I hit 100 Gallons in 2019

If I recorded accurately and did my math correctly, as of Learn to Homebrew Day, the Gnomes, the SheppyBrew Beer Model, and I have brewed 100 gallons of beer this year.

100

Gallons 

of Beer

What the Helles?

The German Beer Styles that have "Helles" (light in German) in their names have so many beer-name puns available to them.

My Second Brisket

So ... a couple months ago I smoked My First Brisket.

This past Sunday, I smoked my second one.

My First Brisket was a 10 pound (9.5 pounds) Choice Grade brisket that I purchased from my local Sam's Club.

It took about 11 hours from the time I put it on the kettle until I pulled it.

This second one was about 13 pounds (12.98) of Prime, also purchased at Sam's. I had intended on smoking this a few weeks ago, but ended up having to freeze it. I only started thawing it out in a water bath on Saturday.

Someone on a facebook group told me I "need" to let it thaw more gradually and to let it "rest" longer after the thaw but before putting it on the smoker.

Obviously I didn't "need" to, but I hope for my third brisket, I'll be able to smoke it without having to freeze and then thaw it.

K is for Kitchen, Lowdown Brewery +

If you've been following along on my A to Z Denver Breweries series ... you might have caught that finding another "K" brewery was going to be tough.

Other than Kokopelli Beer Company ... I don't know of any breweries in the Denver area that start with the letter "K".

I used Kokopelli Beer Company on my first time through the alphabet, so I can't use that one.

Scanning through the Colorado Brewery List, I spotted Lowdown Brewery + Kitchen. "Kitchen" begins with the letter "K". Maybe not ideal, but that appears to be the closest I can get.

I have established a precedent of allowing myself to look for letters elsewhere in the brewery names other than the first word.

See D is for Draw, Boggy and X is for WestFaX Brewing Company.

As an added bonus ... Lowdown Brewery + Kitchen is close to [The] Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project. The SheppyBrew Beer Model communicated displeasure with me for visiting Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project the without her.

We decided to hit these breweries this past Saturday.

K is for Kitchen, Lowdown Brewery +

Learning to Brew Dearg Irish Red (batch 243)

So ... Saturday was Learn to Homebrew Day.

We used this as an excuse to get a brew day done together with a couple of my Home-brewer friends.

At the same time, we invited a bunch of non-homebrewers over to watch and hang out. Sort of like Big Brew Day back in May.

This time, the Brew Day was at my friend "Du"'s brewery.

Less people showed up to this brew day than BBD, but the brewers sure had a lot of fun.

During the Big Brew Day back in May, my friend "Doc" brewed an extract batch. And, I decided that I would do the same thing this time.

I figure that if I'm doing an extract batch, there is less pressure to remember equipment (since there is less equipment for extract than for all-grain.

It also makes the brew day take less time and therefore make the chance of forgetting something in the process less likely.

Most importantly, it means I had less clean-up after the brew day.

So ... I created a quick little extract Irish Red Recipe:

Dearg Irish Red

J is for Jagged Mountain Brewery

If you read I is for [The] Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project, and are at all familiar with the Denver Brewery scene, chances are decent that you probably guessed what my "J" brewery was.

As I mentioned in the blog post, a couple of Saturdays ago, I took a bike ride downtown where I had a couple of beers before hitting The Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project taproom on my way back.

In case you're wondering why I hit "J" before stopping by "I" ... I mis-calculated how long it would take me to ride 15 miles.

When I was passing where to turn off the bike path for The Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project taproom, I figured out that I would get there before opening time.

So, I kept going.

Even so ... I ended up at "J" just a few minutes after opening time.

J is for Jagged Mountain Brewery

Brewing the 2019 X-Mas Ale (Batch 242)

Well ... not too long ago I posted "What will I make .... X-Mas Ale 2019".

I brewed the base beer this past weekend, but I still have not decided what my 2019 X-Mas Ale will be.

The recipe I have on SheppyBrew.com, calls for White Chocolate Flavoring, but I'm not 100% sure that is the direction I want to go.

I don't have to decide until the primary fermentation is done.

We'll see.

This past Sunday was very windy. There was a strong wind warning in area. So, I brewed in the garage.

X-Mas Ale 2019

I is for [The] Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project

As far as I know ... there are not very many "I" breweries in the Denver area. Last time through, I was only able to come up with one, and I've already used that one. (See I is for IronWorks Brewery and Pub)

This time, I was thinking I would have to skip "I" because I couldn't find another one.

However, while going through the list on Denver Brewery Guide, I spotted The Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project. The name starting with "The" made it a little harder to spot, but "Intrepid" certainly starts with the letter "I".

That works for me!

Full disclosure, technically, the brewery has changed its name in the last month. They now call themselves "Next Stop Brew Co.".

However, I do see this still referred to as "Next Stop at the Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project", and I decided I can still use this as my "I" brewery.

So ...

I is for [The] Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project

What will I make .... X-Mas Ale 2019

Every year since I started home-brewing (way back in 2009), I've brewed an X-Mas Ale to have around the holidays.

Over the years, they have been very similar base beers. They range in color from a darker amber ale to a dark brown ale. They range in ABV from around 5.5% to over 8.3%.

Most have had non-traditional beer flavoring. A couple have simply been base beers.

The very first one (2009) was an extract Brown Ale at about 5.7% ABV. Along with the extracts, the beer had Cherries, Honey, Almond Extract, Vanilla Extract, and Ground Cloves.

2019 #GABF Pictures

Well, as you saw if you follow SheppyBrew on Instagram or Facebook, the Beer Model and I attended the Great American Beer Festival again this year.

As always, it was fun.

I didn't do a great job of documenting the beers that I really liked this year. The GABF app changed, making it more difficult to use. I didn't bring paper and pen as I did in past years.

However ... I did note a couple beers / breweries that stood out for me.

I really liked everything I tried at Drake's Brewing Company.  1500 Pale Ale and Smoked Brette Davis Eyes were both fantastic.

There was a Neapolitan Milk Stout at Saugatuck Brewing Company. This isn't the kind of  beer that I would drink a bunch of, but I was really impressed with the way the brewers nailed a beer whose flavors reminded me of the name.

My favorite beer of the first night was "Barrel Aged Edison" from Chapman's Brewing Company.

2019 Q3 SheppyBrew Stats

This year is really flying by. Here is it October and the 3rd Quarter is done.

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.

As you may remember, I didn't brew very many times last quarter, although I did some bigger batches so my volume was still pretty high.

I brewed a whole lot more often in Q3. I brewed 6 batches which yielded a 34 gallons of beer.

Hail Storm Brew Day

• Hail Storm Summer Saison
• Muggled Pale Ale
• Alabama Pelican Brown Porter
• Schreck Gartenzwerg Pilsner
• Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale
• Falling Leaves Autumn Saison

2019 Falling Leaves Autumn Saison (Batch 241)

Until the last couple days ... it really has not felt very Autumn-like in Colorado.

But, it is Autumn ... and you know what that means .... right?

Time to brew my Falling Leaves Autumn Saison.

Last Sunday, I did. I brewed it. I brewed the SheppyBrew Autumn Saison.

Falling Leaves is, of course, the Autumn version of my Seasonal Saisons series of beers. It is darker in color than the Spring and Summer Saisons, but not as dark as the black Winter Saison.

I was just looking at my brew day blog post for the 2018 Autumn Saison . Apparently last year I thought I had pumpkin. Didn't have it. Went to the store to buy some.

This year, I thought I had some. Didn't have it. And decided I didn't need it.

I might be getting lazy in my old age.

Anvil Stainless Bucket Fermenter with Cooling System (Part 1)

As I mentioned in the Schreck Gartenzwerg Pilsner post, I treated myself to a new Anvil Stainless Bucket Fermenter.

It's nice. I like it. Not sure it will brew beer any better, but it looks cool. It should be easy to clean. I like having a valve to take samples. It is sturdier than my plastic fermentors. It's an upgrade to what I have now.

Actually, the reason I got this particular fermentor is that I was thinking about ways of temperature control (especially for lagers) without taking up space in a refrigerator or freezer.

H is for Halfpenny Brewing Company

I modified the rules a little bit for my "H" brewery.

I made the rules, so I can modify them. If you don't like it, go visit your own set of breweries A to Z.

As I mentioned in "G is for Goldspot Brewing Company", I only knew of one "H" brewery in the Denver area that I have not visited.

But ... I didn't want to go to that one.

The "H" brewery I'm thinking of is a Gluten Free brewery, and I don't really like any of the Gluten Free beers I've had.

I just like my Glutens too much.

At some point, I should give this place a chance ... maybe my third time through the alphabet.

But, rather than pick a brewery I wasn't excited about this time around, I picked another brewery. It is a brewery that I've been to one time. That one time, I had one beer. I never mentioned it on this blog.

Until now ...

H is for Halfpenny Brewing Company

2019 Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale (batch 240)

Pumpkin. Spice. Ale.

If you follow this blog at all ... you probably know that the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) enjoys drinking Pumpkin Spice Ales.

Mid September, 2014, I brewed my first Pumpkin Spice Ale. Mostly, I did it to make my wife happy.

Happy wife. Happy life.

I'm not proud of it, but I am pretty good at brewing Pumpkin Spice Ales.

I'll even drink some of mine without complaining too much.

It being close to mid-September, now is the time to brew a Pumpkin Spice Ale for it to be ready by Pumpkin Spice season.

So, last weekend, I made the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) help me brew. (I actually can't make my wife do anything she doesn't already want to do).

Since it has been such a hit in the past, we left the recipe pretty much the same as it has been since 2014 ...

Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale

My First Brisket

This past weekend, I smoked a brisket.

Honestly, the fact that it took me so long to smoke one is somewhat embarrassing. There really is no excuse.

If I'm honest ... I was a little scared of briskets.

I can't always find brisket at my Sam's club, and often when I see one it is really more expensive than I want to pay.

Part of the reason it took me so long to do one is that I'm nervous about screwing it up. A brisket is not nearly as "forgiving" as "pork butt" ... or at least that is what I've heard / read / seen.

And it takes a long time to smoke a brisket. It sort of sucks to spend all day making something that turns out less than awesome.

But a few weeks ago, briskets were on sale and I grabbed a 10 pound packer. I had intended to smoke it sooner, but my plans changed and I ended up freezing that brisket.

This past weekend is when I finally got around to doing it. Turns out I didn't really have to be afraid.

Schreck Gartenzwerg Pilsner (Batch 239)

I brewed a couple weekends ago. As you may remember, I wanted to brew more lagers and more new recipes this year.

The last lager I brewed was "Bridge Fog California Common" back at the end of March, and I thought it was past time to brew another.

I recently won some money and I had decided to treat myself to an Anvil Stainless Bucket Fermenter with part of those winnings.

And ... part of the reason I decided to go with Anvil was because it has a cooling system that goes with the "bucket".

I hope to write more about the Anvil Stainless Bucket Fermenter and its cooling system in later blog posts ... stay tuned for that.

Those two things arrived the Friday before, and it was a no-brainer to brew a lager over the weekend.

The recipe I came up with was a German Pilsner:

Schreck Gartenzwerg Pilsner

Another Overnight Pork Butt

Soooooo ... Remember back in May, I did an Overnight Cook on my Weber Kettle using the snake method.

Set up charcoal around the perimeter of the kettle in a "snake", light up one end, and let it burn. The burning coals will light unlit coals slowly until they are all burned out.

I was able to get over 12 hours of fairly consistent heat this way. Perfect for allowing myself to get sleep while performing a long smoke.

Last weekend, I used this technique again. This time, I wasn't shooting for lunch time, but wanted to be done early afternoon so I could let it sit until dinner while actually doing things on Sunday afternoon.

Chicken and Hatch Chile Stew

In Smoked Green Chili Hashbrown Egg Bake, I mentioned that at my work, we have this "Friday Breakfast Club". People on one of my teams take turns bringing in breakfast for the rest of the group every Friday.

Recently, one of my people brought in what he called "Chicken and Hatch Chile Stew".

I really liked it and thought it would be a good thing to make to help me use up left over smoked meat.

This past Saturday, my family wanted to go to Saturday night church (I was out-voted as I usually am).

When we go to church on Saturday night, I try to make something I can throw in the Crock-pot. And it seemed like a good opportunity to try this "Chicken and Hatch Chile Stew".

G is for Goldspot Brewing Company

If you were following along during the D, E, F posts, you might have thought I was going to knock of a "G" Brewery at the same time.

A short block away from De Steeg is The Grateful Gnome Sandwich Shoppe and Brewery.

And ... if you look closely at the collage on each of the D, E, F posts, you can make out a flight that shows the logo of Golden City Brewery.

While both are great "G" breweries, we've been to both, so I could not use them for my A to Z Denver Breweries Project. It just isn't allowed.

Unless I changed the rules.

So ... you know two breweries that I didn't use.

Unless I changed the rules

If you remembered my first time through the alphabet or wanted to look it up, you would have known that I wouldn't pick Great Frontier Brewing Company, because I've already done that one.

Unless I changed the rules

Big G little g. What begins with G? (Goat and Googoo Googles?)

Goldspot Brewing Company G G G.