Brisket Shepard's Pie

Last time I made brisket, I vacuum sealed and froze most of the point.

See Superbowl Brisket.

Since then, the brisket point has been sitting in the freezer waiting for an opportunity for me to use it in a relatively quick meal.

This past weekend, my wife and kid wanted to go out and watch The Batman, and as it is a long movie, I knew I wouldn't have a whole lot of time in the afternoon to prepare dinner.

I thought a Shepherds (Shepard's) Pie would be something good to make with left-over brisket.

This is something I thought would be great to prepare in the morning and just pop on the Weber Kettle for an hour or so.

So ... Saturday morning, I made some mashed potatoes, and heated up the brisket in a gravy with onion and corn.

2022 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

We have completed Q1 of 2022, which means we can report the SheppyBrew Brewing Stats for the quarter.

Compared to Q1 of 2020 (when we brewed 7 batches for 35 gallons) and Q1 of 2021 (when we brewed 8 batches for 42 gallons of beer), the first quarter of 2022 has been pretty low.

We've only brewed 5 batches. We've only brewed 30 gallons.

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

This puts me on pace for my 3rd highest year for volume of beer brewed, but certainly 1 quarter doesn't mean very much for projecting a total for the year.

The beers I brewed this quarter were:

• Arctic Vortex Winter Saison
• Colorado Strong IPA
• Colorado Vienna Lager
• Boo Berry American Wheat
• McShepardsons Irish Ale (double batch)

I.Hate.Beer

I've decided to give up beer.

This morning I woke up with an over-whelming hatred of beer.

I hate the smell. I hate the taste. I hate making it. I hate drinking it. I hate looking at it. I hate thinking about it. I hate taking photos of it. I hate blogging about it.

I. Hate. Beer.

Pork Butt on the Kettle

Over the weekend, I smoked a Pork Butt on the Weber Kettle for pulled pork sandwiches.

As I mentioned on Hickory Smoked Mac and Cheese blog post, my son was home from college.

Hickory Smoked Mac and Cheese

If you follow this blog ... you may have read this before ... but my kids really like the Smoked Mac and Cheese that I make.

Whenever my oldest is home from college, and we ask if there is anything he'd like to request, Smoked Mac and Cheese is close to the top of the list.

He has been home for Spring break, and Saturday I made some.

I'm not real good at following recipes, but my reference starting point is always the one I have listed on "Smoked Mac and Cheese".

McShepardSons Irish Ale (Batch 308)

As I mentioned last week in Disappearing Beer, my Beer Inventory is very low right now.

I have a keg of Boo Berry American Wheat, and a little bit of beer in my keg of Colorado Strong IPA.

Boo Berry is mostly for my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model), and Colorado Strong will blow any time now.

So, if I want homebrew to drink in the near future, I had to brew this past weekend.

To help catch up quickly, I decided to do a 10 gallon batch.

I also decided to go with a low-ish ABV beer to help ferment faster.

Since I was doing a double batch anyway, I decided that one of the fermentors would use Kveik yeast in hopes to speed up fermentation.

As St. Patrick's Day recently occurred ... I thought I'd brew an Irish Red ... sort of a belated seasonal. 

McShepardSons Irish Ale (double batch)

Disappearing Beer

I discovered something sad on Sunday afternoon. 

I was intending to write a blog post about my two recent "Colorado" beers. Both Colorado Strong IPA and Colorado Vienna Lager feature a malt bill completely composed of malts from local Root Shoot Malting.

On Friday, I noted that Colorado Vienna Lager was

 "pretty much perfect now. Carbonation and clarity right where I want them. Yummy flavor. Beautiful color."

In other words ... this beer was ready to start drinking more than just samples. Drinking "for reals".

U is for Upslope Brewing Company

If you follow this blog, you know that a couple weeks ago, I posted T is for Tivoli Brewing Company.

If you're familiar with the A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts, you know that next up was a "U" brewery.

According to the Colorado Brewery List, there is one brewery in the Denver area that starts with the letter "U", and I used that one in Round 1 way back in January of 2017 ... 

U is for Ursula Brewery.

I had to get a little creative in Round 2 with U is for oUter Range Brewing Company. Not only does "Outer Range" not start with a "U", but it is not really in the Denver area.

So ... for this round of the A to Z project, I had to expand my criteria a bit. As it turns out, Boulder, Colorado has a few breweries that start with the letter "U" including ...

U is for Upslope Brewing Company

Boo Berry Wheat (Batch 307)

My wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) brewed with me Sunday.

We'll brew together from time to time. Sometimes I say I do it so that I'll have a second adult brewer in the household, making it legal for me to brew more than the 100 gallons per year.

Honestly, though, I'm quite certain no one pays that close attention to the homebrewing law, and I don't really have to establish her as a brewer to be ok with the law.

The real reason is that it is fun to pretend that she's in charge of brewing.

I'm not sure why she does it. Apparently she thinks it is fun to brew with me from time to time as well.

Sunday, we brewed one of her favorite recipes ...

Boo Berry American Wheat

Catching up #5000MilesIn2022 and #10Everestsin2022

Today is March 6th. 

Last year by March 6th, I had cycled around 787 miles and climbed 52,937 feet while biking.

As I mentioned last month, I've started much slower this year than last. I think mostly this is has to do with less cooperative weather, but I've also perhaps been a bit more lazy this year than last.

So far in 2022, Strava says I've cycled 783 miles and climbed 4,217 feet.

I'm actually catching up. If I were to divide my riding equally over the year, order to reach 5,000 miles for the year (my Strava goal #5000MilesIn2022), I am now 108 miles behind plan.

I'm 8,327 feet behind plan to get to #10EverestsIn2022. 

T is for Tivoli Brewing Company

When I posted S is for Smash Face Brewing, it had been almost 2 and a half months since I had added to my A to Z Denver Breweries series of blog posts.

Now ... about a week later, here I am already adding another one.

On Saturday, my wife (aka The SheppyBrew Beer Model) picked a "T" brewery for us to visit.

This particular brewery actually opened in 1859.

They had to "pivot" when prohibition hit, producing low ABV cereal beers to survive.

In 1933 when prohibit ended, they started up again brewing full strength beers.

By 1950, the brewery was making over 150,000 barrels a year, making it one of the biggest breweries in the Country.

Unfortunately, in 1965, record floods in Denver severely impacted this brewery and forced it to close its doors.

In 2012 ... the brewery was brought back to life in the same building with new state of the art equipment ...

T is for Tivoli Brewing Company

SheppyBrew Seasonals

While out for a walk earlier in the week, I was thinking about homebrewing (surprise surprise).

One of the things that popped into my mind was beers that I always brew about the same time of year.

I was wondering if I had seasonal beers for every month of the year.

An obvious example is my Seasonal Saison series of beers. January is almost always when I brew Arctic Vortex Winter Saison. I usually brew Melting Stream Spring Saison in March or April, Hail Storm Summer Saison in June or July, and Falling Leaves Autumn Saison in September or October.

May is easy. The tag line for Helles in a Hand Bock-sket is "Will Drink in May". 

Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale makes the most sense for October.

Decemberfest Lager has "December" right in the name. 

S is for Smash Face Brewing

Its been over 2 months since I posted R is for Raices Brewing Company.

For various reasons, the Beer Model and I just have not been going out a whole lot recently. 

A side effect of that is that we have not done anything with our A to Z Denver Breweries series of blog posts.

As a reminder ...

Back in February of 2015, I was embarrassed by the huge number of Denver Breweries that I had never visited.

It struck me that if I went down the list, the starting letters of the brewery names represented almost every letter of the alphabet. That was when I started my A to Z Denver Breweries Project on this blog.

We are on our third round through the alphabet.

So ... after R, next up was S. We had a ton of S breweries to choose from. The Beer Model picked one Saturday ...

S is for Smash Face Brewing

Superbowl Brisket

If you follow this blog, you know that I brewed Superbowl Sunday.

Colorado Vienna Lager (Batch 306)

I also smoked a brisket.

Fairly recently, at my neighborhood Sam's club, I found a 10 pound prime brisket.

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, 10 pounds is about perfect to fit on my 26" Weber Kettle, so I had to pick it up.

It was in my freezer for awhile, and I decided brisket would be a good meat to have on Superbowl Sunday.

So ... I smoked it for our Superbowl dinner during and after the brew day.

Colorado Vienna Lager (Batch 306)

I brewed a Vienna lager yesterday.

It is only my third batch of beer this year, but it was my 306th of my brewing "career".

As I've mentioned a few times on this blog, I've been using Root Shoot malts quite a bit lately.

One of my favorite homebrew shops has been featuring their malts, and I have really like the character that I get from the ones I've used so far.

Much like the Colorado Strong IPA (Batch 305), I designed the recipe with all Colorado malts. As I mentioned I really like the Vienna malt from Root Shoot, and this beer used it as its base.

I called the recipe:

Colorado Vienna Lager

#5000MilesIn2022 and #10Everestsin2022

I started a little slow this year.

By the 10th of February last year, I had cycled 541 miles with 34,687 feet climbed.

Here it is the 10th of February ... and this year I've only cycled 370 miles with 20,279 feet climbed. Not even 1 Everest.

There are various reasons for my slow start this year. I won't go into them. Honestly, 370 miles with 20,279 feet elevation gain in a Colorado winter isn't really all that bad for an old couch potato such as myself.

I'm sure at some point I'll catch up. If not, I'll still ride more than most people.

Colorado Strong IPA (Batch 305)

So far this year, I'm brewing less than last year.

It is early, so it doesn't really mean anything yet, but I expect I'll be back to closer to pre-covid levels of brewing this year.

We'll see.

This past weekend, I did brew my 2nd batch of the year. It was my 305th batch in my brewing "career". If I'm counting correctly, it is the 31st time I've brewed on the Anvil Foundry all-in-one system.

The recipe I brewed was my take on the "Colorado Strong IPA".

In 2020, I was able to give a donation to the Colorado Strong Fund.to get the official recipe for the Colorado Strong Pale Ale. 

The 2021 Version of Colorado Strong doesn't appear to be hyped as much, and as far as I can tell, there isn't really an official recipe.

That's fine. I just created my own ...

Colorado Strong IPA

Arctic Vortex and Pork Butt

Here at the SheppyBrew Home Brewery, we love the Three B's.

Beer. Barbeque. Bicycling.

Like many Sundays, I did all three yesterday.

I actually started my brew day on Saturday. First, I made a yeast starter from the Wyeast 3711 French Saison yeast that I harvested last time I made a Seasonal Saison. 

I also mashed in before I went to bed to do an overnight mash.

This is one of the reasons I love my Anvil Foundry. It allows me to maintain some heat on the mash overnight. This is great to save time ... especially for styles of beer that should end up dry.

Like ...

Arctic Vortex Winter Sasion

New Year's Ribeye Roast

Where I live, Ribeye Roasts go on sale around various holidays.

I assume this is true other places too, but I don't know for sure.

Easter. Christmas. 

And ... New Year. (well, usually they are still on sale from Christmas).

I think they make for my favorite holiday main dish.

I always try to pick one up. And, I did so this year as well.

As I mentioned on this blog, on Christmas Eve, I made Sopa & Mole. On Christmas Day, I made a ham that was gifted to us.  

So, I had to wait until New Year's Day for my favorite holiday dish...

SheppyBrew 2021 Year-End Brewing Stats

As I type this, 2021 is almost over. I'm not brewing again before 2022, so I can report on my brewing stats for the 4th quarter and for year end.

I brewed quite a bit of beer in 2021. Not nearly as much as 2020, but significantly more than any other year in my brewing "career".

In the 4th quarter this year, I only brewed 5 batches of beer.

• Mr. Awesome Merican Lager
• Caliente Fuerte Mexican Stout
• Dudocs Dark Mild
• X-Mas Ale 2021
• Decemberfest Lager

Mr. Awesome Merican Lager

#Strava #YearInSport

Well, 2021 is over. 

If you followed this blog over the year, you know I accomplished my #10EverestsIn2021 goal. As of mid-November, I passed 300,000 feet in 2021.

And ... since that time, I've ridden more, and passed my 11th Everest of 2021. 11 x 29,032 = 319,352.

According to Strava, I climbed over 324,000 feet on my bicycles over the year.

Pecan Smoked Potatoes Au Gratin

We received a Honey Baked Ham as a gift this year.

My kids had already told me that they wanted Ham for Christmas dinner, and I decided to just heat up the gift ham.

The ham came with various sides, some of which we prepared with Christmas dinner, but my wife told me she wanted "real" Au Gratin Potatoes.

So ... I made some.

As I rarely cook inside, I decided to cook my Au Gratin Potatoes on one of my Weber Kettles with a little Pecan wood to add a little smoke flavor.

As far as I remember, this is the first time I've ever made Au Gratin Potatoes. I googled recipes and decided to use one I found on All Recipes as a starting point.

Soapy Mole

My wife has this box of recipes, and one of the cards in this box is labeled "Sopa & Mole".

It is an old family recipe from a grandmother or great-grandmother or something. One of those that my wife had to write down by interrogating her mom, because it actually was never written down.

It's sort of been a tradition to have this on Christmas Eve when my in-laws are in town for the holidays.

I love it. One of my favorite meals. I usually refer to it as "Soapy Sheep" or "Soapy Mole". Weird, I know.

This year, for reasons I won't go into, I cooked for Christmas Eve and decided to try it out ... sort of.

You know me and the trouble I have following recipes ... luckily, it isn't a real precise recipe anyway, so I feel like it is sort of expected that you take liberties with it.

Kombucha

Until recently, it had been quite awhile since I've made any Kombucha.

In fact, I neglected my SCOBY  last year, and let it die. I have not made any since then.

A month or two ago, I tried propagating up SCOBY from commercial kombucha, but that never ended up growing.

So, I went the lazy-man way and simply ordered one from Amazon.

On 11/13, I brewed up a batch of Green Tea kombucha for the SCOBY to start working on.

The process is really simple.

• Dissolve 1 cup of sugar into water.
• Steep tea in the water.
• Add to a gallon jar, cooled with ice / water.
• Put in the SCOBY with a little "starter" to keep the pH down.
• Let the kombucha ferment for a few weeks.
• Bottle with whatever flavoring you would like.

Decemberfest Lager (Batch 303) and Pork Butt

I brewed my 303rd batch of beer this past weekend.

It was my 27th batch of beer in 2021, and my 29th brewed in my Anvil Foundry.

It might be my last batch of the year.

Or ... it might not. We'll have to see.

Regardless, this will be my 2nd most volume of beer brewed, behind only the ridiculous amount of beer I brewed in 2020.

I feel like I say this a lot ... but it blows my mind that 2021 is already almost over. I don't feel like I'm ready for a new year yet.

Anyway ... the recipe I brewed this past Sunday was ...

Decemberfest Lager

This is the 2nd time brewing this recipe, although this time I substituted the Vienna malt with some from local maltster Colorado's Root Shoot Malting.

The Root Shoot Vienna malt lists its color as 6 Lovibond vs the 3.5 Lovibond Vienna malt I usually use, so this batch is likely to be a couple of shades darker than last year's version. 

Caliente Fuerte Mexican Stout vs. Copper Kettle Mexican Chocolate Stout

Remember Caliente Fuerte Mexican Stout? It was my Homebrew 6 Pack Project beer inspired by Copper Kettle Mexican Chocolate Stout.

I brewed it on Halloween (see Caliente Fuerte Mexican Stout (Batch 300)). I kegged it around 3 weeks later.

Since then, I've carbonated and been drinking it.

The design (see Designing Caliente Fuerte Mexican Stout) was intended to be chocolatey with a bit of heat from cinnamon and Ancho and Cayenne Chile powder.

I purposely took it easy on the spices. 

As it turns out, I was too easy on the spices. It is nice, rich and chocolatey, but the cinnamon barely comes through and the peppers not at all.

R is for Raices Brewing Company

It was only a few days ago that I posted Q is for barQuentine Brewing Company.

If you've been following my A to Z Denver Breweries series of blog posts, you know that next up, I needed an "R" brewery.

As a reminder ...

Back in February of 2015, I was embarrassed by the huge number of Denver Breweries that I had never visited.
It struck me that if I went down the list, the starting letters of the brewery names represented almost every letter of the alphabet. That was when I started my A to Z Denver Breweries Project on this blog.

And ... as I mentioned in Q is for barQuentine Brewing Company, I had an "R" brewery in mind.

R is for Raices Brewing Company

X-Mas Ale 2021 (Batch 302)

It blows my mind that we're already in December and so Christmas is just around the corner.

This also means that it is time to get the Annual SheppyBrew X-Mas Ale made.

Actually ... it is sort of late to get the X-Mas Ale brewed. I usually like to be drinking it by Thanksgiving.

Last year, I had the X-Mas Ale brewed on Learn to Homebrew Day, which is the first weekend in November.

For various reasons ... I didn't get around to brewing the 2021 version until this past weekend, about a month later than last year's version.

I even considered not making an X-Mas Ale this year, but eventually, my desire to maintain the tradition overroad my laziness. It might be ready later in the year, but ... Oh Well ...

X-Mas Ale 2021

Country Style Ribs

Last weekend I made some more Country Style Pork Ribs.

I'm still not sure why they are called "Ribs". 

I do make them similar to how I do spare ribs .. 

• Apply rub. 
• Smoke for a couple or three hours. 
• Wrap for a couple more hours.
• Remove from wrap and finish off with BBQ Sauce. 
• Serve and Enjoy.

They turn out delicious.

This time, I used the Vortex to hold the charcoal, but other than that, exactly the same as last time. 

Yummy!

Q is for barQuentine Brewing Company

If you're following along, you know that I recently posted P is for Prost Brewing Company.

You are probably familiar enough with the English alphabet to know that after "P" comes "Q".

Q is tough for my A to Z Denver Breweries series of blog posts.

In round 1, I wasn't able to find and "Q" breweries in the Denver area, but I was able to use a Meadery with Q is for Queen Bee Brews.

In round 2, I still couldn't come up with any "Q" breweries, so I had to take "artistic license" with Q is for LiQuid Mechanics Brewing Company.

Here it is ... round 3 ... as far as I know, there are still no breweries in the Denver that start with the letter "Q".

So, once again, just like last time ... I had to take "artistic license" to come up with a "Q" brewery.

Q is for BarQuentine Brewing Company

2021 Thanksgiving Turkey

This past Thursday (yesterday) was Thanksgiving.

The Sheppy Family generally eats turkey on Thanksgiving. 

Weird ... right? (no not really)

Since 2018 ... I've been in charge of cooking the turkey (see Cherry Wood Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey).

It generally turns out better smoking it on the grill than in the oven. Plus, it is one less thing we have to juggle the plans around what gets cooked in the oven.

Plus, I really enjoy doing it.

So ... 2021 Thanksgiving was my forth time smoking the Thanksgiving turkey.

YUM!

At some point, my wife picked up a 14 pound frozen turkey from our local King Sooper. The kind that is always on sale this time of year.

300,000 feet in 2021

According to Strava, over the weekend, I passed 300,000 feet climbed on my bikes this year.

#10EverestsIn2021

300,000 feet was my yearly goal for 2021. I still have over a month of cycling to go before the end of the year, but with the cold weather, I probably won't do a whole lot of climbing in the next month.

As I mentioned when I first mentioned the goal, to get to 300,000 feet in the year, I was going to have to average 822 feet climbed every day. 

That is quite a bit. As of today, I've averaged 928 feet per day, which is even more. This is certainly the most climbing I've done in my life.

For what it is worth, I've also cycled more miles this year than last year, which makes this the highest number of miles I've ever ridden in a year. 

Not bad for an old couch potato.

I'm not sure what cycling goals I'll have for next year. We'll see what I come up with.

Stay tuned and you can find out ... Sheppy's Blog: Biking

P is for Prost Brewing Company

2021 started out pretty slow for my A to Z Denver Breweries series of blog posts.

It was December of last year that I posted C is for Cerveceria Colorado.

Mostly due to covid guidance, it wasn't until May until I posted D is for Dead Hippie Brewing.

I got in E is for Evergreen Brewery a couple weeks later.

Then, it was another couple months before I posted F is for Fiction Beer Company.

After that, though the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) and I have been speeding through the alphabet. We seem to be making pretty good progress.

We got from "F" to O is for Oasis Brewery pretty quickly. 

Now ... as you can imagine if you've been paying attention ... it is time for a "P" brewery. As I mentioned, I had a brewery in mind.

Big P Little P what begins with P?

P is for Prost Brewing Company

Mr. Awesome vs. Mountain Time

As you may remember if you follow this blog ... not too long ago I brewed Mr. Awesome Merican Lager (Batch 300).

This is my first recipe that I've called an American Lager style of beer. 

I was inspired by New Belgium's Mountain Time Premium Lager, which has become a favorite local commercial beer for the Beer Model and myself over the summer.

I kegged a couple of weeks ago. I added gelatin a couple days later, and it has been carbonating since then.

I poured some a couple days ago and noticed its carbonation and clarity was about perfect. Not to mention it was delicious.

I had some Mountain Time in the fridge and thought it would be fun to compare the two beers.

So, I did.

Learn to Homebrew Day: Dudocs English Mild (301)

This past Saturday was the AHA's Learn to Homebrew Day.

This year, my friend "Doc" decided he wanted to host a brew day, so I packed up my equipment and traveled to his brewery.

The recipe that I designed for this brew day, was Dudocs English Mild.

It is a pretty simple English Mild recipe fermented with Lallemand Voss Kveik Ale Yeast.

It should be an easy drinking flavorful dark, malty session beer. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

As usual, I started the mash at home and let the amylase enzyme do their thing while I was driving.

This way, when I got to Doc's I just had to drain the wort into the kettle and start heating to boil.

10th Everest of 2021

According to Strava, I've climbed 291,913 feet on my bikes this year. This means I passed up my 10th Everest in my #10Everestsin2021 goal.

Mission accomplished. Sort of.

For my official Strava climbing goal, I rounded up to 300,000 feet. (see #10Everestsin2021), so I still have some climbing to do over the next couple months.

With shorter days, especially with the end of daylight savings time, I'll have less time to bike outside, so I'll probably slow down.

Even so, another 8,000 feet should be easy to accomplish.

I'll probably let you know when I pass up 300,000 feet. Follow Sheppy's Blog: #10Everestsin2021 to see.

Go Bears!

O is for Oasis Brewery

It is somewhat amazing that I'm already over halfway through my 3rd round of the A to Z Denver Breweries series of blog posts.

As a reminder ...

Back in February of 2015, I was embarrassed by the huge number of Denver Breweries that I had never visited.

It struck me that if I went down the list, the starting letters of the brewery names represented almost every letter of the alphabet. That was when I started my A to Z Denver Breweries Project on this blog.

I finished my first round in February of 2019 with A to Z Denver Breweries.

I finished round 2 in November of 2020 with  A to Z Denver Breweries Round 2. 

Now, I'm up to "O" in round 3. As I mentioned in N is for Novel Strand Brewing Company, we had actually visited our "O" brewery already. I just had to write and publish this post.

O is for Oasis Brewery

Caliente Fuerte Mexican Stout (Batch 300)

When I bought my Anvil Foundry ... there were two main reasons I thought I would like electric brewing. 

The first thing is something I take advantage of quite a bit ... I can set a timer on the Foundry to start heating strike water while I'm sleeping so that I can start brewing right when I get up in the morning.

The other big thing is that the electric boil doesn't get affected by a windy day as much as my propane burner.

As I've brewed with the Foundry, there are two disadvantages I've found over my old mash tun / propane burner system.

The first disadvantage isn't that big of a deal to me, but especially for bigger ABV brews, my mash efficiency isn't as good as it was with the "older" method.

The second disadvantage is that it takes much longer to get from mash temperature to boiling. Generally, it takes about 45 minutes to get from 155 degrees to 200, which is boiling for me at my high-altitude.

N is for Novel Strand Brewing Company

It has been awhile since we biked to M is for Mountain Toad Brewing.

I actually don't think the Beer Model had been on her bike at all since Mountain Toad.

But this past weekend, we decided to continue our exploration of A to Z Denver Breweries.

As I mentioned in M is for Mountain Toad Brewing, there was really only one logical choice for our "N" brewery.

I'd actually ridden my bike by this brewery a couple times on my various biking journeys.

It is a nice ride from our Home Brewery along bike paths to ...

N is for Novel Strand Brewing Company 

Rocktoberfest vs. Odell's Oktoberfest

In Mid-September, I brewed  Rocktoberfest Lager (Batch 296). It was the 7th time I've brewed this beer, although I had not brewed it since 2018 before this batch.

I have a few cans of Odell Brewing Company's Oktoberfest Marzen Style Lagers in my beer fridge and thought I'd do a quick comparison. 

Stylistically, my Rocktoberfest Lager design is right in the middle of Style Guidelines for OG and Color. 

It's actually on the low end for ABV. It's on the high end for bitterness.

Mr. Awesome Merican Lager (Batch 300)

If you were paying attention to the SheppyBrew Instagram Feed, you know that I brewed this past Sunday.

This was my 23rd batch of beer of 2021, and my 9th lager of the year.

It was the 28th batch that I've brewed on the Anvil Foundry.

It was my 299th batch of beer that I've brewed since I started this whole homebrew thing way back in 2009.

My past few batches have been very Autumn themed.

Rocktoberfest Lager (Batch 296)

Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale (Batch 297)

Falling Leaves Autumn Saison (batch 298)

I thought it was time to brew something lighter and drinkable. I decided to brew an American-style lager.

Mr. Awesome Merican Lager

Designing Caliente Fuerte Mexican Stout

It has been awhile, but in Updating the Colorado 6 Pack, I mentioned that I was updating my Homebrew Colorado 6 pack, replacing 3 beers that no longer exist.

The first replacement was T.Ra.Sh. Light Mexican Lager vs Ska Mexican Logger. That really turned out well.

Next up ... I want to try to make a beer inspired by another one of my local favorites ... Copper Kettle Mexican Chocolate Stout.

"Dynamic stout with cinnamon, local organic chocolate, and habanero, ancho and guajilo peppers!"

Bridesmaids Gift Boutique: Koozie Couple

My old friend "Joe" from Bridesmaids Gift Boutique: Ice Ice Baby emailed me again. He wanted to know if I'd like to try out another gift from Bridesmaids Gifts Boutique.

He thought I might like to try the "Koozie Couple" in exchange for posting about it on this blog.

I thought that was a cool idea, so I let him know "Sure, I'd be willing to write a post about the Koozie Couple."

He was kind enough to send me out a set to try. One for me. One for my wife.

9th Everest of 2021

I finished up my 1000 miles of the Great Cycle Challenge. I'm blown away by the generosity of everyone who donated. I blew away previous years' totals of donations.

And ... the page will remain open through the end of October. So ... if you wanted to donate, but have not had a chance yet, feel free to visit the page between now and November 1st ...

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

Along with the 1000 miles, I climbed around 42000 feet of elevation during the month. 

This also means I passed up my 8th and 9th Everest in my #10Everestsin2021 goal.

2021 Q3 SheppyBrew Stats

Q3 is over. 

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

Summer Lovin' American Wheat