2012 Duck Race Pictures

The Colorado Shepards attended the Breckenridge Duck Races again this year.

We are now officially on a winning streak. Connor's duck came in 28th in the Kids' Duck Dash and came away with a gift certificate to one of Breckenridge's fine establishments (in your face, Tweedle Beetles).

Here are some pictures:

White House #HomeBrew Recipes

I got an email from the White House yesterday. Yes, I am that big of a deal.

The reason I got this email, actually, is that I signed on online petition asking that the White House release its home-brew recipes to the public. You can see it at whitehouse.gov: "Release the recipe for the Honey Ale home brewed at the White House".

The petition was started on August 18th and as I type this, it has 12,240 signatures. Originally, the petition said it would need more than that (24,000?) signatures to "pass", but I guess the white house didn't see any reason not to share the recipes. They are not huge government secrets, and there was certainly interest out there.

I don't know if I will make either of the 2 recipes. Generally speaking, I don't use recipes from other people. Part of the fun of home-brewing is creating my own recipes. I may or may not make an exception here. The White House did make a special effort to email me.

If I do make them, at the very least, I will convert them to all-grain. Of course, I'll have to substitute some Colorado honey for the White House Honey.

Anyway, I think it is cool that the White House is home-brewing, and I think they made the right decision to share the recipes.

August 2012 Blogging

Around 10AM on the 30th, August broke this blog's page view record, previously set in July which was previously set in June which was previously set in May. In fact it has been since May of 2011 that I've been on a record breaking streak.

I suppose if you read this blog regularly enough to remember month to month, you're probably sick of hearing about it. At this point, I feel I have to report on this every month at least until the streak stops. I am sure it will eventually, but this month, you'll have to either ignore this post or suffer through it.

Bonus ... for the first time this year, I beat Mrs. Bluefield in our unofficial number-of-posts contest (not that it is a competition)..

Do you want to know what posts have been most viewed over the last 30 days? If so ....

Brewing Laser Salt Again

"So, Sheppy, what's with the Laser Salt?", asked one of my more loyal readers in a comment of Killing the Glutens. I didn't answer at that time. But, here you go:

The question has to do with SheppyBrew's Laser Salt Sandy Blonde Ale. "Laser Salt" refers to the  Great Sand Dunes National Park. The term "Laser Salt" is an inside joke between the SheppyBrew Beer Model, myself, and a couple of old friends.

The summer that we first moved to Colorado, we decided to head down to the Sand Dunes to camp. Just before we went, a couple of friends came to visit us from Illinois. While talking, my wife told the couple that we were "going blazer camping in the sand". Of course, what this meant was that we were taking the Chevy Blazer that we owned at the time and camping by the Great Sand Dunes. At the time, most of the camping we did was backpacking. Blazer camping just meant we were camping close the car as opposed to backpacking.

Firestone Double Jack

Last Sunday (a week from yesterday), after I got done brewing my Rocktoberfest Lager, I decided to have a beer. For quite some time, there has been a bottle of Double Jack in my beer fridge and it called out to me. I decided it was finally time to pop it open.

You may remember that back in late June, I blogged about Union Jack. Double Jack tastes a bunch like Union Jack. It is 9.5% ABV, but does not taste like it at all. It is a bit dangerous that way. I am amazed how well this captures all the hop and malt flavors and aroma as Union Jack with much more alcohol.

Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale

A few days after I closed out my quest to try the beers on Zymurgy's 2011 Best Beers in America list, I found Dogfish Head's Indian Brown Ale in my local liquor store. Indian Brown Ale was tied for 34th on the list. Even though I had already moved on to the 2012 list (which did not include Indian Brown), I decided to grab the six pack and blog about it.

It is my blog. I can do this if I want.

Dogfish Head's Indian Brown Ale is a year-round beer. The Dogfish Head website calls it "a cross between a Scotch Ale, an India Pale Ale and an American Brown". It is meant to be a magic blend of hoppy and malty. Its IBU are listed at 50 and its ABV is 7.2%.

If you are familiar with my beer preferences, you can probably imagine that I was really excited to try this beer. I love well hopped beers with more complex malt characters than the typical American IPA. 

Hoppy Press: #HomeBrew meets #Art

About two months ago I got an email from the Contact Me form on this blog.

It was from Greg who was (is) starting a new website called Hoppy Press. Hoppy Press is dedicated to Homebrewing Art. Apparently they have amazing artists/printers lined up to showcase on the website and sell their work.

Greg told me:

"We're dedicated to making quality stuff just like homebrewers. We were tired of thin cheap glossy prints and want to make something that was frame-worthy but still captured the spirit of homebrewing."

I thought this is a cool idea and I told him I would be willing to post his website on this blog. He was not quite ready, yet, since they had not gotten their first print.

A few days ago, I got another email letting me know that their official launch would be today. They have one print for sale. It looks nice. Check it out. I'll let you decide if you want to spend the money, but even if you don't purchase this print, sign up for their newsletter and keep an eye with whatever else they put out.

They also have a twitter feed @HoppyPress if you would like to follow them that way.

Here is their link again:

Hoppy Press

Brewing Rocktoberfest 2012

This weekend, I brewed my Rocktoberfest Lager. It is hard to believe that this is my 4th time brewing it as a lager. Time sure does fly. This is actually the closest that I've brewed it to the right time for it to be ready for an Oktoberfest-style celebration.

The beer was meant to be a pleasant malty fall beer to drink during the baseball playoffs, preferably watching the Rockies. Unfortunately, like last year, the Rockies are no where close to making the playoffs. It is ok, though, I can also drink it watching football or just sitting on my patio on a cool autumn day. Heck, I can drink it on a hot summer day if need be.

Another CYBI Arrogant Bastard

If you read this blog, you probably know that I am a fan of Stone's Arrogant Bastard. My admiration of this beer is not just about it being a fantastic beer. I love the attitude behind the beer. I absolutely love that Stone keeps everything secret about how they make this beer.

I am really fascinated by the Brewing Network's attempts to clone this beer despite Stone's refusal to give any information on this beer.

Well, the BN guys tried again at this year's NHC. I am running behind (again) in my podcasts, so those of you who listen to CYBI probably are already up to speed on this. If you have not already, though, download the episode (Can You Brew It: Arrogant Bastard 4).

Mitch Steele came on again. He (true to form) was not very helpful, but he was extremely nice about it.

#CraftBeer Snobs

I have been accused of being a Beer Snob, and it is not a point which I argue. If I have a choice between an inexpensive or even free mass-produced American Light Lager and a more expensive flavorful craft beer, I will almost always choose to spend the money.

I try not to be condescending about it, but I don't always succeed in that attempt.

I cannot help it. I prefer to drink beers with more flavor, and if that makes me a snob ... I am a snob. As a craft beer drinker, being a "beer snob" is somewhat a badge of honor.

But one thing about me as a craft beer drinker ... compared to your typical BMC beer fan ... If you offer me a beer I have not had before, telling me it is good / unique / wonderful / interesting, I will always try it. ALWAYS. I won't care what color it is. I won't care what style you tell me it is. I won't care what character you tell me you find in it ... I will try that beer. I will try it and thank you. If I don't like it, I will tell you specifically what I don't like about it along with what I do like about it.

#GABF Needs Something to Change

Some of you are going to hate me. I got all the GABF tickets I wanted.

I got a ticket to Thursday night. I got two tickets for Friday night. I got two tickets to the Saturday afternoon Members Only session. I made the decision not to buy Saturday night tickets, because that is my least favorite session.

My only complaint is that my Friday night tickets do not let me go to the Members Only line. I would have preferred being able to go through the short line, but it is not that big of a deal to have to go through the public line.

Obviously, many many many people did not get the GABF tickets they wanted (see #GABF #TicketMasterFail and #GABF Beer Geeks are PISSED). Had I known how the general public sale would have gone, I never would have complained about the #TicketMasterFail during the members-only sale. As it turns out, the only way to have guaranteed yourself a ticket was to be an AHA (American Homebrewers Association) or BA (Brewers Association) member.

Drinking Royal Gorge Brew Pub (@RGBrewPub)

My sister and her family were recently visiting Colorado and one of the things they wanted to do was check out the Royal Gorge. We headed down to Cañon City with them for a couple of days.

The first night we were there, I mentioned to my wife that I wanted to go to the Royal Gorge Brewing Co. As far as I know, this is the only local brew-pub. I actually did not intend for this to be a suggestion for dinner, but no one else had an idea on where to go, and my wife brought it up to the other adults.

So we ended up going. My sister has a weird psychotic hatred of beer. My brother-in-law is a BMC ... fizzy yellow beer sort of guy. He tries to be open to flavorful craft beer, but is just not quite there yet. Obviously, the 5 boys don't drink beer. I am not sure this is the right group with which to eat at a local brew-pub.

The service left much to be desired. They were clearly understaffed that night. We were seated right away, but even though we clearly had lots of children were not given any children menus. When we asked for some it took a long time for us to get any. It took a long time to get our drink order in. It took even longer to get our food order in.

But I sure thought they had a good line-up of beers.

Ello Poppet and Root Beer

On Friday I got a "Contact Us" email from a new fan of the blog inviting me over for his second ever home brew-day. Well, he did not ACTUALLY say he was a fan of the blog, I made that assumption because he did not say anything negative. That, and I am a complete legend in my own mind. Everyone who read the blog must be a fan. Right?

I will try not to let it go to my head when he asks me for my autograph. (That was a joke ... I will TOTALLY let it go to my head)

Getting that email reminded me that I have not brewed in a long time. It happens some times. Things get busy and you just don't get a chance to brew.

I knew that I would have a challenge getting time this weekend as well, but I came up with a scheme (sounded good at the time) that I could wake up at 4 and get a whole all-grain brew day before 10.

Still More @Untappd Badges 5

It has been awhile since I've done one of these, but after #IPADay ...

I've been sharing the badges that I've earned on Untappd (see First Month of Untappd and Running for Mayor @BallyFitness , and Some more Badges @Untappd , and Still More @Untappd Badges), and Still More @Untappd Badges 2 and Still More @Untappd Badges 3 Still More @Untappd Badges 4.

I don't know why I do this. It is just a tradition at this point.

Twisted Pine Hoppy Boy

Hoppy #IPADay everyone!

As you may or may not know that I conducted an online poll to determine what my official #IPADay would be.

This is not an overly popular beer blog, so I didn't get as many votes as say The Beer Wench would have gotten, but I got enough to determine a "winner".

And the winner was ... Twisted Pine Hoppy Boy IPA.

I've never had a Hoppy Boy before. Actually, I do not think I've had any of Twisted Pine's beers before today.

#IPADay ... liking it #InTheCan

I have to admit .... I like it in the can.

They told Dale Katechis that he was crazy years ago for packaging Dales Pale Ale in a can. He didn't listen.

I am glad he didn't. I like to get craft beers in cans.

Why? Well, I like to go hiking and camping, and it is much more convenient for me to bring aluminum cans than glass bottles.

And there is just something about drinking a fine crafted IPA in the wilderness of Colorado that just speaks to me. For some reason, I just REALLY like hoppy American IPAs while camping. I mean, I like them all the time, but for some reason they are even more suited for the wilderness.

An #IPADay sampling of my beer fridge

Here is the IPA's and IPA-like beer that I have in my commercial beer fridge right now:

You can click on the photo for a closer-up view

From left to right:

#GABF Beer Geeks are PISSED

Happy #IPADay. Wow. I mentioned a couple days ago what a #TicketMasterFail the Pre-sale of the Great American Beer Fest was.

If you want to refresh your memory or if you didn't see it, you can look at #GABF #TicketMasterFail.

Today, there are even more pissed off beer geeks.

If you don't believe me, check out some of the nasty comments at the GABF facebook page or do a twitter search on #GABF.

The 2012 Great American Beer Festival sold out so fast that lots of people missed out. Officially, the announcement was that all sessions had been sold out in 45 minutes.

#IPADay on Belgium IPAs

Generally speaking, I am not a fan of Belgium IPAs. OR maybe I should say in the past I have not been a fan.

I have told myself and others ... even written on this blog that for the most part, if I want a hoppy IPA, I am not really in the mood for the Belgium funk. If I feel like the Belgium funk, I'm not really looking for the citrusy hops of an American IPA.

#IPADay: Eric's IPA

Last time I was in Breckenridge (see Breckenridge Pictures), we had dinner at Downstairs at Eric's (because everywhere else just sucks).

The beer on the menu that caught my attention was Eric's IPA by Great Divide Brewing Company.

My real first name is "Eric" and Great Divide Brewing Company is local to me, so the fact that I had not heard of this beer sort of surprised me. I looked it up on untappd and did not find it (it is there now because I added it). I did a Google search on my phone and did not find it. I looked at the website of Great Divide Brewing Company, and still did not find it.

Everyday should be #IPADay

It seems every American craft brewery and brew-pub brews an IPA. Actually, the vast majority of them do several. You would think with all the IPA's out there we would all get bored with them, but we don't.

If I don't know what to get in a restaurant or at the liquor store, an American IPA is my fail safe. I almost always know I will like it. It is not necessarily my favorite style of beer, but quite often it will be my favorite in whatever tasting room I am in.

Again, everyone has one.

Here are some pictures of IPA's I have thoroughly enjoyed recently:

#IPADay My favorite IPA

I'm just going to say it ... my favorite IPA is one that I #HomeBrew.

SheppyBrew's TommyHawk APA has evolved over time from what I called an APA to what is now an American IPA. I guess part of the reason I call it my favorite is that I crafted it myself, but it isn't just a case of me liking this beer just because I am the one who brewed it.

It is #IPADay Are you ready?

Well, it is here. I am scheduling this blog post to publish itself at 12:01 AM MDT which means it is officially the start of the made-up twitter holiday where I live.

I figure, what the heck. I'm a blogger. I'm a beer geek. I like to drink the IPA style of beer. I should add to the madness.

Merry #IPADay to you.

What is #IPADay?

Well, I sure cannot explain it better than the good folks at the official #IPADay website. Check-out their About Page.

If you are a twitter-geek, checkout the #IPADay hash-tag search on twitter to really get a sense of the craziness.

I have actually scheduled blog posts to publish throughout the day. You can see all I have written or will write about #IPADay at: http://blog.ericshepard.com/search/label/%23IPADay

Hurray for IPA.

July 2012 Blogging

Well, this blog broke its previous "page view" record again. This month, there really wasn't ever any doubt that it could be done. The month started out with strong numbers and the page views kept coming in strong. This was the first month in awhile that didn't just barely beat the previous month.

It is also the first month in a LONG time that Women and Beer was not in the top 10 of most viewed pages for the month. And this helps explain the reason that we have a new #1 all-time viewed page on the blog. Aren't you excited?

The top all-time viewed post on this blog is now Female vs. Male Brain, which was first posted on Oct 28, 2011. It also came in with the most page-views this month BY A BUNCH.

Here are the rest of the top 10 most viewed posts this month:

#GABF #TicketMasterFail

Epic failure by TicketMaster.

I got my 2012 Great American Beer Fest tickets today, and boy was it painful.

Last year, I signed in at 10:00 for the AHA members pre-sale and had my tickets by 10:05. I remember it being very straight-forward and easy.

This year, it appears there is no way to order all your tickets at once. For each session I wanted to attend I had to do a separate search, pick my tickets, and fill out the check-out information. I paid a "convenience" fee for each of the transactions.

That was bad enough, but when I went to actually place my order, there was a bug on the site that kept telling me to check the terms and conditions checkbox before I could place the order. I kept checking it and getting the same order. Eventually, I tried calling TicketMaster. Busy signal.

First Family Backpacking Trip

If you follow this blog relatively regularly, you probably know that I like to go camping. I especially love backpacking. There is something just sublimely wonderful about packing what I need on my back and heading out into the wilderness. My wife and I backpacked a bunch before we had kids, and I continued to try to do it at least once and awhile because I enjoyed it so much (see my SheppyQuest label on this blog).

I shared earlier this year how excited I was that my kids (especially, my youngest son) were expressing interest in backpacking (see SheppyQuest Lite), and shortly afterward, I posted Father and Son Backpacking trip Part 1 and Father and Son Backpacking trip Part 2 in which my younger boy and I actually went on his first backpacking trip together.

We had a blast together.

#GABF Tickets on sale #IPADay

General public tickets for the Great American Beer Festival go on sale on August 2.

I didn't make the connection before, but August 2 is also this year's official #IPADay. I don't know if this is a simple coincidence or if The Beer Wench purposely planned it this way.

Of course, as one of the select few (AHA or BA members), I get to buy my GABF tickets tomorrow at 10AM Denver time. I have 10 - 10:30 blocked off on my work calendar so that no one makes the mistake of scheduling a meeting with me during that critical time.

Interestingly enough, one of my co-workers bought an AHA membership for herself and her fiancee so that they could by GABF tickets early and get into the Members' Only session. Not sure I would do this if I was not a home-brewer, but part of the reason that I decided to become a member of the AHA is all the GABF-related benefits that go with the membership.

Grilled Chicken

There has been a fair amount written about grilled chicken over the past couple of months on this blog.

It all started with the first time (at the moment the only time) I grilled beer can chicken (see Sheppy's Beer Can Chicken). That chicken turned out awesome.

In Blogging in June 2012 and Sorry. I lied, I wrote about a couple of anti-beer-can-chicken articles that I had come across. First, I saw Charlie Papazian's article Beer can chicken NOT a good idea at all! . Next, I came across  Debunking Beer Can Chicken: A Waste Of Good Beer (And It Is Dangerous) by a guy who referred to himself as "MeatHead".

MeatHead's main point is that Beer Can chicken just is not really a better way to grill a whole bird than other ways. He seems to think you can get better results using other methods.

In Sheppy's Rotisserie Chicken, I tried one of the other methods that MeatHead said would be better. This also gave me a chance to use the rotisserie motor that had come with my "new" grill. I didn't think the rotisserie bird turned out better, but it did turn out close enough to how I remembered the beer can chicken to support the claim that the beer can chicken pretty much serves to waste a can of beer.

Drinking the Wetta Berry

SheppyBrew's Raspberry Wetta Berry has finished carbonating and I have now had a few.

In case you need a refresher, I blogged about making Wetta Berry in Wetta Berry Mr. Beer Batch.

I blogged about adding raspberry puree to it in Raspberry Wetta Berry.

I blogged about Kegging and Bottling Wetta Berry in Kegging and Bottling Wetta Berry.

It is ... well ... it tastes like it has a lot of raspberry in it. In my opinion, it has too much raspberry in it. Even the Beer Model said "Maybe" when I asked her if it had too much raspberry in it.

Help Me pick my #IPADay Beer

Downloaded (with permission) from http://ipaday.org/logo/

So, as you may or may not know (you probably have not read my blog over the past few days if you are in the "not know" category), #IPADay is coming up.

Do me a favor and tell me what your favorite IPA is by voting in the poll below. I pre-filled the choices with Colorado IPAs that I have not had (at least according to untappd I have not had them), but feel free to use the "other" choice. If you do, try to remember to include the brewery name and the name of the beer. And leave a comment letting me know why you like the beer you chose to vote for.

5280 pre- #IPADay ... Odell's IPA

Recently, while in the liquor store searching for ideas for #IPADay I came across the 5280 Summer Seasonal 6 Pack. Of course I had to buy it. 

I have blogged before about beers in these 5280 6 packs (see such classics as Drinking Ellie's Brown Ale, 471 Double IPA, Flashback India Brown Ale, and of course The Beer Clinic). 5280 Magazine, in collaboration with the Denver Zoo (of all places) puts out these 6 packs every season. The editors of the magazine pick the 6 Colorado beers that they think best represent the season and package them together.

When I remember and see them, I try to get them. When I think about it while drinking the beers, I blog about them. It appears that I missed the winter and spring six packs. Oh well.

It is just how I roll.

#IPADay Returns

It is coming back. Yep, even CraftBeer.com says so (see IPA Day Returns on August 2, 2012). My Daily #IPADay and #StoutDay News is starting to get activity again, so at least some people are preparing for it.

I suppose you could say if there is anything worse than a made-up Hallmark holiday, it has to be a fake Twitter #MadeUpHoliday.

You could say that, but I won't. I would much rather celebrate American hops than St. Valentine. Plus, I certainly don't want to risk subjecting myself to the wrath of The Beer Wench.

2012 Q2 SheppyBrew Stats

2012 continues to fly by and wouldn't you know it, but the 2nd quarter of the calendar year is over. Here at the SheppyBrew home-brewery this means that it is time again for me to share some more of my brewing stats (see SheppyBrew 2009 Stats, 1st Quarter Stats, 2nd Quarter Stats, 3rd Quarter Stats, SheppyBrew 2010 Stats, 1st Quarter Brewing Stats, 2nd Quarter Brew Stats, SheppyBrew Stats Q3 2011, 2011 SheppyBrew Stats, 2012 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats).

I've written this before, but (believe it or not), I have had people say they like to read these brewing stats posts.

So here we go:

Breckenridge Pictures

As the 4th was in the middle of the week this year, we decided to delay my wife's birthday get-away until the following weekend.

As usual, we went up to Breckenridge for this. As usual, we had lots of fun.

Here are some pictures ...

We headed up the gondolas to the Peak 8 Fun Park. We didn't really do much up there except walk around. The free gondola ride was fun, though.

Kegging Summer Lovin' #HomeBrew

I kegged up my Summer Lovin' American Wheat last night. I also had enough to fill a two liter growler in addition to the keg.

As you can see from the pictures below, it came out a pale gold color. The sample glass was slightly hazy.

The flavor was a delicate, clean wheat cracker taste with a touch of orange and a very slight amount of coriander (probably slight enough that I would not say it had any if I didn't know what I had put in it).

The beer finished with a gravity of 1.007, which makes it just over a 5% ABV beer. I think this is a perfect amount of alcohol for this beer.

July 4 Pictures

Usually, we are up in the mountains for the 4th of July. We try to make a long weekend of it with the Beer Model's birthday being on the 3rd. With the 4th being a Wednesday this year, and all the vacation I have to use up to see my wife's family, we stayed at home this year.

We did head out to Golden to wander around for their community celebration. Here are some pictures.

Sheppy's Rotisserie Chicken

Last October, Connor and I picked out and purchased a new grill. You may have seen part of the grill on a couple of beer pictures on this blog (like here and here and here). It is bigger and much nicer than my old grill, and I am glad we got it. One cool thing about this grill is that it has a rotisserie attachment and motor.

I didn't use the rotisserie for quite awhile. It was April when Connor finally got me to try it.

Sorry. I lied

Early yesterday, I prematurely announced that this blog's "page view" streak was over.

I was wrong. Yesterday turned out to be a very active Saturday and before the end of the day, June had 23 more "page views" than May.

I should have waited. I apologize.

I also listed Sheppy's Beer Can Chicken as the #7 most viewed page of the month. By the end of the day, it was up to #2 for the month.

A big part of the reason I got the extra Saturday traffic is that I posted a question on the Mr. Beer forum:

Blogging in June 2012

Speaking of Beer Can Chicken .... well, ok we weren't, but I thought maybe we should.

But first ... since May of last year, every month blog has had more "page views" than any other month in the history of this blog.

As I write this, it looks like this blog's streak of record-breaking months is going to stop with June. The number of page views don't look like they will get over May's total. Today is the last day of the month and weekends never get a whole lot of traffic here. It is close enough that had this been a weekday, I would feel more confident. But I think the streak will be over.

It was a good run. It looks like June will still be #2 all-time and had this been a 31 day month, it would easily get to the top spot even with this last couple days being weekend days.

Firestone Walker Union Jack

As I shared just a few days ago, I have moved on to Zymurgy's 2012 Best Beers in America list from the 2011 version of the list.

There were only 7 beers on the list that I have not tried, and amazingly enough, all except one are theoretically available here in Colorado.

A week ago Wednesday after working out, I stopped by my liquor store and found #11-Firestone Walker Union Jack and #16-Firestone Walker Double Jack.

I am pretty sure that Firestone Walker has been distributing to Colorado for less than a year, so it is nice for me that they appeared on the list this year (as opposed to last year or the year before when I would have had more trouble getting some).

Echo Lake Summer Pictures

This past weekend, we went up to Echo Lake to escape the Denver heat and wander around a bit.

I've posted pictures of my family around Echo Lake a few times on this blog. As far as I remember, the only other pictures have been during the winter (like this and this)

Here are some summer pictures for your enjoyment:

The kids in front of the lake

Brewing up some Summer Lovin'

I brewed one of my wife's favorite beers today.

SheppyBrew's Summer Lovin' Wheat was first made last year because my Beer Model (aka my wife), wanted to brew a crisp and refreshing summer wheat beer (see Beer Model Brew Day). It turned out as designed, and my wife really liked having it on tap until her family came to visit and wiped it out (see Helpful #HomeBrew Thieves).

It really was a nice summer beer to have around, and the Beer Model has mentioned a few times that she would like me to brew it again.

And, so I did.

Kegged the Cheap Bastard

This morning, I kegged my Cheap Bastard American Mild Ale. (see Brewing Cheap Bastard).

It finished with a 1.011 specific gravity, which makes it a 3.7% ABV beer. I am pretty sure this is the lowest alcohol beer that I have ever brewed. It is certainly the only time I have intended to brew something this low in alcohol.

It is also the least expensive beer I've ever created. Well, technically some of my Mr. Beer batches with the free ingredients cost me less to make, but this is much cheaper than what I should have paid for those.

I've been thinking about making this beer for some time, and I am looking forward to having it on tap.

Kegging and Bottling Wetta Berry

Tonight, I finally kegged up my Raspberry Wetta Berry "beer".

I blogged about brewing it with Wetta Berry Mr. Beer Batch.

I blogged about adding raspberry puree to it with Raspberry Wetta Berry.

I didn't take an original gravity reading, but based on other Mr. Beer batches, I figure it was about 1.045. It finished at about 1.010. This means that without the raspberry puree, the ABV would have been right around 4.4%. The raspberry puree doesn't add much sugar, so this is almost certainly under 5%. I would guess around 4.7% ABV.

Tonight, I mixed in 4.5 ounces of sugar into the keg and bottled 6 liter bottles, 3 bombers, and 4 12-ounce bottles. The rest (about half I would say) stayed in the keg.

2012 Best Beers in America

So, Zymurgy's 2012 Best Beers in America list just came out.

If you follow this blog at all, you know that for the past two years, I have been seeking out and writing about beers on previous versions of this list (see my Zymurgy BBIA label for the blog posts I have done). In fact, my last blog post was Sam Adams Noble Pils (tied for #20 on the 2011 list).

Now that the new list is out, I am done with 2011. I have tried 42 of the top 52 beers there. Now it is time to start trying to get through the 2012 list. Of course, lots of the same beers are on the 2012 list that were on 2010's and 2011's, so I have a pretty good head start.

Pliny the Elder is #1 for the 4th time in a row. You may remember that I liked Pliny (see Pliny the Elder), but did not really consider it in such high regard that I would call it the best beer in America. Obviously, this is a very subjective list.

Sam Adams Noble Pils

It has been awhile since I have had a beer from my list. In fact the last one was Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA back in March. Recently, though, I grabbed Sam Adams Noble Pils in the liquor store. I had one a couple weeks ago.

Noble Pils is tied for #20 on my Zymury's 2011 list of the best beers in America. I have to say I like it much better than many of the beers ranked higher on the list.

The Sam Adams website says Noble Pils is a traditional Bohemian Pilsner brewed with 5 Noble hops. When I first targeted this beer on my list, it was a spring seasonal, but I believe it is now a year-round beer.

It is very good with a distinct, unique (or at least I think it is unique) hop character in both the flavor and aroma.

Still More @Untappd Badges 4

I've been sharing the badges that I've earned on Untappd (see First Month of Untappd and Running for Mayor @BallyFitness , and Some more Badges @Untappd , and Still More @Untappd Badges), and Still More @Untappd Badges 2 and Still More @Untappd Badges 3. Here are some more:

Sheppy's Beer Can Chicken

This past weekend, for the first time, I made beer can chicken on my grill. It turned out awesome. I loved it.

This is only the 2nd time I have done a whole chicken on my grill. My "new" grill (got it back in October, so it is not really all that new) has a rotisserie motor and spit rod, which I have used once. This beer can chicken blew away the rotisserie chicken that I made before.

What, you may ask, is beer can chicken?

Well, here are the basics:

1. Drink half a can of beer.
2. Stick the remaining half can of beer up a chicken's butt
3. Cook the chicken on the grill

Now, as you may imagine, there are tons of variations on just how you prepare the chicken. If you google Beer Can Chicken Recipes, you will get more ideas than you can ever actually make. At least, I will never go through and try them all.

Brewing Cheap Bastard

Back in the fall, I bribed my coworkers with beer. I told them that whoever donated to the 2nd Wind Fund of Metro Denver would receive some Stouticus and some of another yet-to-be-conceived beer (which ended up being HopToberfest). I got a fair number of people who responded by donating, which was awesome.

As I was distributing to the kind-hearted generous souls who were nice enough to help me out, I got a few comments like "Oh! I meant to donate, but just forgot" or (from one guy whose wife also works there) "Didn't we donate? Oh [my wife] was supposed to. Are you sure?"

One honest person told me that he would have liked to have donated, but was a lazy bastard, and just didn't do it.

Sand Dune Pictures

As you may have surmised from some of my recent blog posts, last weekend, we went camping with a group of people to the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

The Great Sand Dunes are always fun. My family spent a weekend in the park's campground last year, and had a blast (see Laser Camping in the Salt, Videos from Laser Camping in the Salt, and Guitar Lady Goofy Kid) . I especially suggest going back and looking at Videos from Laser Camping in the Salt as it features some pretty cool videos of sledding down sand dunes.

One cool thing about the dunes is a shallow, wide creek at the base of the dunes. It dries up in the summer, and so last year we didn't get to see it (or play in it). This year since it was earlier in the year, the creek was still around, making the whole experience even more fun.

Here are some pictures of this year's camping trip to the Great Sand Dunes National Park:

Killing the Glutens

As you may remember, my hot beautiful SheppyBrew Beer Model brewed up a batch of beer about a month ago (see Brewing the Laser Salt). We thought it would be fun to bring a keg with us to the Great Sand Dunes National Park where we had been invited to join a bunch of people at one of the group camp sites.

We were invited by our gluten-sensitive friend "Gretchen" whom I have mentioned quite a bit on this blog when writing about my Gluten Free brewing. She is also the person for whom I brewed Free the Glutens! APA.

May 2012 Blogging

It was May 2011 that this blog started its current trend of record-breaking "page views" every month. May 2012 continued the streak. I was pretty excited back in the blog post Record Breaking! Now that month's 1383 page views seems pathetically small.

May started out real active on the page views and slowed down a bit at the end, but it was still enough to carry.

This month, the majority of the most viewed pages are actually written this month. I suppose you would think this makes sense, but it is not usually the case.

Father and Son Backpacking trip Part 2

It is now time to continue the story of SheppyQuest Lite and Father and Son Backpacking trip Part 1.

When we last left you, the brave young adventurer and his timid frightened father had camped in a random spot just off a forest service road on the way to the Wigwam Creek trail head.

We woke up Saturday morning and had some granola bars for breakfast. We packed up our camp and continued along the road toward the trail head.

We got to the trail head around 9AM. I have never seen the parking lot here so crowded.

At the trail head

We got a photo of my son at the trail head. Not sure where the smoke haze was coming from. It was a bummer for scenery pictures.

Raspberry Wetta Berry

Last Friday while waiting to begin SheppyQuest Lite with my son, I brewed up a quick double batch of that last of my Mr. Beer HME / UME combos (see Wetta Berry Mr. Beer Batch).

This afternoon, I stopped by my LHBS and picked up some raspberry puree. Then, tonight while the kids were reading to me, I transferred the beer from the two Mr. Beer fermentors onto the puree.

I think perhaps the three pound can of raspberry puree is a bit much for this amount of beer. The color came out ruby red. It reminded me a bunch of the color of New Belgium's Frambozen. Perhaps you remember (although you probably don't watch my blog closely enough to have even read it), In Frambozen I wrote:

"It does have an amazing ruby red color that I would love to recreate in one of my beers."

It looks like now I have recreated the color. I suppose this means the raspberry flavor will be too much for me. I might end up giving away most of this beer.

I'll be letting this sit on the raspberries for another couple of weeks. I will most likely let you know how the Beer Model and I like it.

Father and Son Backpacking trip Part 1

As you may remember from yesterday, my son and I were backpacking this weekend in the Lost Creek Wilderness area. It was not a very long trip, but since it was his first time, we didn't want to over-do it.

Friday afternoon, I picked Scooter up from school. I had to take him back home because one of us had forgotten something. Weird, because it is something I (... er ... I mean one of us) NEVER forget(s) to take with me (... er... I mean us?)

He was excited. I was excited. It was an excited couple guys heading off to the wilderness.

Since it would be pretty late by the time we got to the trail - head, our plan was always to camp somewhere along the way out of the mini-van on Friday night. My intention was to try to stay in Kelsey Campground, which is an actual drive-in campground along the way. We got there and all the sites had been reserved for that night. This is weird because I am sure that the reservation site says there are supposed to be two "first come first serve" campsites there. So, we had to go on.

This got Connor even more excited. It meant that we would be finding a spot along one of the Pike National Forest service roads and just setting up the tent. My wife and I used to do this often, but since we've had kids we have camped in "official" camp-grounds. This whole drive-and-hope-you-can-find-a-spot-on-the side-of-the-road thing was new to him.

SheppyQuest Lite

Last year while we were camping, my youngest son surprised me by saying he wished he could go back-packing.

I like to think we are an outdoorsy (is that really a word? My spell check seems to think it is) family. Both our children started camping before they could walk (I even have online pictures ... follow this link for some of Connor's) and we go on more camping trips every year than most other families I know. The kids always have fun when we camp.

Sometimes (quite often, actually), though, my kids complain about hiking or biking on weekends we are home. If it were up to me, we would go on a hike or bike ride or do something active outside every weekend, but too often my kids tell me they would rather stay at home and play wii.

So, the fact that I have to force the kids to do something active outside made me think that getting my kids to back-pack would be an uphill battle. This is why it surprised me when Connor said he wanted to go back-packing.

Wetta Berry Mr. Beer Batch

I brewed today.

I have had some cans of Mr. Beer HME and UME (hopped malt extract and unhopped malt extract) for quite some time. In fact I am pretty sure I have not bought my own since Peter from Mr. Beer gave me some after the 2010 GABF. A couple of the "use by" dates on these cans are coming up.

So, today I had enough free time to whip up a batch of beer (a Mr. Beer batch, not a "real" batch) and decided to go ahead and use up these cans of extract.

It has been a LONG time since I've done a straight Mr. Beer batch of beer, but decided I didn't want to go through the effort of coming up with anything, so my recipe is simple.

SheppyBrew and the Sour Mash

I have mentioned a couple of times on this blog that SheppyBrew Brewery wants to brew a sour beer (most recently in 2012 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats). Unfortunately, I'm not quite as confident as Scott, my buddy at SNB Brewing with his Sour Ale Project. I just don't feel ready to introduce souring bugs into my fermentation process yet.

So, my solution is to try a sour mash.

Breast Flashing Cider

We are pretty close to the one year anniversary of my famous Cider Drinking and Breast Flashing blog post. Remember that?

Good times.

Today I found a bottle of the cider in one of my beer fridges, and decided to drink it as my New Brew Thursday drink (see just about any of my untappd articles if you need to know what that means).

The cider is still not as good as my beers, but it is not too bad, and I think people who drink hard cider might like it. Maybe.

I am pretty sure this is the last bottle of my "Breast Flashing Cider". I should probably make some more.

This year, as far as I know, no drunk female hockey fans have pulled out breasts and flashed them to any opposing teams' players in or out of the penalty box. Of course the Canucks were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs so maybe the crazy Vancouver chicks just did not have the chance to get to it.

Promiscuous drinker

Home-brew craft beer

I drink promiscuously.

Yes, I am pretty slutty about my beer selection.

When it comes to drinking beer, I have practically zero brand loyalty. I do not even stick to similar styles of beer. My favorite thing to order at brewery tasting rooms is the sampler platter so I can try small amounts of many beers. Quite often, I'll never see those beers again. I won't even call them the next day to let them know that it is over between us.

If I am having a beer when out to dinner, I always attempt to score something that I have never had before.

My untappd profile confirms this. Since I have started checking beers into untappd, I have tried 130 different beers.

Weekend Sans Kids

I have mentioned before on this blog that our family has a kid-swapping arrangement with another family. They have two boys who are each within a couple of weeks in age as our two boys. Every couple months or so, our families take turns taking all four boys for a weekend.

This past weekend was their turn to take all four boys. This made us sans-kids for the weekend.

Of course, if you have read this blog over the past couple of days, you know that one of the things we did was brew some beer (see Brewing the Laser Salt).

But we also did some other stuff.

For quite some time, I've been wanting to check out Dad and Dude's Breweria. Dad and Dude's is a little brewery / pizzeria close to where I work. I've heard really good things about their pizza crust, which they make from spent grain from their brewery.

Friday, I dragged my wife to the Breweria, and we were not disappointed.

Still More @Untappd Badges 3

I've been sharing the badges that I've earned on Untappd (see First Month of Untappd and Running for Mayor @BallyFitness , and Some more Badges @Untappd , and Still More @Untappd Badges), and Still More @Untappd Badges 2. Here are some more:

Brewing the Laser Salt

We did it. The Brew Model and I brewed up the Laser Salt Sandy Blonde Ale, just like I told you we would (see Laser Salt and The Beer Model and Laser Salt and The Beer Model Part 2 ).

Yesterday, of course, was American Homebrewers Association's BIG BREW DAY. This has traditionally been an excuse to get the Beer Model brewing. Coincidentally, this was also a weekend that our kids were spending with the family we trade weekends with.

It is nice not having to do everything on the brew day. I still have to do the lifting of the heavy hot water, and for some reason, I always get stuck with the clean-up, but at least I didn't have to do everything.

Laser Salt and the Beer Model Part 2

Watch this video of my wife sliding down a sand dune:

When my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) saw this video she asked me, "how did you know I would scream?"

I just gave her a look and said "I just knew". We have been married a long time.

So, when we last left you in part 1 of Laser Salt and the Beer Model, We had to narrow down "not too hoppy and not too dark" to an actual style of beer. We needed to do this so that we could develop a recipe. We needed the recipe to buy ingredients. We need ingredients to brew the beer.

There were a couple more requirements.

Laser Salt and The Beer Model

"Not too hoppy and not too dark".

She isn't just a gorgeous face and hot body. The SheppyBrew Beer Model also brews beer once and a while. She, of course, helped me brew the first batch of 15 Year Amber Ale. I helped her brew a batch one of her favorite beers, Summer Lovin' American Wheat. (see Beer Model Brew Day).

Both those beers turned out fantastic, so obviously she is a great brewer. And, let's be honest, the pictures on this blog of her brewing are much more pleasant to view than ones of the usual SheppyBrew Brew Master. She adds some tasteful class to the whole SheppyBrew Brewery persona. I am quite certain our sales would be practically nothing without her as our Beer Model and part time brewer.

April 2012 Blogging

Happy May Day.

It was extremely close, but April again broke the number of page views on this blog. April only beat March by 2 page views.

There was a slow start to page views in April. Until the very end I didn't think there was any chance of breaking the record again. It took a real strong last few days to make it. And, as I mentioned, the record was only broken by 2 page views.

Here are the most viewed posts over the past month:

Weekend Getaway

Perhaps you recall that our little yellow duck courageously fought his way to a 12th place finish in the 2011 Breckenridge Duck Race. Well, he did. (see Pictures from the 2011 Breckenridge Duck Races). When you are talking thousands of ducks, 12th place is pretty impressive.

It is in fact impressive enough that it earned the Colorado Shepards a prize.

That little yellow ducky won a gift-certificate to Beaver Run, which is a resort in Breckenridge. The amount on the gift-certificate was enough to cover one night in a two-bedroom suite during a non-peak time of year (it would have covered about half a night during ski season).

My wonderful wife figured out that based on everything else we have going, this weekend was when we would have to use this.

So, we headed up to Breckenridge this weekend.

Jalapeños in the Popcorn

Well, I got my second article posted on the HomeBrew Academy's blog. Jalapeños in the Popcorn is up there right now. Check it out and leave a comment. It is about adding jalapeños and tasting SheppyBrew's Gringo Cerveza Jalapeño Ale.

It is, of course, my follow up to the wildly popular article Popcorn Jalapeño Cream Ale . I can tell it was wildly popular because of the large number of facebook shares and tweets shown there on the post.

The new article has not generated nearly as much "buzz". Not sure why. I suppose everyone got everything they wanted out of the first article. The concept of popcorn in the mash with jalapeño flavoring is apparently old, worn out news.

Doesn't matter. I enjoy the beer.

TommyHawk Brewday

Sunday, I brewed my Tommy Hawk APA.

Tommy Hawk is actually more in the American IPA range, but it started out as an APA, and I just decided to keep the name as a bit of a reminder as to where this beer came from. Tommy Hawk is one of the beers that started out as a Mr. Beer recipe, got upgraded to a partial mash, and then upgraded again to all-grain. This is my 5th time brewing Tommy Hawk, although it is obviously much different now than batch 1 was.

It is essentially the same recipe as batch 4, except that I am using the hops a little differently. This time, rather than a traditional bittering addition at 60 minutes, I decided to try first wort hopping (FWH). Basically that just means that as I drain the wort from my mash tun, the hops are added and steep through the steeping process. Theoretically, this give a more smooth, less harsh bitterness with more flavor than a traditional bittering addition.

Connor's Ride to the Cowboy Playground

Since I reported that the youngest Sheppy clone had finally decided to learn how to ride his bike (see Connor the Biker), he has ridden a bunch. I love to come home from work and have my little boy ask me to go riding with him, and he does it a bunch.

So far, we have just been on the bike trails around our neighborhood. These are great for a quick ride between the time I get home and the time dinner is ready, but they don't make for the most exciting ride in the world. Last weekend, we took a "trip" to a local playground, but that really was not enough to be consider "out of the neighborhood".

Saturday, we decided to ride our bikes to "The Cowboy Playground". I actually have a post on this blog about another time we rode there (see Cowboy Playground). It is still true that I don't really know how to drive to this park. I've only ever been there by biking.

Pompously Apricot

The BlackHawks lost last night. This does not make me happy. All four games so far  went to overtime. It is possible that they come back to win the series, but not likely.  I sure hope they do, because at this point I cannot think of another hockey team I can endorse this year.

Any team that is as offensively gifted as the BlackHawks are but have such a pathetic power-play does not deserve to win a championship. Besides as a Hawks fan, I cannot be too greedy. I have already seen my once-every-50-years Stanley Cup.

Last night I needed a "New Brew Thursday" beer. As I didn't have any and really did not want to go out and buy one, I decided to try blending the two beers that are currently in my keggerator.

Blending, of course, is a technique a fair number of commercial breweries use. For the most part it is done with barrel aged and/or sour beers as a way to add consistency to the final product year after year. They can also use it to come up with new beer flavors that would be difficult to achieve with one beer.

New Belgium, for instance has the sour base of La Folie (they call this base something, but I cannot think of the name they give it). They blend it with different styles to get most of the sours in their "Lips of Faith" series of beers.

2012 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

So, here at the SheppyBrew home-brewery we are at the end of another quarter. This means that it is time again for me to share some more of my brewing stats (see SheppyBrew 2009 Stats, 1st Quarter Stats, 2nd Quarter Stats, 3rd Quarter Stats, SheppyBrew 2010 Stats, 1st Quarter Brewing Stats, 2nd Quarter Brew Stats, SheppyBrew Stats Q3 2011, 2011 SheppyBrew Stats).

Believe it or not, I have had people say they like to read these brewing stats posts.

So...

@NewBelgium Prickly Passion Saison

At some point in the not-too-distant past I procured a 22 oz bottle of New Belgium's Prickly Passion Saison. It has been sitting in one of my beer fridges for quite awhile and I sort of forgot about it. A few days ago, while looking through my beer inventory I discovered the bomber and thought, "wow, I should drink that with Easter dinner." And so, when it was almost time for Easter dinner, I popped it open and poured it into my New Belgium globe glass.

It is, of course one of the New Belgium "Lips of Faith" series of beers. It does not disappoint.

It pours golden amber in color with a beautiful, thick just-barely-off-white head. It is nicely carbonated, almost sparkling in its effervescence.

Pompously Illegitimate vs Arrogant Bastard

About the time that I kegged up my Pompously Illegitimate Red Ale (PIRA for short), I picked up a bomber of Stone's Arrogant Bastard (AB for short) knowing that eventually I would like to compare the two beers. Of course if you are new to this blog (or were just not paying attention), you may not know that PIRA is the SheppyBrew Brewery's tribute brew to AB and the Brewing Network's "Can You Brew It" (CYBI) attempt to clone the beer. You can read a bunch about this on this blog by reading through the labels "Arrogant Bastard" and "Pompously Illegitimate".

Today, I popped open the bomber of AB and poured myself a glass of PIRA.

Session Beers

Going through my Google Reader this morning reminded me that tomorrow is Session Beer Day. Coincidentally, it is also National Beer Day.

If you check-in a beer under 4.5% ABV on untappd tomorrow, you will earn yourself not only a beautiful Session Beer Day 2012 badge, but also a National Beer Day badge. Two for the price of one.

Awesome.

Connor the Biker

One thing that frustrated me as a father has been that my youngest boy had no real interest in learning to ride his bike.

I actually taught him to ride almost two years ago when he was 5. If I held the back of his bike and gave him a little push, he could ride on his own for as long as he wanted. I had to run behind and help him stop, though. Actually, the whole balancing part took way less than a day and I figured he would be riding very quickly.

Then, for some inexplicable reason, he decided he was done with his bike. For almost two years every couple weeks I would ask him if he would like to finish learning. His answer was always no. I kept trying to explain that it would take very little work for him to learn to start and stop.

I think he was afraid he would fail. He did not trust me when I told him that he was SOOOOOO close and that he would be able to do it very quickly.

FINALLY this past weekend, I decided that I was done asking him and forced him to try (by bribing him with the promise of playing WII and watching TV).

Still More @Untappd Badges 2

I've been sharing the badges that I've earned on Untappd (see First Month of Untappd and Running for Mayor @BallyFitness , and Some more Badges @Untappd , and Still More @Untappd Badges). Here are some more:

March 2012 Blogging

Does it seem to you that 2012 is just flying by? It does to me.

March broke the page view record for my little blog again. I am not sure it would have happened without the boost from my article on The HomeBrew Academy's blog.

Here is the list of the most viewed posts over the past 30 days: