Brewing some Eric's Red (2016)

If you've followed this blog for awhile, you know that I started my brewing hobby with a Mr. Beer Kit that I got as a Christmas Gift from my sister.

I was a Mr. Beer Brewer for a long time. In fact, I still have and use a Mr. Beer Little Brown Keg (LBK) from time to time.

In fact, I have my "X-Mas Graff" fermenting right now in the LBK. I should bottle that soon.

In mid-February of my first year of brewing (way back in 2009) ... I came up with a "recipe" I called "Eric's Red".

It was a can of Hopped Malt Extract. A can of Unhopped Malt Extract. Some corn syrup and water. Oh ... and that awesome Mr. Beer Yeast.

That was the recipe.

At the time I was really into Amber Beers. And I loved this beer. Loved it. I considered it a beer worthy to be my "Breweries" Signature Beer.

S is for Spangalang Brewery

It is time for another post in my A to Z Denver Breweries series.

In case you don't know ...

Back in early 2015, I composed a list Denver Breweries that I had not visited (see Denver Breweries II). As I was composing the list, I realized that most of the letters in the alphabet were covered by the first letters in these brewery names.

I started with A ... A is for Alpine Dog Brewing Company

If I counted right, there are currently a total of  18, all of which you can review by looking at Sheppy's Blog: A to Z.

The most recent one was R ... R is for Ratio Beer Works.

If you know your alphabet (or read the title) you probably can figure out that the letter S is up next.

... And I picked another "River North" Brewery.

S is for Spangalang Brewery

Random Hiking Pictures

Well ... recently, this blog has been dominated by the A to Z Series of Denver Breweries.

I thought you'd like a break from that. I also thought I should demonstrate that I do more than to do breweries and drink ...

Here are some recent pictures from various hikes ...

Enjoy ...

R is for Ratio Beer Works

As I mentioned in O is for Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company, I had already visited my "R" brewery before writing up OMF.

Actually, I visited "R" the same night as "O".

Let me step back a little in case you are new to this and wondering what the heck I'm talking about.

You see ... Back in early 2015, I composed a list Denver Breweries that I had not visited (see Denver Breweries II). As I was composing the list, I realized that most of the letters in the alphabet were covered by the first letters in these brewery names.

I started with A ... A is for Alpine Dog Brewing Company

I've done things like ... B is for Baere Brewing Company; G is for Great Frontier Brewing; and L is for Little Machine Beer.

You can read every single one (including this one) at  Sheppy's Blog: A to Z.

And so here we go ...

R is for Ratio Beer Works

Q is for Queen Bee Brews

Q.

Did you know that there are no Breweries anywhere close to Denver that start with the letter Q?

If you've been following this blog at all, you know I've been working my way down the alphabet in a quest to visit more of the little local breweries in the area.

I started with A ... A is for Alpine Dog Brewing Company

I've made my way through to P ... you can see a sampling at D is for Draw, Boggy; I is for IronWorks Brewery and Pub; M is for Mockery Brewing Company.

You can go back and see them all (including this one) by going to  Sheppy's Blog: A to Z.

Most recently, I hit P is for Pints Pub

No breweries start with the letter Q. I've known from the beginning that Q would be a challenge.

P is for Pints Pub

As I mentioned in O is for Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company, I had already visited my "P" brewery before doing OMF.

Let me step back a little in case you are new to this and wondering what the heck I'm talking about.

You see ... Back in early 2015, I composed a list Denver Breweries that I had not visited (see Denver Breweries II). As I was composing the list, I realized that most of the letters in the alphabet were covered by the first letters in these brewery names.

I started with A ... A is for Alpine Dog Brewing Company

I've done F is for Factotum Brewhouse; J is for JoyRide Brewing Company; and M is for Mockery Brewing Company. In fact, I've done one for every letter up to and including  O is for Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company.

You can read every single one (including this one) at  Sheppy's Blog: A to Z.

And now .. I am pleased to announce ...

P is for Pints Pub

O is for Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company

It has been a couple weeks since I posted N is for New Terrain Brewing Company.

It is time for another post in my A to Z Denver Breweries series.

In case you don't know ...

Back in early 2015, I composed a list Denver Breweries that I had not visited (see Denver Breweries II). As I was composing the list, I realized that most of the letters in the alphabet were covered by the first letters in these brewery names.

I started with A ... A is for Alpine Dog Brewing Company

I did C is for Comrade Brewing Company; H is for Hogshead Brewery; K is for Kokopelli Beer Company.

There are currently a total of  15, all of which you can review by looking at Sheppy's Blog: A to Z.

The most recent one was N ... N is for New Terrain Brewing Company.

If you know your alphabet (or read the title) you probably can figure out that the letter O is up next.

O is for Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company

My 1000th Blog Post

Hey hey hey ...

You are reading this blog's 1000th blog post. Can you believe it?

My first blog post was on June 27th, 2005 (see Blogging).

I got to 500 on February 5th, 2012.

And now, here I am at 1000.

I don't know of many personal blogs like this one that last this long.

At the beginning, I didn't really know what I was going to write about. Now I've settled into this being mostly a beer blog and most of those articles being about my adventures at my SheppyBrew Home Brewery. But, I've managed to sprinkle in other topics from time to time.

Brewing Chelsea Dagger Again

Remember Chelsea Dagger?

Chelsea Dagger is the Fratellis song that gets played whenever the Blackhawks score a goal or win a game.

It is also a SheppyBrew Beer that I brewed after the Blackhawks won their 3rd Stanley Cup in 6 years.

Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager

It was one of those beers that really surprised me how much I loved it. The cluster hops really taste good in the light bodied lager.

X-Mas Graff

I didn't share this at the time, but when I brewed my 2016 X-Mas Ale (see I brewed a peppermint (X-Mas) ale) ... I had a little too much for the fermentor and moved about 3/4 of a gallon to a glass jug and fermented it.

It has been sitting around since then waiting for me to make Graf (or is it Graff?)

What is Graf (or maybe it is Graff)?

According to the Dark Tower Wiki ...

Graf is a strong hard cider or apple-based beer widely consumed in In-World. The specifics of the beverage are not mentioned (except to say that some varieties of graf are weak while others are eye-wateringly strong).

N is for New Terrain Brewing Company

It has been a little over a month since I posted M is for Mockery Brewing Company.

It is time for another post in my A to Z Denver Breweries series.

In case you don't know ...

Back in early 2015, I composed a list Denver Breweries that I had not visited (see Denver Breweries II). As I was composing the list, I realized that most of the letters in the alphabet were covered by the first letters in these brewery names.

I started with A ... A is for Alpine Dog Brewing Company

The most recent one was M ... M is for Mockery Brewing Company.

There are 9 in between which you can review by looking at Sheppy's Blog: A to Z.

If you know your alphabet (or read the title) you probably can figure out that the letter N is up next.

N is for New Terrain Brewing Company

New Terrain didn't even exist when I put together the list on Denver Breweries II.

Cubs Win! Munich Dunkel

So, if you follow this blog at all, you have probably picked up that I am a Chicago Blackhawks and Bears fan.

You picked that up ... right?

I'm a Blackhawks and Bears fan because I lived in the North Suburbs of Chicago-Land when I was in Jr. High and High School. My parents still live over there.

I'm not really that much of a baseball fan, but I do enjoy going to games. And I do usually watch parts of the MLB Playoffs and World Series.

And if I were to say I'm a fan of any baseball team, it would probably be the Cubs (unless and until the Rockies ever do anything that makes me think they might someday have some sort of chance to make the playoffs).

And this year (as I hope you know), the Chicago Cubs had a very good year.

Really really good.

"Alexa ... Open Homebrew"

A couple of weeks ago I received an Amazon Echo.

I have been surprised how many people have no clue what an Amazon Echo is ... even when I mention the Alec Baldwin series of commercials for "Alexa".

In case you need to refresh your memory ...

I think these are well-done. They amuse me.

M is for Mockery Brewing Company

I has only been about a week since I posted L is for Little Machine Beer.

Not bad!

This blog post marks the shortest turn-around between articles in my A to Z Denver Breweries series.

What is this series of A to Z Denver Breweries? you ask?

Well ... as a reminder ...

Back in early 2015, I composed a list Denver Breweries that I had not visited (see Denver Breweries II). As I was composing the list, I realized that most of the letters in the alphabet were covered by the first letters in these brewery names.

I started with A ... A is for Alpine Dog Brewing Company

The most recent one was L ... L is for Little Machine Beer.

There are 8 in between which you can review by looking at Sheppy's Blog: A to Z.

If you know your alphabet, you probably can figure out that the letter M is up next.

M is for Mockery Brewing Company

2016 #GABF Members Only

Well... if you read my post yesterday (see 2016 #GABF Friday Night), you know that the SheppyBrew Beer Model and I were planning on attending GABF again for the Members' Only Saturday afternoon session of GABF.

And indeed we did.

Again, we got in very fast. Much faster than any previous Saturday Sessions we've ever been to.

It was awesome.

2016 #GABF Friday Night

Well ... as you probably know, last night was the Friday Session of the Great American Beer Fest.

As per tradition, the SheppyBrew Beer Model and I attended.

As always, there was lots of beer. And lots of fun. And interesting sites.

Following are some of the pictures from last night ...

Enjoy ...

L is for Little Machine Beer

Well ... I guess I'm doing a little better this time on my A to Z Denver Breweries series.

Early last month I posted K is for Kokopelli Beer Company, and now I'm "already" doing L.

I still need to improve my timeliness or I'll never get through the alphabet.

As a reminder ... in regards to my A to Z Denver Breweries series .....

Back in early 2015, I composed a list Denver Breweries that I had not visited (see Denver Breweries II). As I was composing the list, I realized that most of the letters in the alphabet were covered by the first letters in these brewery names.

I started with A ... A is for Alpine Dog Brewing Company

and now I am up to L.

L is for Little Machine Beer

I brewed a peppermint (X-Mas) ale

Not too long ago, I asked the beautiful SheppyBrew Beer Model what sort of  X-Mas Ale I should make this year.

Her favorite of the X-Mas Ales so far was the 2012 version, which just happened to have peppermint flavoring in it. The peppermint with the winter warmer made the beer sort of a chocolate candy cane.

And, when I asked, she told me this again.

So, I decided to make the 2016 X-Mas Ale with peppermint flavor.

Of course, peppermint is one of those flavors you have to be careful with. Too much is ... well too much. Too little is ok, but if you are making a peppermint beer, you want people to be able to tell you put peppermint in it.

Luckily, I've had experience with peppermint. I simply copied the amount I used in 2012.

The base beer is different than any X-Mas Ale so far. Last year, I started adjusting the recipe to include less crystal malt and replacing it with dark Munich malt. My 2016 recipe has more Munich than 2015. It is also designed to be significantly lower in alcohol.

2016 Falling Leaves Autumn Saison

This past Sunday, I brewed my Falling Leaves Autumn Saison.

Falling Leaves is, of course, the Autumn version of my Seasonal Saisons series of beers.

The 2016 recipe is exactly like last years, except last year I did a protein rest in the mash whereas this year I didn't.

The SheppyBrew Autumn Saison is designed to be darker in color than the Spring and Summer Saisons, but not as dark as the black Winter Saison.

It gets most of its color from a Dark Munich malt from Gambrinus Malting Corporation. The malt flavor is heavily Munich breadiness, but it does have the distinct French Saison taste from the yeast and lots of late Saaz hops.

Diamond Lake Trail

Yesterday, the Sheppy Family headed up to Nederland Colorado for a hike.

Winter is beginning to show its face in the high country, but the hike wasn't too terribly cold.

Here are some photos from the hike...

2016 Q3 SheppyBrew 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:http://blog.ericshepard.com/search/label/Brew%20Stats .

Q3 of 2016 at the SheppyBrew Brewery, we only brewed one batch of beer.

One.

Only one.

• Kucumber Kölsch

This is the fewest batches of beer I've brewed in a calendar quarter since I started home brewing.

2016 Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale

I brewed Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale this past Sunday.

Why would I brew a Pumpkin Ale? Well ... the reason I brew one is that the SheppyBrew Beer Model likes Pumpkin Spice Beers. 

.... Duh! ...

I started early in the morning by mashing the base-beer grains.

I had to run to the grocery store to pick up pumpkin.

Pike's Peak Pictures

We drove up Pike's Peak on Saturday.

Here are some pictures ...

Kucumbering the Kölsch

 So ... remember the SheppyBrew Kucumber Kölsch?

I brewed it in July and shared the brew day right here on this blog. (see Kucumber Kölsch)

Of course, when I brewed it ... it had no kucumber in it (or cucumbers either).

You may remember from the brew-day blog post, that I was not sure how much cucumber I should use. I also did not really know if I should peel the cucumbers or not.

I decided on 3 pounds of cucumbers because I found a saison recipe that used 3 pounds.

I decided on leaving the peels on the cucumbers because I wasn't sure cucumber flavor would properly make its way into the beer without the peels.

Brewing Laser Salt

Perhaps you remember the story of "Gretchen" and the things I tried to make a decent "Gluten Free" beer for her.

Eventually, I ended up on White Labs' Clarity Ferm, which is an enzyme designed to eat haze-generating proteins from beer. It has the side effect of breaking down gluten proteins, making beers gluten-free.

The first beer I really tried this with was Laser Salt Sandy Blonde Ale.

I first made Laser Salt in May of 2012 with the intention of bringing it on a group camping trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park. "Gretchen" and another Gluten Sensitive person agreed to be testers of the beer.

Apparently, as advertised, neither test subject reported any reaction to the beer.

They were extremely happy and amazed. "Gretchen" has nick-named Clarity Ferm "The Gluten Killer".

K is for Kokopelli Beer Company

It has been a long time since I've done one of these A to Z Denver Breweries.

I have excuses, but you don't care what they are. They are sort of lame anyway.

I'll try to do better.

What is this series of A to Z Denver Breweries? you ask?

Well ... as a reminder ...

Back in early 2015, I composed a list Denver Breweries that I had not visited (see Denver Breweries II). As I was composing the list, I realized that most of the letters in the alphabet were covered by the first letters in these brewery names.

I started with A ... A is for Alpine Dog Brewing Company

The most recent one was J ... J is for JoyRide Brewing Company

There are 8 in between which you can review by looking at Sheppy's Blog: A to Z.

If you know your alphabet, you probably suspect that the letter K is up next.

K is for Kokopelli Beer Company

Mt Evans Photos

Saturday, the Sheppy boys and I drove up the Mt. Evans highway.

Here are some pictures from the adventure ...

If you've ever been to the top of Mt. Evans, you know that you can drive most of the way. We did ...

Once we got to the top, the views were spectacular.

Kucumber Kölsch

For some reason, The SheppyBrew Beer Model is under the impression that she likes cucumber flavored kölsch.

I suspect it is because she has tasted a cucumber kölsch that she enjoyed. Maybe more than one ... although how many Cucumber Kölsch beers can there be out there?

Anyway ... I was thinking about what to brew. I thought maybe that a Cucumber Kölsch might be fun to try to make. I asked the Beer Model and she said it was a good idea. She liked it much better than the spruce tip beer idea that I was also thinking about.

So ... it seems to me that a Cucumber Kölsch should be pretty simple. Brew a Kölsch. Add Cucumbers. Not very hard. I've already brewed a Kölsch, which was a big success. My local grocery store sells cucumbers. The only question is how many cucumbers should I add?

Lost Park Backpacking Photos

Two weekends ago, we went backpacking in the Lost Creek Wilderness.

We didn't pack in real far ... maybe 3 or 4 miles, but we sure did hike a lot.

It is a beautiful area. My photos don't do it justice. NOTE: some of the pictures I took with my cell phone (which was basically a camera and GPS device for this weekend since we were way out of phone or data range). We also took pictures with a "real" camera.

This post only has the cell phone pictures. I'll post the camera pictures later.

Here are cell phone pictures:

The first night, we drove into Lost Park Campground and set up camp before the trail head.

2016 Q2 SheppyBrew 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: http://blog.ericshepard.com/search/label/Brew%20Stats .

Q2 of 2016 at the SheppyBrew Brewery was fairly busy. I brewed 2 batches in April, 1 in May, and 3 in June.

That is 6 batches for the quarter:

• Mor'du Scottish Ale
• Muggled Pale Ale
• Tortuga Golden Ale
• #WeAreGroot
• Hail Storm Summer Saison
• T.Ra.Sh. Light Mexican Lager

Mor'du Scottish Ale

Finished up Great Cycle Challenge

Well, as you know if you know if you've been following my posts on "The Great Cycle Challenge", I signed up to ride my bike throughout June to raise money for the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

I promised to ride 645 miles over the month of June. As a result, donors pledged $727.08 some of which included a matching gift from various sponsors of the program.

I had to finish early because I visited my in-laws in Nevada for the last few days of the month.

I am glad to say, I got in all my promised miles.

I officially finished the month with 659.1 miles, which is obviously more than the 645 miles I promised.

I am pretty certain that this is the most biking I've done over a month ... probably ever and certainly a lot more than I've done since I was a kid. It was worth the effort.

Thank you everyone who donated. That was awesome of you.

My page is still up for now ... so check it out if you want ...

Eric Shepard's Great Cycle Challenge Page

You can still make donations if you want too.

T.Ra.Sh. Light

I have not shared how my T.Ra.Sh. Light Mexican Lager brew day went.

I brewed it the Sunday before last, Brew day went great. Thanks for asking.

So, you may recall that I have brewed T.Ra.Sh. Mexican Lager a few times before. Stylistically, it was closest to a Vienna Lager, but it probably isn't as dark in color and it is hoppier than you would expect a Vienna.

But still, most of the people who the T.Ra.Sh. Mexican Lager are more light lager type drinkers, and I always thought that I would need a lighter beer for most of those drinkers. Lighter in color. Lighter in body. Lighter in alcohol.

So, the T.Ra.Sh. Light Mexican Lager simply did that. It become a lighter version of T.Ra.Sh.

Weekend Camping and RMNP Photos

Well, as you may remember from yesterday's Weekend Camping and Kayaking Photos, we went camping over Father's Day Weekend.

Day 1 was kayaking ... and I showed you those photos already. (Weekend Camping and Kayaking Photos)

Day 2 was spent in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Here are Day 2 and 3 pictures....

The first part of the day Saturday was spent hiking along the Colorado River ...

Weekend Camping and Kayaking Photos

This past weekend was Fathers' Day Weekend and my kids decided to go camping for the weekend.

With the help of their mother, they reserved us a campsite on Granby Lake. It was an awesome weekend. Perfect weather. Lots of fun activities. Great fun.

Here is the view from our campsite ...

Here is our tent and canopy in the photo to provide context.

Great Cycle Challenge: Halfway Through

Well ... the month of June is half-way done.

Yesterday, the Ides of June, was "Kick Cancer's Butt Day". Every donation made (up to 250,000) to the Great Cycle Challenge was matched by various anonymous donors and sponsors.

Pretty cool, but I wish this would have been announced / implemented sooner. I didn't feel it right to ask people who have already donated to donate again for the double credit. If I would have known it was coming, I could have mentioned it and let people know to hold off donating.

Oh well. I did post to my facebook page that the matching was happening. My total dollar amount did increase a little because of it.

Feel free to go out and look at my Great Cycle Challenge Page to make a donation or just to see how I'm doing.

2016 Hail Storm Summer Saison

I brewed my Hail Storm Summer Saison on Sunday. Technically it isn't Summer, yet, so it is a little early to be brewing it, but it will be Summer by the time I'll be drinking it. It will be nice to have it available early in the season.

This is the third time I brewed this beer.

The recipe this year is the same as it was last year other than hop boil times moving a bit to take into account differences in alpha acids.

Hail Storm, is the summer version of my Seasonal Saisons series of beers. It is fairly hoppy, and its ABV is a bit on the low end of saisons stylistically. It is pretty light in color. Other than the fact that I brew this recipe to be cosummed in Summer, there is nothing really special about it making it a "Summer" saison rather than Winter, Spring, or Autumn.

Week 1: Great Cycle Challenge

Well, I've been doing this "Great Cycle Challenge" thing for a little more than a week, and I've gone a little more than 210 miles for the cause.

Feel free to go out and look at my Great Cycle Challenge Page.

In order to accomplish the 645 miles that I've committed to, I need to average 21.5 miles per day.

After 8 days, I'm averaging a little over 26.5 mile per day, so I am easily on track to complete the goal.

I do need to work a little bit on increasing my cushion between what I've ridden and what I need to do, because I think there will be whole days toward the end of the month where I won't be able to ride at all.

But, that shouldn't be too difficult to accomplish.

I've done some Mountain Bike riding. I've done lots on my "road" bike. I've even done some on the stationary bike at 24 Hour Fitness.

#WeAreGroot Sweet Potato #HomeBrew

At some point in my life, I thought that it would be fun to brew a beer using potatoes as an ingredient.

Not sure why. I just thought it would be an interesting thing to try.

Recently, I got it into my head that really sweet potatoes would be an even better idea.

Not sure why. I just thought it would be an interesting thing to try.

In principle, brewing with potatoes or sweet potatoes isn't much different than brewing with corn, rice, or pumpkins. Starch gets converted into sugar by enzymes on your grain. Sugar gets eaten by yeast. Alcohol is formed.

Day 1: Great Cycle Challenge

Just a couple days ago I mentioned on this blog that I was participating in the Great Cycle Challenge. (see 19 Miles a Day)

The Great Cycle Challenge raises money for the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

At the time, I had committed to riding 560 miles ... almost 19 miles a day.

Since then, I got another pledge, which forced me to increase my goal to 595 miles. I have committed myself to ride 20 miles a day in June.

If you want to make me do even more (or if you just want to check up on to how I'm doing) ... feel free to visit

Eric Shepard's Great Cycle Challenge Page

So, yesterday being June 1, I officially began my challenge month riding by riding my bike to work.

19 Miles a Day

You may have come across this on Facebook or Twitter, but I have signed up for

The Great Cycle Challenge.

Great Cycle Challenge encourages riders across the United States to challenge themselves and set their own personal riding goal throughout June to fight kids' cancer.

I'm not literally fighting cancer by riding a bike, of course. The bike riding is simply a mechanism to ask people to give money to the Children's Cancer Research Fund, which is dedicated to finding a cure for childhood cancer, funding innovative research, family services and education to improve the way families experience cancer treatment and life afterward.

For more about the Children's Cancer Research Fund, follow this link.

If you have some money you want to donate to the cause ... I'd appreciate another pledge. You can donate on ...

Eric Shepard's Great Cycle Challenge Page

Tortuga Golden Ale

Well, as you know if you've been following this blog, I've been brewing beers in the "new" categories of the 2015 version of the BJCP Guidelines.

See http://www.bjcp.org/stylecenter.php

Or even go straight to the pdf ...

http://www.bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf

Next on my list to brew was the Category 12. Pale Commonwealth Beer.

Looking through the list, I decided the one that most interested me at the moment was 12A. British Golden Ale.

"A hop-forward, average-strength to moderately-strong pale bitter. Drinkability and a refreshing quality are critical components of the style."

Sounded pretty good to me.

J is for JoyRide Brewing Company

You may remember that as I was composing the list of Denver breweries that I had not visited, it struck me that most of the letters of the alphabet were covered by the beginning letters of the brewery names.

It has been awhile since I've done one, but I decided to work through the alphabet visiting breweries.

I started with A ... A is for Alpine Dog Brewing Company

Next up was B ... B is for Baere Brewing Company More breweries for C; D; E; F; G; H; And the last one was I is for IronWorks Brewery and Pub.

Yes, it has been a long time since I've done one.

But, on a snowy late-April Saturday, my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) dragged our kids to another one ....

J is for JoyRide Brewing Company

2016 Q1 SheppyBrew 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:http://blog.ericshepard.com/search/label/Brew%20Stats .

Q1 of 2016  at the SheppyBrew Brewery was busy early in the quarter, but then slowed down. I brewed three batches in January alone, but then only 1 in February and none in March.

In case you don't want to do the Math, that's 4 batches:

• Arctic Vortex Winter Saison
• Ulterior Motive Amber Lager
• Brother Bear Dopplebock
• Ello Poppet Czech Pilsner

Those batches were each 5 gallons, putting my total first quarter volume at 20. I'm on pace for only 80 gallons this year. Last year, I brewed 6 batches in Q1. I'm off that pace.

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

Mosaic Muggled

Recently, I decided that I wanted to brew something hoppy. I didn't really want to come up with a new recipe, so I went through some of my older ones. I thought maybe Tommy Hawk APA or Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager would be good ideas.

Then, something made me think about Mosaic Hops.

I've never used Mosaic. To be honest, I don't think I've tasted a beer with Mosaic Hops. I'm not even sure what made me think about them.

Also known as HBC369, Mosaic is the first born child of Simcoe. Some have described it as Citra on steroids, but it’s much more than that. Rich in Mango, lemon, citrus, earthy pine, tropical fruit, herbal and stone fruit notes.

It does sound like a hop that I should at least try.

Mor'du Scottish Ale

In the 2008 version of the BJCP Guidelines, Scottish Ales were in a category with Irish Reds.

In the 2015 version, Scottish Ales had their own category. I've brewed an Irish Red, to satisfy the 2008 category, but had never brewed anything in the new 2015 Category 14, Scottish Ales.

See http://www.bjcp.org/stylecenter.php

So, yesterday, I brewed a "14B: Scottish Heavy". You can see the recipe on the SheppyBrew website at:

Mor'du Scottish Ale

2016 Melting Stream Spring Saison

I brewed last Sunday.

Melting Stream Spring Saison

Of course Melting Stream is the Spring version of SheppyBrew's Seasonal Saison series of beers. It is the lightest in color of the series. It is the biggest in alcohol of the series. It is the hoppiest of the series.

It does follow my basic philosophy about Saisons, though. Of course, I use Wyeast 3711 French Saison yeast ("The Real Super Yeast"). It isn't overly high in alcohol or saison funk. And it gets its flavor from real beer ingredients.

Ello Poppet Czech Pilsner

Recently, I asked my wife what I should brew next for "her" side of the keggerator.

Her answer was Buckwheat's BPA or Ello Poppet. I have brewed Buckwheat 11 times. Ello Poppet only once. I call Ello Poppet a Czech-Style Pilsner, and it is pretty hoppy with 6 different types of German (mostly noble) hops.

My wife swears she doesn't like hoppy beers, but what she really means is that she doesn't like bitter beers. And, usually she only really associates American "C" hops with "hoppy".

So, Ello Poppet is one of those beers that The Beer Model and I both really enjoy. (or at least last time I made it ... back in 2012 ... that was the case)

So, Last Sunday I decided to brew

Ello Poppet Czech Pilsner