myself.

Quite often while walking around, my mind starting wandering to thoughts about brewing.

I was also quite fascinated with watching all the brown pelicans.

I thought it was cool how they fly in formation. And, when they dive into the water, it was downright awesome.

Anyway ... a couple years ago, I brewed a beer honoring my fascination with the Colorado White Pelicans (my name for them) called Colorado Pelican Australian Sparkling Ale.

I got to thinking that taking the Sparkling Ale recipe and darkening it up a bit would be a way to extend the theme of the "Alabama" brown pelicans from the "Colorado" white pelicans.

F is for FlyteCo Craft Brewing

As you know if you've been following this blog for the past week, my wife and I visited breweries last Saturday.

We were on Tennyson street between 38th and 44th.

I'm not sure if this is considered the Berkley neighborhood of Denver or West Highlands. Or maybe it is considered something else entirely.

I think it is right in the middle of Berkley ... But it doesn't really matter.

So far, I've shared

D is for De Steeg Brewing

E is for Empourium Brewing Company

... and I've hinted that there are more to come ...

And, if you're familiar with the area both those breweries are in, you probably already know what "F" brewery I picked.

F is for FlyteCo Craft Brewing

The walk from De Steeg to FlyteCo is only half a mile. Pretty decent concentration of breweries over a few blocks.

E is for Empourium Brewing Company

So .... I hinted in D is for De Steeg Brewing that I would follow up with "E" fairly quickly.

As a reminder, Saturday, my wife and I biked around the area of Mile High Stadium in Denver.

She tested out an eBike. There might be more about that later. Stay tuned on this blog.

After biking, we were close to a number of breweries.

De Steeg Brewing was our first stop.

It just so happens that there is an "E" brewery within a short walking distance of De Steeg.

If you are familiar with this area around Tennyson, you probably were able to figure this out, but my "E" brewery is ....

E is for Empourium Brewing Company

Foreshadowing ... There is another brewery in this area that starts with the letter F. Another starts with the letter G.

D is for De Steeg Brewing

Well ... as I mentioned in C is for Colorado Plus Brew Pub, my A to Z Denver Breweries Project has been on a bit of a pause.

Saturday, my wife and I biked around the area of Mile High Stadium in Denver.

She tested out an eBike. There might be more about that later. Stay tuned on this blog.

But I digress.

After biking, we were close to a number of breweries.

I was interested in one in particular.

One that I had never been to.

One that starts with the letter "D".

D is for De Steeg Brewing

Fun fact: De Steeg means "An Alley" in dutch. And even more fun, the entrance to De Steeg Brewing in an alley.

Muggled Pale Ale (Batch 237)

So ... I was talking to my homebrew friend "Du" and both of us thought it had been too long since we've brewed.

We contacted our other homebrewing friend, "Doc" and made a brewing date for August 11th.

"Doc" was kind enough to host the brew day. You may remember "Doc" from such hits as

Cinco de Bealtaine Irish Stout

Learning to Homebrew

Mardi Bock

and ...

Big Brew Day 2019

It is now becoming "a thing" when I go to other houses (usually "Doc's") to brew. It is fun, but I always feel like I'm forgetting something I'll need. It is also a pain to clean up afterwards.

But ... anyhoo ....

Smoked Green Chili Hashbrown Egg Bake

So .... at my work, we have this "Friday Breakfast Club". People on one of my teams take turns bringing in breakfast for the rest of the group every Friday.

It is a good deal. Everyone's turn comes up once every two and a half months. And, we get homemade breakfasts every Friday.

Fun stuff.

When it is my turn ... the house tends to smell pretty amazing in the morning and The SheppyBrew Beer Model gets a little jealous. I try to make it again for her over the next few days.

Last Friday was my turn to bring in food. And so Saturday I made some more for my wife.

Of course ... I never actually make the same thing twice ... so I had to change it up a little bit the second time around.

Here is (basically) the recipe I used to bring in to my co-workers. Note ... I doubled the recipe below so that I wouldn't have to worry about running out.

C is for Colorado Plus Brew Pub

Well ... July got away from me. The whole summer is going way too fast.

Between the Great Cycle Challenge, and family activities, and trying to lose weight, I have not done much with my A to Z Denver Breweries Project.

My last brewery was B is for Briar Common Brewery + Eatery back in early April.

On July 11th, the SheppyBrew Beer Model and I decided to do a date night, and I knew I had a brew pub on my list of "C" breweries. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to try one.

C is for Colorado Plus Brew Pub.

2019 Hail Storm Summer Saison (batch 236)

Summer Saison Time. Last Sunday, I brewed SheppyBrew's  Hail Storm Summer Saison.

Apparently, I've been doing this Seasonal Saison thing for more than 6 years, because this is the 6th time I've brewed the Hail Storm Summer Saison.

Has it really been that long? I must really like saisons. I must really like the WY3711 yeast.

Yes. Yes I do.

I don't know if you've noticed, but my last few batches of beer, I've made extra. This batch was similar in that I made an 8 gallon batch rather than my regular 5.

2019 Q2 SheppyBrew Stats

It is July already.

Really!??!

The summer is flying by. The year is flying by. I'm not sure where the time has gone.

But since the 2nd quarter is done ... it is time to share SheppyBrew's 2nd quarter brewing stats.

If you are curious to check out past posts like this one ... see Sheppy's Blog: Brew Stats.

The SheppyBrew Brewery didn't have very many brew days this quarter, but I brewed bigger batches so I still ended up with a decent volume.

This quarter, we brewed 3 "batches" ...

• Blackberry in Bed American Wheat
• 2019 BBD Blood Orange Saison Mango Pale (depending on how you count, this might be considered two batches)
• 1000 Mile Mild

Blackberry in Bed American Wheat (Bam-a-Lam)

Wrapping up #GCCUSA2019

Well, I finished up my 2019 Great Cycle Challenge.

The GCC is continuing to track miles and let us fund-raise well into July, so this number might change, but as I write this post, I've raised $2,046.79 this year. My best year so far.

As you know if you've followed me on this blog or on facebook or on instagram or on twitter). I pledged to ride 1000 miles this year.

This is more than I've ever ridden in a month, and as I've mentioned multiple times, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get it done.

But, as it turns out, I'm proud to say not only was I able to ride 1000 miles by the end of June, but it really was not as difficult as I thought it would be.

Most of my miles were done on my new "gravel bike". However, I did count some miles on an indoor stationary bike.

If my math is correct, I did 144 of the 1012 miles inside. Since the GCC continued to track miles, I made it my goal to do at least 144 miles outside during the first week of July.

I did it. As of this morning, my total is 1,185. The number continues to go up. If you want to see my current total check out

Great Cycle Challenge USA - Riders - Eric Shepard

Weber Rib Rack

As you probably know ... Father's Day Weekend recently came and went.

One of the things my kids got me for Fathers' Day was a Weber Rib Rack.

It had been awhile since I'd smoked ribs at all, and I had to try this new toy out, so the weekend after Father's Day, I fired up the Weber Kettle and used the new gift.

I bought a couple of Spare Ribs from Sam's.

I prepared the ribs as usual, except I cut each of the racks in half and put them in the Weber Rib Rack on the indirect side of the kettle. I used a combination of Hickory and Apple wood for the smoke.

Father's Day Weekend 2019 Part 3

Remember from Father's Day Weekend 2019 Part 1, and Father's Day Weekend 2019 Part 2 that we went camping on Fathers' Day Weekend.

We were by Twin Lakes, Colorado at White Star Campground.

Part 1 was mostly about a day on the lake in Kayaks and Canoes.

Part 2 was a hike up the Colorado Trail from our campground to the South Mount Elbert Trail.

We are now up to Sunday ... which was mostly packing up and heading home. However, we stopped by a mountain lake on the way home.

Of course, my pictures don't do it justice ... but here are some anyway ...

Father's Day Weekend 2019 Part 2

Remember from Father's Day Weekend 2019 Part 1, that we went camping on Fathers' Day Weekend.

We were by Twin Lakes, Colorado at White Star Campground, and you've seen pictures from the first day.

Part 1 was mostly about a day on the lake in Kayaks and Canoes.

Day 2 was a hike up the Colorado Trail from our campground to the South Mount Elbert Trail.

It was a great hike with awesome views.

Of course, my pictures don't do it justice ... but here are some anyway ...