So ... one of my favorite homebrew podcasts is the The Brülosophy Podcast.
One of their recent episodes ... Episode 232 | exBEERience: Naming Beers ... got me thinking about how I go about naming beers.
Apparently, not all homebrewers name all their beers, but I certainly do. Some of these names only make sense to me, but they all have at least some thought put them.
So ... what are some of the themes in my beer names?
Lots of my beers are named for my favorite sports teams ... lead, of course, by the Chicago Blackhawks.
Blackhawk Black Ale is pretty obvious. Tommy Hawk APA is named after the Blackhawks' mascot. Chelsea Dagger Pre-Prohibition Lager celebrates the Blackhawks with the song that plays after each of their goals.
I've also celebrated the Cubs' world series with Cubs Win! Munich Dunkel. And the Colorado Rockies making it to the world series with Rocktoberfest Lager.
I even named a beer based on my hatred of a football team: Pats Disliker New England Pale Ale.
Today is May 1st.
Last year by May 1st, I'd ridden 1,689 miles and climbed 104,466 feet on my bikes.
This year, I'm still behind last year, but I think I'm catching up. So far this year, I've ridden 1,627 miles and climbed 88,448.
Last time I reported my cycling numbers, I was 108 behind "plan" to reach #5000MilesIn2022. Now I'm only 30 miles behind plan.
I was 8,327 feet behind plan to get to #10EverestsIn2022. Now, I'm 7,795 feet behind.
Remember a few weeks ago I made Brisket Shepard's Pie? It turned out awesome.
At the time I mentioned that I would probably like to try a pulled pork Shepard's pie at some point too.
Well ... I had some frozen left over pork butt in my freezer that I decided to put into Shepard's Pie this past weekend.
Remember a couple weeks ago I brewed a double batch of McShepardSons Irish Ale (Batch 308)?
Well ... I did.
In one fermentor, I pitched Voss Kveik Ale Yeast. In the other I used SafAle English Ale.
The Voss ferment finished up in a few days. The English ferment finished about a week later.
Friday after work, I decided to compare the two beers.
They are both beautiful red ales, but the colors are slightly different. The kveik ale is just a touch darker. I think this is mostly due to the Voss beer having more time to clarify.
My friend "Joe" contacted me again a couple weeks ago, letting me know that he wanted to send me another gift to help promote a new site ... "Groomsday".
He thought I might like one of the company's laser-engraved Personalized Groomsmen Beer Glasses.
I agreed, and sent him a picture of myself so that he could send me a Laser Engraved Pic Pint.
All glasses are engraved by our amazing artist, who extracts your guys out of the pictures you send him and engraves them on the glass. This beer glass holds 15 oz, the perfect amount to enjoy.
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| Arctic Vortex Winter Saison |
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.
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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| Mr. Awesome Merican Lager |
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.
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.
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.
