Easter Brisket

I like brisket. I like making brisket. I like eating brisket. It's GUUUUD.

I would probably make it more if it wasn't usually quite so big. 

A 10 pound brisket is about perfect to fit on my 22 inch Weber Kettle, but it is rare to find a brisket in my local Sam's Club (which is where I get my briskets) under 15 pounds.

15 pounds is just a little too big. I can make it work, but it isn't ideal.

So ... whenever I see a 10 pound Prime "packer" brisket at my Sam's Club, I grab it.

Well ... about a week and a half before Easter, I saw an 11 pound packer brisket at Sam's. Close enough. I grabbed it.

Pressure Transfer 0 for 2

Well ... I'm 0 for 2 on pressure transfers.

The first failure (Pressure Fermentation (sort of) Fail) was really a bone-headed mistake. Really I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing.

My second failure doesn't make much sense to me. I know how I'm going to adjust next time, but I'm not sure why this time was as bad as it was.

Anyway ... I brewed No Drums Jack Black Lager (Batch 331) on March 26th. Fermentation started off great. I was seeing signs of fermentation very quickly.

This time I set the spunding pressure to 20psi. I think this was my mistake. I should have had a lower pressure so carbonation wasn't so high during the eventual transfer.

2023 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

Here it is ... already April, which means that the first quarter of 2023 is done. It's time to report on the  SheppyBrew Brewing Stats for the quarter.

I keep claiming that I will brew less beer in 2023 than I did last year, but so far I have not slowed down. At all.

Last year, in Q1, I had brewed 5 batches, 30 gallons.

This year so far I've brewed 6 batches for 31 gallons. 

• Grumkins and Snarks Oatmeal Stout
• Arctic Vortex Winter Saison
• Doodle Bop Belgium Single
• Mardi Bock
• Dubbel Minor
• No Drums Jack Black Lager

Grumkins and Snarks Oatmeal Stout

T is for Tommyknocker Brewery

Well ... as I'm sure you know if you've been following along on the A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts, we've made our way all the way through "S" in our 4th round.

We posted S is for 6 and 40 Brewery just a couple weeks ago.

If you're at all familiar with our concept ... it doesn't take much intellectual ability to figure out that next we need a "T" brewery.

There are tons of "T" breweries on the Colorado Brewery Map & List.

However, after filtering out breweries the start with "The", breweries that are too far away from our house, and breweries we've already blogged about in the A to Z Denver Breweries list ... there is really only one good choice....

T is for Tommyknocker Brewery

Tapache!

While going down the whole Ginger Bug rabbit hole, I came across another home-made-soda-type drink called "Tepache".

"What is Tepache?" you ask:

Tepache is a fermented beverage made from the peel and the rind of pineapples, and is sweetened either with piloncillo or brown sugar, seasoned with powdered cinnamon, and served cold.

The natural bacteria and yeast on the pineapple rind ferments the liquid, but not enough for much alcohol.

I thought I'd have to give it a try, and had my wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model) pick up a pineapple from the grocery store.

No Drums Jack Black Lager (Batch 331)

As I was composing 2021 BCJP Styles to Brew, I was thinking about what I'd like to brew next.

The first style on that list is 2C. International Dark Lager, and as I'm playing around with Pressure Fermentation of Lagers, a Dark Lager seemed like a good choice.

One of the commercial examples of the a Dark Lager is Shiner Bock.

I came across BYO's Shiner Bock clone. One of the ingredients on the clone jumped out at me ...

Grits.

I've never brewed with grits, but I've considered trying it out as a replacement for flaked or popcorn that I've used in other recipes.

I wasn't really that interested in brewing a Shiner Bock clone, but I decided to make my own recipe of an International Dark Lager using grits in the fermenatables.

Hostile Takeover of SheppyBrew

The beer model has been plotting with big beer to execute a hostile takeover of SheppyBrew Brewery.

Shocking, I know. I feel like I've been stabbed in the back.

 

Grumkins and Poppers

My oldest son was home from college this past week. He had never had my homemade Jalapeño Poppers, so I thought I'd better make some.

If you need the recipe ... see Jalapeño Poppers. They are awesome, and everyone should make them from time to time.

I had some of my Grumkins and Snarks Oatmeal Stout while grilling the poppers and chicken.

If you follow along on my Brewing Notes on the Grumkins and Snarks recipe page, you probably read that I have really been enjoying this beer.

Ginger Beer

Remember my Ginger Bug post? If not ... feel free to go off and read it.

Go ahead. I'll wait.

Obviously, I didn't make the Ginger Bug for the sake of making Ginger Bug. 

I had to do something with it. Hopefully I'll make several things with it.

I decided to start with Ginger Beer.

I mentioned the @FermentationAdventure Youtube Channel in the Ginger Bug post, and they have lots of videos where they use their Ginger Bug to make homemade sodas.

For my version of Ginger Beer, I decided to use lemonade / limeade as a base.

More Chicken in the Vortex

Well ... like I mentioned in Whole Chicken in the Dutch Oven, I was pretty sure that next time I grilled a whole chicken I would do it in the Vortex ...

... Like I did in Whole Chicken in the Vortex ...

... and ... Another Whole Chicken in the Vortex ...

Lots of people say spatchcock is the best way to cook birds, but I have not found spatchcocking to make my birds turn out as good as cooking the whole thing upright like beer can chicken.

Cooking the bird upright on the kettle brings the top of the chicken close to the lid of the kettle, so at some point I decided to try to cook on the charcoal grate rather than the cooking grate.

The Vortex (or the Dutch Oven) protect the meat from too much direct heat while allowing the bird to be down with the coals.

S is for 6 and 40 Brewery

Well ... if I'm counting correctly, we only have 8 more letters in the alphabet to finish up round 4 of our little A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts.

We're flying through the alphabet!

We posted A is for A Bit Twisted Brewpub mid-June of 2022 and a little over a month ago we posted R is for River North Brewery.

And ... now ... of course we needed an S brewery ...

The Colorado Brewery List has tons of "S" breweries to choose from. 

But when it came right down to it, there was really only one I thought we should visit.

S is for 6 and 40 Brewery

2021 BCJP Styles to Brew

So you know that as of 17B. Old Ale, I have successfully brewed at least one beer in all 2021 BJCP Categories.

Well ... actually, since "I Lied" ... this isn't technically true, but let's pretend that we're still in the days where we didn't really realize there additional categories past 27. Historic Beer. I promise that I'll get to 28. American Wild Ale and 33. Wood Beer at some point this year. 

But ... I spent the time typing up this post before I realized that I Lied, and I hate to think I've wasted that effort.

Looking through the guidelines, there are still lots of individual styles I'd like to brew, so I think I'm going to start seeing how many I can get through before the next version of the Guidelines come out.

I don't think I want to brew one of every style because there are a couple I don't really think I'd like to drink.

If I'm counting correctly, there are 42 styles of beer (see below) that I need to brew to have one batch of each in the guidelines (WOW!).

For now, I'll remove Historical Beers, Sours, and 3 "Specialty" IPA's that I don't really like to drink.

I'll also remove Eisbock and Rauchbier for now.

If my math / counting is correct ... that leaves 25 styles of beers to brew. That will almost certainly take me over a year, especially because I won't JUST be brewing these.

But ... here are a list of styles that I have not brewed yet ... 

Ginger Bug

So ... after my Ginger Kombucha post, I have gone down a few youtube rabbit holes which have lead me to being interested in homemade sodas.

This lead me to making a Ginger Bug starter last week.

Considering how long I've been border-line obsessed with fermentation, I'm a little surprised I have not come across ginger bug until last week, but I had not heard of it until I started watching youtube videos on Ginger Beer.

What is Ginger Bug?

A ginger bug is a wild-fermented starter culture made with sugar, ginger, and water. It takes about a little less than a week of daily diligence to make one, and you can use it to make probiotic, naturally bubbly soft drinks, sodas, herbal beers, and tonics.

 

I lied

I lied!

As of 17B. Old Ale, I claimed to have successfully brewed at least one beer in all 2021 BJCP Categories.

Well, apparently, I completely missed entire categories after 27. HISTORICAL BEER.

For some reason, I thought the Historical Beer category was at the end. There were a couple more pages to go:

17B. Old Ale

After brewing Grumkins and Snarks Oatmeal Stout (Batch 326) and Doodle Bop Belgium Single (batch 328), I have successfully brewed at least one beer in all 2021 BJCP Categories.

In Followup on BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines, I also wrote that I also needed a beer in Category 17, Strong British Ale.

However after a little research and thinking about it some ... I decided that I have actually satisfied this category with some of my bottled X-Mas Ales from previous years.

Specifically ... 17B. Old Ale.

"A stronger-than-average English ale, though usually not as strong or rich as an English Barley Wine, but usually malty. Warming. Shows positive maturation effects of a well-kept, aged beer.

Deep amber to very dark reddish-brown color, but most are fairly dark. Age and oxidation may darken the beer further. Clear, but can be almost opaque. Moderate to low cream- to light tan-colored head; retention average to poor."

Pressure Fermentation (sort of) Fail

As I'm typing this blog post, I'm drinking the Mardi Bock that I brewed on Super Bowl Sunday. 

You may recall (if you read that article) that this is the first (and so far the only) batch on which I've used my new 7.9 Gallon Fermenter King Chubby.

I got the "Chubby" because I thought it would be fun / interesting / educational to try Pressure Fermentation.

Pressure fermentation is the process of fermenting beer inside a closed and pressurized vessel. 

Typical fermentations allow CO2 to escape the fermenter through an airlock or blow-off tube. In pressurized fermentation, the fermenter is sealed and the CO2 produced by the fermentation is trapped inside.

You can't just let all the pressure remain in the fermenter, you need a valve that allows pressure to escape above a certain psi. This valve is called a "spunding" valve.

Dubble Minor at Du's Brewery

Well ... damn ... in SheppyBrew 2022 Year End Brewing Stats, I mentioned that I would probably brew less this year than I have for the past few "covid" years.

But, as of now, I'm on track to brew 160 gallons, which is about as much as I brewed in 2020.

Despite evidence to the contrary, I do still think my 2023 totals will be down. It's still early in the year.

But, for now, I'm brewing a bunch.

I brewed this past weekend, because my friend "Du" invited my friend "Doc" and me to his house in Ft. Collins.

It would have been rude to say "no". So ... on Saturday, I traveled to brew a new recipe ... 

Dubbel Minor

Ginger Kombucha

Since Sauerkraut Yogurt Kombucha in 2023, I've pretty regularly been "brewing" up kombucha.

I've brewed 4 batches this year. 2 green tea and 2 black tea. 

One of those black tea batches is currently carbonating with Black Cherry Pomegranate juice right now.

One of those green tea batches is in the kombucha jar right now, fermenting.

 

R is for River North Brewery

Ok ... we got through "Q" fairly unscathed in our A to Z Denver Breweries series of posts.

We're getting close to the end of Round 4.

Next up ... "R", which you can probably deduce is much more straight forward than "Q" was.

The Colorado Brewery List has tons of "R" breweries to choose from.

In fact, it was a little intimidating to choose just one.

As luck would have it, I actually got an e-gift card from my employer for one of the local "R" breweries ... and that basically made the decision for me.

Well, technically it narrowed the choices down considerably, because this brewery has two locations ...

R is for River North Brewery

Mardi Bock and other Sunday Activities

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday. 

It was also my first Brew Day after Fixing the Foundry.

And ... it was my first brew in which I'm using a new toy and trying out Pressure Fermentation.

Of course, it being Super Bowl Sunday, I had to make food for the game.

And ... it was beautiful out, so obviously I had to get a bike ride in.

It was a busy day for me.

I was up ridiculously early. Not necessarily because I wanted to be. I just couldn't sleep.

But, regardless, I woke up at 4:00am. I sort of half heartedly tried to go back to sleep, but it was not happening. I got up and started brewing ....

Mardi Bock

Whole Chicken in the Dutch Oven

So ... remember Another Whole Chicken in the Vortex?

At some point I realized that I could basically do the same thing in a cast iron Dutch oven.

So ... fairly recently I gave it a try.

It was a snowy work day back in January. 

I placed the Dutch oven down on the charcoal grate and place lit charcoal around it. 

The chicken went on the Beer Can stand up in the middle.

You can see what I mean in the following pictures.

Basically the same as in the Vortex ... only in the Dutch oven.

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.