X-Mas Graff

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

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

What is Graf (or maybe it is Graff)?

According to the Dark Tower Wiki ...

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

N is for New Terrain Brewing Company

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

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

In case you don't know ...

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

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

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

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

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

N is for New Terrain Brewing Company

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

Cubs Win! Munich Dunkel

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

You picked that up ... right?

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

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

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

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

Really really good.

"Alexa ... Open Homebrew"

A couple of weeks ago I received an Amazon Echo.

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

In case you need to refresh your memory ...

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

M is for Mockery Brewing Company

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

Not bad!

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

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

Well ... as a reminder ...

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

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

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

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

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

M is for Mockery Brewing Company

2016 #GABF Members Only

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

And indeed we did.

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

It was awesome.

2016 #GABF Friday Night

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

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

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

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

Enjoy ...

L is for Little Machine Beer

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

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

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

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

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

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

and now I am up to L.

L is for Little Machine Beer

I brewed a peppermint (X-Mas) ale

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2016 Falling Leaves Autumn Saison

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

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

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

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

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

Diamond Lake Trail

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

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

Here are some photos from the hike...

2016 Q3 SheppyBrew Stats

As you may know, the Brewery likes to post quarterly updates on how much we have brewed. You can see all these updates (including the one you are reading right now) by following this link:http://blog.ericshepard.com/search/label/Brew%20Stats .

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

One.

Only one.

• Kucumber Kölsch

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

2016 Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale

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

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

.... Duh! ...

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

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

Pike's Peak Pictures

We drove up Pike's Peak on Saturday.

Here are some pictures ...

Kucumbering the Kölsch

 So ... remember the SheppyBrew Kucumber Kölsch?

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

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

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

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

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

Brewing Laser Salt

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

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

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

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

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

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

K is for Kokopelli Beer Company

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

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

I'll try to do better.

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

Well ... as a reminder ...

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

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

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

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

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

K is for Kokopelli Beer Company

Mt Evans Photos

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

Here are some pictures from the adventure ...

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

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

Kucumber Kölsch

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

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

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

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

Lost Park Backpacking Photos

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

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

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

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

Here are cell phone pictures:

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