Tri-tips

I made tri-tips back in 2018 X-Mas Ale and Tri-tips and really liked them.

For whatever reason, I don't see tri-tips available in my area very often. Usually when I see them, they are more expensive than I'd like to pay.

So, I don't make them very often. In fact, I think I only made them that one time.

Maybe one other time.

Last week, randomly, I saw two tri-tips in my grocery store on sale, and I picked them up.

I smoked them on the kettle this weekend.

I decided to experiment again with the cast iron pan much like I did in Reverse Sear Steak on Cast Iron Pan.

E is for Evergreen Brewery

As you might have noticed from D is for Dead Hippie Brewing, the SheppyBrew Beer Model and I started up again on our A to Z Denver Breweries Project.

If you are familiar with the alphabet, you probably realize that next up was to find a Denver area brewery whose name started with the letter E.

Generally, when looking for these breweries, I hit the Colorado Brewery Map & List, and there are lots of "E" breweries in Colorado.

But, most of those are either not in the Denver area or we already have them covered.

There is one E brewery that while not REALLY in what I would consider the "Denver area", is fairly close to our house.

As a bonus ... this place also serves food, so we wouldn't have to pack a lunch.

E is for Evergreen Brewery

Reverse Sear Steak on Cast Iron Pan

Saturday, I had ribeye steaks in my fridge, and I decided to try making them a little differently.

The way I usually cook steaks is how I did them in Reverse Seared Ribeyes.

Cook the steaks indirect until they are just below their desired doneness.

Move to direct heat over the fire and sear them.

On a couple of youtube videos I had seen people basically the same thing, but rather than sear directly over the fire, they used a cast iron pan to add the crust.

I have a cast iron pan, so I thought I'd give this a try.

So, Saturday, I set up my fire in my two weber charcoal holders. This provided a circle of charcoal which was exactly the same size as my pan.

D is for Dead Hippie Brewing

It has been quite awhile since I've posted on my A to Z Denver Breweries Project.

This is mostly due to covid restrictions. Covid 19 sucks.

Restrictions have started lifting, and my entire family is vaccinated, so last Saturday, the SheppyBrew Beer Model and I decided to take a bike ride and continue round 3 of the project.

In C is for Cerveceria Colorado ... I sadly reported that "Dead Hippie Brewing Company" had permently closed due to not being financially able to survive the latest rounds of COVID restrictions.

However, at some point after that, someone stepped in and purchased the brewery, keeping the name.

Dead Hippie came back alive. I'm not 100% on the details, and the re-opening didn't have nearly as much press as the closing did.

Sort of strange ... but since it was back open ... even though I've been to Dead Hippie, we decided that.

D is for Dead Hippie Brewing

Infusion Roaster on the Kettle

 So ... I've had this "Turkey Cannon Infusion roaster" since right before I smoked my first turkey in 2018 (see Cherry Wood Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey).

I've used it a couple times for Turkey, and until this past weekend, I've used it once for chicken (see Smoked Chicken on Infusion Roaster).

You've probably noticed that I've been using my Weber Kettle for most of my grilling / smoking. It is easier to use than my off-set smoker, and I can shut down the vents so that the charcoal can be saved for the next cook.

Last time I cooked a whole chicken, I noticed that the beer can stand made the bird stand up so that the top of the kettle lid hit the bird. It was ok, but I not really ideal.

On one of my facebook forums, I noticed that someone placed their chicken in a pan on the charcoal grid rather than on the cooking grate.

This got me thinking ... my Infusion Roaster could rest on the charcoal grid and would allow plenty of room between the top of the bird and the kettle lid.

4th Everest of 2021

Since 3rd Everest of 2021, I've climbed another 29,032 feet on my bikes. Another Everest. 

According to Strava, I've cycled 1,896 miles so far in 2021 with 116,175 feet climbed. This puts me on track for 5,000 miles with 300,000 feet by the end of the year.

Shoddy Pale Ale (Batch 288)

I am a big fan of the Brülosophy's podcasts. I am endlessly fascinated by the experiments they perform.

One of my favorite concepts from these podcasts are the "Short & Shoddy" series. 

Basically "Short & Shoddy" involves taking whatever brewing shortcuts a brewer can to save time on brew day and/or getting the beer from grain to glass faster.

The idea is to figure out what shortcuts can be made and still produce a high-quality delicious beer.

The most obvious and most-used shortcuts are mash time and boil time.

Ever since I got my Foundry, I've really been thinking about shaving time off the brew day. As I use the system at 120 volts, heating water takes much longer than when I used my propane burner.

Playing around with the mash-times, I've decided that I don't want to cut my mash time very much because I don't want to reduce my brew house efficiency too much.

Groovy Groomsmen Gifts: Personalized Growler

Do you remember Groovy Guy Gifts? Groovy Guy Gifts from Groovy Guy Gifts: Big Slug Mug / Groovy Guy Gifts: Louisville Chugger / Groovy Guy Gifts: Viking Beer Horn?

I got an email from their "brother site" ... Groovy Groomsmen Gifts, asking if I'd like to pick a gift to review on this blog.

Out of the suggestions in the email, I thought I'd most like to try their ...

Angry Amber Growler

Big Brew Day ... Lithuanian Lovin' Wheat

Saturday, May 1st was another Big Brew Day. First Saturday in May.

The Beer Model and I traveled up North to brew a with my buddy "Du". We decided to brew a Lithuanian Lovin' Wheat.

Friday, I made a yeast starter that had been harvested last time I brewed with the Lithuanian Farmhouse yeast ... about 6 months ago. That is a longer time than is generally suggested to re-use yeast (by a bunch), but I was pretty sure it would be ok with a starter.

I also packed up brewing equipment based on the list I made last time I traveled with my brewing equipment (see Traveling Brew Checklist). If I'm honest, it was nice to have the checklist. (Don't tell the Beer Model )

Fatty!

Remember my Easter BBQ? 

Along with my Ribeye Roast, I smoked a bacon wrapped fatty.

What is a fatty? 

Well ... a fatty is ground meat surrounding a filling wrapped with bacon.

In my case, the filling was a mixture of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and onion with spices. 

The ground meat was 1 pound each of ground Italian sausage and ground beef.

The bacon was ... well bacon.

This past weekend, I thought I would like to make another fatty. 

So I did.

Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager (Batch 286)

As I type this, my beloved Blackhawks are in 6th place in the Central Division of the NHL.

At this point, they are 7 points out of the playoffs, and I have not seen anything that makes me optimistic that they'll make up that gap.

I'm doing my part, but I'm just one person, and years and years of being a Blackhawk fan have proven that my efforts are not enough without a great team out there on the ice.

I miss those years when the Hawks won 3 Stanley Cups in 6 years.

Sigh.

But, never say never. I won't give up quite yet.

This last Sunday, I helped the team by brewing up my wonderful beer ...

Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager

Weekend BBQ Photos

I didn't brew this past weekend, but I did Barbeque and Bike.

As you know, I'm not afraid to BBQ in the Snow.

Good thing, because Saturday started out real snowy.

One of the things I really like to smoke is Chuck Roast for shredded beef sandwiches.

Chuck Roast is almost as guuud as Brisket, but it takes less effort to cook.

Generally, I smoke the Chuck Roast for 3 or 4 hours and then pull it off the smoker and put it in the crock pot until dinner time. (see Chuck Roast on Weber Kettle and Crock-pot as an example)

The result is tender and juicy and nicely smoked.

Great sandwiches that everyone in my family can enjoy. It also makes great leftovers. I love to make chili with chuck roast.

3rd Everest of 2021

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I have climbed over 87,700 feet on my bike this year.

This means, I've passed my 3rd Everest for the year. Everest is 29,032 feet high. 3 x 29,032 = 87,096.

Due to a broken spoke on my wheel and a snowy April, I've fallen slightly behind my Strava goal of climbing 300,000 feet in 2021.

I'm sure I'll catch up once the weather starts cooperating, so I'm not worried about missing the goal.

If you'd like to follow along and see how I'm doing throughout the year ... bookmark Sheppy's Blog: #10Everestsin2021

Anvil Foundry ... 15 Batches in

 I've been brewing with my Anvil Foundry All-in-One Brewing System since early November. If you want ... you can go back to my first brew day with it (see Bud Lite Lime (271) on the Anvil Foundry). You can see many of those brew days at Sheppy's Blog: Anvil.

If I'm counting correctly, my Helles in a Hand Bock-sket (Batch 285) brew day was the 15th time I've brewed on the Foundry.

That's something like 78 gallons of beer I've brewed on the system.

Overall, I really like the Foundry. There are awesome advantages. There are also some minor annoyances. 

I don't think I'm going to get rid of my old  mash-tun-in-a-cooler and propane-burner system any time soon.

Helles in a Hand Bock-sket (Batch 285)

For a really short amount of time, I thought it would be awesome to enter homebrew competitions.

I thought it would be fun and I thought it would be a good way to get feedback on my beer.

In 2013, I entered 3 competitions, and in two of those competitions, I came away with blue ribbons.

The first one was at my local homebrew shop. I entered two beers. One wasn't really ready. The other wasn't really in the right style.

I didn't win anything in that first competition.

My second competition was the 2013 National Homebrew Competition Denver Regional. I did come away with a first place win in that one.

My third and final competition was the "Battle of the Homebrews" in the 2013 Arapahoe County Fair.

My beer got a blue ribbon in its category and placed second in "Best of Show". Honestly, I thought the judges really picked a great beer.

Helles in a Hand Bock-sket

Easter BBQ

My wife (aka The SheppyBrew Beer Model) let me decide what to have for Easter dinner this year.

Awesome.

Around holidays, I enjoy getting Ribeye Roasts because they are generally about half the price as usual around holidays. 

And, I figured I'd pick one up for Easter this year.

Because ... I like to cook them on my smokers. And ... because I really like eating them.

Yum!

When I got to my local grocery store to pick one up, there were two available. They were both around 12 pounds.

A 12 pound Ribeye Roast is more meat than a family of 4 needs, but I have a vacuum sealer and a freezer, so I figured I could save half for some other time.

2021 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

Q1 of 2021 is already over, which means its time to report our brewing stats for the year so far.

Continuing on the trend from last year, I brewed a ridiculous amount of beer over the first 3 months of the year.

The first quarter of 2020, I brewed 7 whole batches with 35 gallons. In 2021, I brewed even more in Q1 ... 

I brewed 8 batches and 42 gallons of beer.

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

Going Vegan

I think I should go vegan. 

Meat is evil and unhealthy, and I cannot continue to support the institutionalized exploitation of animals to satisfy my nutritional needs.

I feel like I have to demonstrate true compassion for animals by discontinuing to capitalize on their suffering to make my clothing or other products that make my life more luxurious.

If by restricting my diet to plant based nutrition can save even one Cow or Pig or Chicken ... I feel like it is the least I can do.

And, of course it isn't about me, but as veganism is healthier, I will lose weight. Reduce cholesterol. Get my blood pressure under control.

I'll be able to lift  more weight and I'll live longer. With reduced body weight, I'll be faster and stronger on the bike. 

Metric Century and Beef Flanken Short Ribs

March has been fairly snowy in Denver. 

It is nice to get the snow, but snowy weather makes getting in bike rides a little challenging.

I can always ride in the gym on a stationary bike, but that isn't nearly as fun. Plus that doesn't do me any good on my #10Everestsin2021 goal.

This past weekend, the weather was great for cycling, and Saturday I started out early with the intention of gaining a lot of elevation.

My legs were not "feeling it", so I changed my route to move away from the big climbs fairly early in the ride.

I decided that this ride would not be much more than a "recovery" ride.

Updating the Homebrew Colorado 6 pack

If you've been following my 6 Pack Project posts, you know that I matched up 6 of my homebrew recipes with my Colorado 6 pack list that I put together back in 2013.

As I was brewing beers in my Homebrew Colorado 6 pack, I noted that 3 out of the 6 beers no longer existed at their commercial breweries, so I was unable to compare my beers to the beers that they were meant to represent.