Fixing the Foundry

As I mentioned in 2023 Arctic Vortex and Chucky and Doodle Bop Belgium Single (batch 328), my Anvil Foundry had an issue. 

It stopped working. It would not power on.

This is not ideal. In fact, it really made me sad. 

I'm well past the warranty, so I had to fix it. I really missed having the Electric Brewing capabilities on my Doodle Bop Belgium Single (batch 328) brew day.

According to my records, I've brewed 48 batches of beer on this thing. When it works, I really like it.

I don't remember what I paid for it. Currently according to the Anvil Foundry it costs $425. I know I paid less than that, but let's use that cost ....

My first brew on the Foundry was Bud Lite Lime (271) on the Anvil Foundry on 11/1/2020. I discovered that it didn't work on 1/15/2023.

If I assume the $425, it means I paid 53 cents per day for the Foundry. That doesn't sound too bad.

I've brewed 48 batches of beer on the Foundry (although I did use it even on a couple of other brew days). Again, assuming the $425 that it costs now ... I paid $8.85 per batch. That is basically a pack of liquid yeast per brew day.

Doodle Bop Belgium Single (batch 328)

I brewed this past Sunday. It was extremely cold out, so it was a brew-in-the-garage day ...

As I mentioned in 2023 Arctic Vortex and Chucky, my Anvil Foundry need fixing. Based on some troubleshooting, I believe the Foundry's power switch needs replacing.

I've ordered a new switch and according to UPS it should be arriving today. Maybe my next brew will be back on the Foundry.

Regardless, it wasn't ready for Sunday's brew day, so I used my "old" cooler-mash-tun-propane-burner-boil brewing system.

The beer I brewed is a new recipe resulting from my desire to brew a beer in the BJCP Category 26, Monastic Ale.

As I mentioned in Followup on BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines, the style I wanted to most brew in this category was  26A. Belgian Single, and so awhile ago I designed the recipe ....

Doodle Bop Belgium Single

Jalapeño Poppers

Last Sunday, after a snowy bike ride and before the football games started, I couldn't get Jalapeño Poppers out of my head.

If you know me or even just follow this blog, I suppose it wouldn't surprise you to know that I really like Jalapeño Poppers.

Strangely, though, I had never made my own.

So ... I decided to rectify that situation.

I had to head over to the grocery store because I didn't have most of the ingredients.

I had to buy cream cheese, bacon, and especially jalapeños.

My wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) suggested that I should get a couple of other things while I was there, but when I was actually there ... I forgot those extra things. 

Oh Well.

Q is for Six Capital Brewing and BBQ

Recently, I posted P is for Peak View Brewing Company in our A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts.

If you're familiar with the concept behind this series and are fairly well acquainted to the English alphabet, you probably can deduce that next up we had to find a "Q" brewery.

I imagine that is doesn't surprise you that the Colorado Brewery List doesn't have any breweries that start with the letter "Q".

In round 1, I visited a Meadery,  Q is for Queen Bee Brews. 

In rounds 2 and 3, I took artistic license and hit Q is for LiQuid Mechanics Brewing Company and Q is for barQuentine Brewing Company.

It's my game ... I get to make up the rules. So ... what did we choose this time? When it came right down to it, there was only one choice ....

Q is for Six Capital Brewing and BBQ

P is for Peak View Brewing Company

Here we are already at "P" in round 4 our A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts.

It is difficult to believe that we only started round 4 this past June with A is for A Bit Twisted Brewpub.

As it turns out, "P" is a fairly popular letter to start brewery names with. If I'm counting correct, there are 24 "P" breweries listed on the Colorado Brewery List.

Of course we can filter out breweries that are not in the Denver area ...

.... and we've already hit P is for Pints Pub, P is for Peak to Peak Brewery, and P is for Prost Brewing Company (Highlands Ranch).

Even so, we had a few choices. 

When it came right down to it ... the SheppyBrew Beer Model made the choice. She decided we would go to ...

P is for Peak View Brewing Company

2023 Arctic Vortex and Chucky

One thing you can pretty much count on at the SheppyBrew Brewery ... we'll brew 4 Saisons a year.

Winter / Spring / Summer / Autumn

I started brewing these Seasonal Saisons way back in early 2014 with Brewing Arctic Vortex Black Saison.

I skipped a Spring Saison that year, but followed up with Hail Storm Summer Saison and then Falling Leaves Harvest (Autumn) Saison.

Then, First Brew of 2015: Arctic Vortex followed by Melting Stream Spring Saison.

And ... other than missing that Spring Saison of 2014, every season I've brewed the Seasonal Saison appropriate for the time of year.

It being January and winter, it is, of course, time for our Winter Seasonal Saison ...

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

Grumkins and Snarks Oatmeal Stout (Batch 326)

In BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines and Followup on BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines, I mentioned that there were a few entire categories of beers that I had not brewed.

Of course, this is something I wanted (and still want) to rectify.

The categories I'm missing were:

16. DARK BRITISH BEER 

17. STRONG BRITISH ALE

26. MONASTIC ALE

Last Sunday, I brewed a Category 16 Dark British Beer. More specifically, I brewed a 16B. Oatmeal Stout.

Shortly after those posts, I developed a recipe for a 16B. Oatmeal Stout. Last Sunday I finally brewed it.

Grumkins and Snarks Oatmeal Stout

O is for Old 121 Brewhouse

Happy New Year everyone! This is our first A to Z Denver Breweries post of 2023.

In late December we posted N is for New Image, Wheat Ridge, and so we're over half-way through round 4!

We only started round 4 in June with A is for A Bit Twisted Brewpub, so we're really flying through the alphabet.

So, after "N" comes "O". In previous rounds we did O is for Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company, O is for Ohm Brewing Company, and O is for Oasis Brewery.

According to the Colorado Brewery Map & List, we had a couple of options, but I really wanted to try out one in particular ...

O is for Old 121 Brewhouse

Sauerkraut Yogurt Kombucha in 2023

Before the New Year, it has been quite awhile since I've made fermented food or kombucha.

I've been missing doing both.

At the beginning of 2023, I brewed some more kombucha, and this past weekend, I made some jalapeno sauerkraut and yogurt.

I'm hoping I don't go as long between doing either again.

I'd like to get to a point where I have yogurt almost all the time. We'll see how that goes.

I'd also like to have sauerkraut to eat most of the time, but sauerkraut doesn't get consumed as fast.

2022 #Strava #YearInSport

If you've been following along on Sheppy's Blog: Strava, you know that I passed 6,000 miles and 290,032 feet climbed on my bike in 2022.

According to Strava, I totaled 6,086.8 miles and 298,780 feet climbed. Not bad, although in 2021, I totaled more (6,216.4 miles and 326,749 feet climbed).

In addition to biking, I also use Strava to track hikes and some other activities. Just like last year, Strava gave me a "Year in Sport" summary of my 2022 totals.

 

SheppyBrew 2022 Year End Brewing Stats

So ... as I'm typing this, we still have over a week left in 2022, but I won't be brewing again this year, so I can actually report on my 2022 Brewing Stats.

I did brew quite a bit of beer in 2022, but I am on a steep downward trend after an absolute ridiculous amount of brewing in 2020 and considerably less, but still a huge amount in 2021.

I brewed over 160 gallons in 2020, and over 140 in 2021.

In 2022, I only brewed 122 gallons of beer. Even with this downward trend, 2022 was my 3rd highest brewing volume ever. I blame covid.

This 4th Quarter, I only brewed 5 times for 26 gallons. Practically a reasonable amount.

• Mr. Awesome Merican Lager
• Will-o-Wisp Autumn Ale (no pumpkin)
• Wien Zerschlagen (Vienna SMASH)
• Dudocs Red IPA
• X-Mas Ale 2022

Mr. Awesome (and Jethro Bud)

2022 SheppyBrew Seasonals

Earlier in the year, I published a blog post in which I talked about beers that could be considered  SheppyBrew Seasonals, attaching them to each month of the year.

As I was working my way through brewing over the year, I kept this list in mind. I didn't hit every month, but I brewed most of the beers close to their month this year.

A Blonde, two Redheads, and a Brunette

For Christmas,  the Beer Model's parents were in town. While watching football, I got her dad a flight of SheppyBrew beers. 

While getting the beers, the beers I had on tap reminded me of the post I made a long time ago ... A Brunette, a Read Head, and a Blonde. 

I told him his flight was One Blonde. Two Read Heads. One Brunette.

Mr. Awesome Merican Lager was the blonde. Wien Zerschlagen and Dudocs Red IPA were the Reds. X-Mas Ale 2022 was the Brunette.

Another Whole Chicken in the Vortex

It's been quite awhile since I've cooked a whole chicken. 

I think the last time (before this time) was Whole Chicken in the Vortex.

I told myself at the time I wanted to try cooking inside the vortex cone again. I've just never gotten around to it.

Until a couple Saturdays ago.

And this one turned out better than last time. In fact, I think this might be my best whole chicken ever.

For a rub, it was basically just SPG. (Salt / Pepper / Garlic).

I set up the vortex just a bit off-center with unlit charcoal all around. I lit about 3/4 of a chimney and placed that in the middle of the unlit coals, allowing the fire to move both directions around the cone.

N is for New Image, Wheat Ridge

As I type this, M is for Mobcraft Dee Tacko just posted.

We only started this 4th round of the A to Z Denver Breweries project in June with A is for A Bit Twisted Brewpub.

And ... here we are already half-way through the alphabet, needing an "N" brewery.

As I keep saying, the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) is really pushing this process along.

This past Saturday, the Beer Model surprisingly agreed to play Pickle Ball in the cold. Then, she wanted to go hit our "N" brewery for lunch.

In round 1, we did N is for New Terrain Brewing Company. Round 2: N is for New Image Brewing Company. Round 3: N is for Novel Strand Brewing Company.

What did we decided to hit this time?

N is for New Image, Wheat Ridge

M is for Mobcraft Dee Tacko

My wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) and I played Pickle Ball a couple Sundays ago.

I don't quite get the popularity of Pickle Ball. To me, it is basically tennis for people who can't move well enough to play tennis.

But, the wife likes it. It is fun enough. I suppose it is ok exercise. So, we play.

After our Pickle Ball adventure, the Beer Model wanted lunch, and we decided to head to downtown Denver for our next of the A to Z Denver Breweries.

Last time we did L is for Little Dry Creek Brewery, so this time it was time for an "M" brewery.

Big M. Little M. What begins with M?

M is for Mobcraft Dee Tacko

Butt and Biking

As I mentioned in #10Everestsin2022, I went on a fairly long bike ride last Sunday.

62.8 miles to keep my #MetricCenturyEveryMonth streak alive.

I had committed to smoking a Pork Butt, and as you probably know, smoking a Pork Butt is an all-day process.

Luckily, like a lot of the things I do on the weekends, smoking allows for multi-tasking.

As long as I set up the kettle to burn long enough at about the right temperature, it doesn't really take a whole lot of effort on my side.

I just let the fire and smoke do its thing. I don't really have to do all that much for most of the hours the meat in on the smoker.

Bursting Fatty

So ... I've only made Fatties a couple of times in my life, both of them documented on this blog.

See Easter BBQ and Fatty!

I decided to make another one a couple weekends ago, the same day I brewed my X-Mas Ale. 

In case you don't know ... a fatty is ground meat surrounding a filling wrapped with bacon.

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

The ground meat was 1 (or more) pound each of ground Italian sausage and ground beef.

Last time I made a Fatty, the filling burst out of the side, making a little mess and making me lose a little of the gooey goodness.

#10Everestsin2022

I have not ridden a whole lot in November or December, but as of my bike ride yesterday, I met my elevation goal for the year ... #10Everestsin2022.

It was also over 100 km, so I continued my #MetricCenturyEveryMonth streak. 

I passed up my original 5000 mile goal, and will end up with over 6000 miles. 

So ... everything I said I was going to do on my bike this year, I've accomplished.

Some of those miles were on the stationary bike at the gym, but really the vast majority were actual outdoor miles on my various bikes.

I expect I'll leave the Strava goals the same in 2023, so I'm aiming for another 6000 miles in 2023 and another 290,032 feet elevation gained.

Followup on BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines

When I started writing the post BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines, my intention was to set myself up to brew every style in the 2021 BJCP Guidelines next year.

However, as I went through the exercise, I realized that I don't really want to try to brew every style next year.

First ... there are 3 entire categories that I have not brewed a single beer in. AND ... I am missing enough styles that there is no way this is a one year project.

Second ... there are lots of styles I don't really have a desire to brew. 

The categories I'm missing are 

• 16. DARK BRITISH BEER 
• 17. STRONG BRITISH ALE
• 26. MONASTIC ALE

There are styles in each of those categories that I would like to drink and therefore will brew.

2022 X-Mas Ale (Batch 325)

Every year since I started brewing in 2009, I've brewed a special X-Mas Ale.

Every year, the beer is a similar base with some "Christmasy" flavoring added.

2009 was an extract kit with Cherries, Almond Extract, Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon, and Cloves.

Over the years, I 've done a Hazelnut X-Mas Ale, Peppermint X-Mas Ales, Cherry Pomegranate  ... all kinds of things.

I've even brewed just the base beer a couple of times.

I got started a bit late this year (much like last year). Generally, it is ideal to have this beer ready for Thanksgiving.

However, this year, I didn't even decide on what I would make until a few days ago. I brewed the beer this past Sunday.

X-Mas Ale 2022

BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines

Back in late 2012 (it blows my mind that it was ten years ago) I started the effort of making sure I had brewed at least one beer in every category of the BJCP Style Guidelines. 

See SheppyBrew Styles. You can also follow the progress on Sheppy's Blog: BJCP Goal 

I made it through all the categories, and shortly after I did, the BJCP made a fairly major update, which meant there were new categories to hit.

See 2015 Style Guidelines.

I know I knocked out most of the categories, but I'm not 100% sure I hit them all. I think I did, but I may have missed one or two. (EDIT ... after going through the list, I see now that there are 3 that I missed. I'm going to have to work on fixing that)

Regardless, we now have another new version of the guidelines. BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines. The 2021 version isn't as much as a total overhaul that 2015 was, so I think I've probably hit as many of the categories as I had before.

But, I thought I'd take some time to take inventory on BJCP Styles that I have and have not brewed ...

2022 Thanksgiving Turkey

Since 2018, it has been my job to make the Thanksgiving turkeys.

I smoke them outside, which is delicious and also frees up the oven to help the wife planning various sides.

Plus, it's fun for me to do.

Win. Win. Win.

This year, of course, I did it again. My wife got me one of the supermarket frozen turkeys that are always on sale, and I started thawing it out the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, I unwrapped the bird and put it in a beer brine made with salt, pepper, brown sugar, and my some extra Dudoc's Red IPA that I had in a growler.

The 3 B's

If you follow along on this blog at all, you quickly realize that most of my posts have something to do with BBQ, Beer (brewing), or Biking.

Quite a few mention two out of the three. Many combine all three.

BBQ, Beer, Biking

Just about every weekend I do at least one activity in each of those categories.

Sometimes when people ask me how my weekend went I just tell them ... "I did the 3 B's".

If it's the first time I've mentioned it to someone, I have to explain, but after that first time, it's never a surprise.

I guess you'd have to say those are my three biggest hobbies. I can also say that during the whole craziness of Covid lockdown, those were big parts of what kept me sane.

L is for Little Dry Creek Brewery

It is amazing to think that the Beer Model and I are already on "L" for this round of our little  A to Z Denver Breweries project.

The wife keeps forcing me out to the breweries.

We posted A is for A Bit Twisted Brewpub in June ... only 5 months ago.

K is for Knuckle Puck Brewery Kombucha & Beer appeared about a week ago.

If my quick math is correct, that's over 2 new breweries visited per month. Crazy!

Regardless, the letter L comes after the letter K, so we needed an "L" brewery.

There are actually a ton of breweries that start with the letter "L" in our area.

Merican Lagers head to head

I don't know if I "said it out loud" on this blog, but I've been wanting to compare my Mr. Awesome Merican Lager to my Jethro Bud Nelson Merican Lite Lager.

They were certainly designed to be different, but I was curious to see how much.

K is for Knuckle Puck Brewery Kombucha & Beer

If you've been following my A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts, you know that I recently posted J is for Jade Mountain Brewery and Teahouse.

That means, of course, that we had to find a "K" brewery next for our 4th round.

In round 1, we visited K is for Kokopelli Beer Company.

In round 2, we visited K is for Kitchen, Lowdown Brewery +.

In round 3, K is for Kettle, Copper Brewing Company.

According to the Colorado Brewery Map & List, we had a couple choices for round 4, but nothing particularly close. So we had to travel a bit for ...

K is for Knuckle Puck Brewery Kombucha & Beer

Riding in the November Cold

I cycled over 110 miles in the cold this weekend. Each day I started early in the morning with the temperatures close to 20F.

Had to rely on my winter "kit" to keep me warm, and even so, my fingers and toes got cold.

But, even so, the rides were fun.

I passed my #5000MilesIn2022 goal early in October, and am now working on completing the #10Everestsin2022 goal.

Sunday I got in another Metric Century to keep my #MetricCenturyEveryMonth goal alive.

According to Strava, I only need about 8000 feet to get to 29,032 for the year. 

2022 Learn to Homebrew Day

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

You might remember this from previous years, but my homebrewing friends "Doc" and "Du" and I try to get together a few times a year to brew together.

Learn to Homebrew Day and Big Brew Day are always great excuses to get together.

The AHA always posts a recipe for these national brewing days. The one they posted for Saturday was LTHD22 Hoppy Amber Ale.

While I don't ever actually use the AHA's recipes, their Hoppy Amber Ale, inspired me to come up with a recipe for a Hoppy Red Ale (aka Red IPA). 

Back in the day, I was a great fan of this style. Remember such classic beers as Quarter Life Crisis and Pompously Illegitimate Red Ale.

Wien Zerschlagen (Batch 323)

I brewed my 7th lager of the year last Sunday.

My 19th batch of beer this year (20th if you count the double bath of McShepardSons Irish Ale as two batches).

Officially, it was the 323rd batch of beer I brewed since I started way back in 2009.

If you've been following along on this blog for the last year or so ... you might have noticed my infatuation with the Vienna Malt from Root Shoot Malting.

Root Shoot is a Colorado malting company, so I've tried to use it quite a bit for the various Colorado Strong beers I've brewed.

The Root Shoot Vienna Malt is darker in color and (in my humble opinion) more rich in flavor than other Vienna Malts.

I feel like it is pretty unique and I use it quite a bit in beers whenever I get my malts from the Brew Hut.

No Pumpkins were harmed in the brewing of this beer

I brewed an Autumn Ale last Sunday.

No pumpkin or pumpkin spice was harmed in the brewing of this beer.

My wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) told me earlier that she didn't want to brew a pumpkin ale this year.

I'm not sure if it was because she didn't like the last one I made or if she got sick of me bitching that the pumpkin spice ale lasted from September to March last time I brewed it.

Regardless, I don't have a problem not brewing a pumpkin spice beer. In fact, I prefer it.

I do really like the name, though. And, I actually have always thought the base beer of my pumpkin beer is really good.

Will-o-Wisp Autumn Ale (no pumpkin)

J is for Jade Mountain Brewery and Teahouse

Well ... if you read I is for {"Immersion Brewing","Immigrant Son Brewery","Independence Brewing","Independent Brewing Company","Insight Brewing Company","Ivanhoe Park Brewing Company"} ... you know we cheated a little on the "I" brewery of our A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts.

Shameless.

We need to get our "J" brewery posted so we can get the taste of that unfortunate post out of our figurative mouths.

I'm glad to say that we actually had a couple of good local brewery choices for our "J" brewery.

Last weekend the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) and I played Pickle Ball, and then we headed out to lunch at a brewery ...

J is for Jade Mountain Brewery and Teahouse

I is for {"Immersion Brewing","Immigrant Son Brewery","Independence Brewing","Independent Brewing Company","Insight Brewing Company","Ivanhoe Park Brewing Company"}

If you're following along on this round of the A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts, you know that we recently checked "H" off the list.

H is for Holidaily Brewing Company (DTC)

If you're familiar with the English alphabet, you realize that next up is "I".

In previous rounds ... "I" has an interesting history to the posts.

The first time through the list, we did I is for IronWorks Brewery and Pub. At the time, it was the only "I" brewery I could find in the Denver area.

By the time we got to round 2, Iron Works had closed, but another "I" brewery had popped up, and we did I is for [The] Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project.

When we got to round 3, Intrepid Sojourner had closed and we headed down to Castle Rock for I is for Iron Mule Brewery.

Thankfully, Iron Mule hasn't closed, but we don't have any more local "I" breweries.

#5000MilesIn2022

On Wednesday October 5th, I passed my Strava goal of cycling 5000 miles in 2022 on a bike ride home from work.

Since then, I've increased my Strava goal to 6000 miles for the year.

The weather is starting to get colder, so I probably won't ride quite as much over the last few months of they year, but an extra 1000 miles shouldn't be too difficult.

As I type this, I still need 753 miles, and I'm 496 ahead of plan to reach it.

I need 26,388 to reach my #10EverestsIn2022 goal. With 2 and a half months left in the year, that should be even more of a sure thing than the mileage goal.

2022 #GABF Pictures

As you saw if you follow SheppyBrew on Instagram or Facebook, the Beer Model and I attended the Great American Beer Festival last weekend.

If you have been following this blog for awhile, you know that we attend the GABF just about every year.

It is always in Denver and as a member of the American Homebrewers Association, I'm allowed to buy tickets before the general public. 

And it is fun, so the Beer Model and I make the effort to get there.

See Sheppy's Blog: GABF to see all the blog posts I've done.

Of course, we have not been since 2019, because it was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.

We attended the Friday night session and the Saturday "brewers only" session again this year.

H is for Holidaily Brewing Company (DTC)

Fairly recently, I posted G is for Golden City Brewery, and if you're familiar with the A to Z Series of posts on this blog, you know I now have to find and type up something on an "H" brewery.

In the G post ... I wrote:

According to the Colorado Brewery Map & List, there are a bunch of "H' breweries in Colorado. However of the ones close to us, we've covered them already. I'm not sure where we'll end up ... but we'll come up with something.

Last time through the alphabet, I used H is for Holidaily Brewing Company.

Somehow I missed it, but my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) pointed out that Holidaily Brewing Company opened a second location. 

I didn't have a better idea for our H brewery ... so ...

H is for Holidaily Brewing Company (DTC)

Mr. Awesome Merican Lager (Batch 321)

Recently, I brewed Jethro Bud Nelson Merican Lite Lager for the second time (see Jethro Bud Nelson (Batch 319)).

For whatever reason ... I've been into Craft American Lagers recently. It seems to be a trend ... and I am following along.

Last time I brewed Jethro Bud Nelson, I didn't get to drink much of it. I took the beer to a family vacation at the Lake of the Ozarks and the family there finished off the keg in a couple of days.

So ... I knew I was going to brew it again sooner rather than later.

As I was Drinking my Merican Lite Lager, I noted that it would be great to have it on tap at the same time as my "Merican Premium Lager" ....

Mr. Awesome Merican Lager

Last Saturday, I kegged the Jethro Bud Nelson, and last Sunday I brewed Mr. Awesome, so I should get the chance to try these two beers side-by-side.

2022 Q3 (and 2) SheppyBrew Stats

Well ... crap ... here it is the end of Q3 ... and I just realized I never reported on SheppyBrew's 2nd Quarter.

Oh well.

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.

You just will not see one for 2022 Q2. I think this is the first quarter I missed since I started doing these updates.

Must be getting old.

So ... just a quick update on the 2nd quarter ... I brewed 5 batches of beer for 26 gallons. There were 2 new recipes during that time, and I brewed 2 lagers.

Colorado Vienna Lager

 

Falling Leaves Autumn Saison (Batch 320)

As you know if you've been following along,  I've been pretty busy cycling over September.

But, of course live goes on. Here it already is ... Autumn.

And at the SheppyBrew Brewery ... Autumn means it is time to brew up one of my Seasonal Saisons ... Falling Leaves Autumn Saison.

2022 is the 9th year I've brewed this beer. 

That last sentence sort of blows my mind away ... where did the time go? I still sort of consider my idea of Seasonal Saisons a newish thing ... but 9 Autumn Saisons says otherwise.

Anyway, last Sunday (not yesterday, the one before that), I brewed up 

Falling Leaves Autumn Saison

As with most of my saisons, I got started the night before and did an overnight mash. I figure saisons are supposed to be dry, so the long mash with temperatures on the lower side of the beta amylase range make the overnight mash perfect.

#1000MileSeptember

If you follow me at all on this blog or facebook or instagram .. you know that I've been participating in the Great Cycle Challenge all last month.

I've pledged to ride September to raise money and awareness for the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

 

G is for Golden City Brewery

Well ... you probably know that I've been doing a ton of riding for the Great Cycle Challenge this month.

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have noticed that last Saturday, I passed up my 1000 mile September.

If you paid attention to Saturday's Instagram post, you also noticed which "G" brewery we picked.

I started off the morning with a 57 mile ride (see #GCCUSA2022 Ride #32), which actually got me over the 1000 mile September.

When I returned, my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) wanted to go on a bike ride too.

So ... we headed out on a ride together (see #GCCUSA2022 Ride #33), and headed out to our "G" brewery.

G is for Golden City Brewery

Jethro Bud Nelson (Batch 319)

I took a little "break" Sunday from all my GCC Riding (sort of).

I had a blood donation in the morning, and so I decided that I would not be doing anything long.

Since I had not brewed in awhile ... last time was August 28th (see Brian Phelps Pale Ale (Batch 318)) ... I thought it would be a good idea to brew beer on a weekend day on which I was not riding a bunch.

So ... I brewed Sunday.

The beer I brewed was one that I brewed earlier in the year ...

I really enjoyed this light refreshing lager ... and my wife's family drank most of it 

Jethro Bud Nelson Merican Lite Lager

Halfway through #GCCUSA2022

It is the 15th of September. We're about halfway through The Great Cycle Challenge.

I've pledged to ride 1000 miles over the course of September to raise money and awareness for the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

Halfway through the month, to be "on track", I need to have completed 500 miles.

I'm a little over that, so I'm doing well.

 

Wednesday Smoked Mac & Cheese

It is time for my oldest son to go back to college, and my wife asked him if he had any requests for meals before he left us.

As always, one of the meals he requested was Smoked Mac and Cheese.

Can't really blame him. My Smoked Mac and Cheese is delicious.

Usually I cook during the weekends and my wife cooks during the week. 

I work at home, so there isn't really a reason I shouldn't cook during the week. My wife just doesn't usually want to let me. 

But for various reasons I wasn't able to get it in the weekend between when it was requested and the weekend he has to return.

So ... I made this batch of Mac and Cheese this past Wednesday. 

N.T.S. Faux vs Actual Pilsner

At the end of July, I brewed a double batch of N.T.S. Faux Pilsner. See Double Batch of N.T.S.

N.T.S. Faux Pilsner was created a Faux Pilsner fermented with Kveik yeast at high temperatures as an experiment to see if I could brew a lager-like beer fermented with crazy-high Kveik fermentation temperatures.

The original NTS batch was a nice beer, but I didn't consider it "lager-like".

One of the reasons I brewed the Double Batch of N.T.S was that I could brew half with Kveik yeast and half with lager yeast and see if I could tell the difference.

Last week, I did a "blind" triangle test to see if I could tell the two beers apart.

F is for FlyteCo Tower

I don't know if you caught it, but in Back to Back Century Rides, I told you to "Stay tuned for F is for ... "

Well ... no need to wait any further ... today is the day you get to see that F is for post I promised.

In case you are wondering what the hell I'm talking about ...

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 Round 1 in February of 2019.

I got through round 2 by November of 2020. I finished round 3 in May of 2022. Now I'm working through round 4.

On Saturday, during my break of the second of two Century Rides, my wife (aka The SheppyBrew Beer Model) wanted to go out to lunch at the "F Brewery" we had picked out.

F is for FlyteCo Tower

Back to Back Century Rides

If you follow me at all on this blog or facebook or instagram .. you know that the Great Cycle Challenge has begun.

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

I've pledged to ride 1000 miles over the course of September to raise money and awareness for the Children's Cancer Research Fund.

1000 miles is a lot of miles. To accomplish it, I have to average 33.3 miles a day, which isn't too bad physically, but takes quite a bit of time.

Brian Phelps Pale Ale (Batch 318)

I'm getting ready to start riding for my Great Cycle Challenge. My 1000 miles starts September 1st, and I'll ride over the course of September to reach that 1000 mile milestone. 

Over the 7 years I've ridden for the challenge, I've "met" several people on the facebook group and on Strava and who I consider friends.

On of my favorites is a dude named Brian Phelps.

Over the years, we've established a friendly competition. We keep an eye on each others' rides and yearly totals. 

I hope that I inspire him almost as much as he inspires me.

When it comes right down to it, it isn't much of a competition. I am always ahead of him early in the year, but it doesn't take long for him to catch me and pass me up.