Anvil Foundry ... 15 Batches in

 I've been brewing with my Anvil Foundry All-in-One Brewing System since early November. If you want ... you can go back to my first brew day with it (see Bud Lite Lime (271) on the Anvil Foundry). You can see many of those brew days at Sheppy's Blog: Anvil.

If I'm counting correctly, my Helles in a Hand Bock-sket (Batch 285) brew day was the 15th time I've brewed on the Foundry.

That's something like 78 gallons of beer I've brewed on the system.

Overall, I really like the Foundry. There are awesome advantages. There are also some minor annoyances. 

I don't think I'm going to get rid of my old  mash-tun-in-a-cooler and propane-burner system any time soon.

Helles in a Hand Bock-sket (Batch 285)

For a really short amount of time, I thought it would be awesome to enter homebrew competitions.

I thought it would be fun and I thought it would be a good way to get feedback on my beer.

In 2013, I entered 3 competitions, and in two of those competitions, I came away with blue ribbons.

The first one was at my local homebrew shop. I entered two beers. One wasn't really ready. The other wasn't really in the right style.

I didn't win anything in that first competition.

My second competition was the 2013 National Homebrew Competition Denver Regional. I did come away with a first place win in that one.

My third and final competition was the "Battle of the Homebrews" in the 2013 Arapahoe County Fair.

My beer got a blue ribbon in its category and placed second in "Best of Show". Honestly, I thought the judges really picked a great beer.

Helles in a Hand Bock-sket

Easter BBQ

My wife (aka The SheppyBrew Beer Model) let me decide what to have for Easter dinner this year.

Awesome.

Around holidays, I enjoy getting Ribeye Roasts because they are generally about half the price as usual around holidays. 

And, I figured I'd pick one up for Easter this year.

Because ... I like to cook them on my smokers. And ... because I really like eating them.

Yum!

When I got to my local grocery store to pick one up, there were two available. They were both around 12 pounds.

A 12 pound Ribeye Roast is more meat than a family of 4 needs, but I have a vacuum sealer and a freezer, so I figured I could save half for some other time.

2021 Q1 SheppyBrew Stats

Q1 of 2021 is already over, which means its time to report our brewing stats for the year so far.

Continuing on the trend from last year, I brewed a ridiculous amount of beer over the first 3 months of the year.

The first quarter of 2020, I brewed 7 whole batches with 35 gallons. In 2021, I brewed even more in Q1 ... 

I brewed 8 batches and 42 gallons of beer.

Arctic Vortex Winter Saison

Going Vegan

I think I should go vegan. 

Meat is evil and unhealthy, and I cannot continue to support the institutionalized exploitation of animals to satisfy my nutritional needs.

I feel like I have to demonstrate true compassion for animals by discontinuing to capitalize on their suffering to make my clothing or other products that make my life more luxurious.

If by restricting my diet to plant based nutrition can save even one Cow or Pig or Chicken ... I feel like it is the least I can do.

And, of course it isn't about me, but as veganism is healthier, I will lose weight. Reduce cholesterol. Get my blood pressure under control.

I'll be able to lift  more weight and I'll live longer. With reduced body weight, I'll be faster and stronger on the bike. 

Metric Century and Beef Flanken Short Ribs

March has been fairly snowy in Denver. 

It is nice to get the snow, but snowy weather makes getting in bike rides a little challenging.

I can always ride in the gym on a stationary bike, but that isn't nearly as fun. Plus that doesn't do me any good on my #10Everestsin2021 goal.

This past weekend, the weather was great for cycling, and Saturday I started out early with the intention of gaining a lot of elevation.

My legs were not "feeling it", so I changed my route to move away from the big climbs fairly early in the ride.

I decided that this ride would not be much more than a "recovery" ride.

Updating the Homebrew Colorado 6 pack

If you've been following my 6 Pack Project posts, you know that I matched up 6 of my homebrew recipes with my Colorado 6 pack list that I put together back in 2013.

As I was brewing beers in my Homebrew Colorado 6 pack, I noted that 3 out of the 6 beers no longer existed at their commercial breweries, so I was unable to compare my beers to the beers that they were meant to represent.

Melting Stream and Spare Ribs

In February of 2014, I brewed Arctic Vortex Winter Saison for the first time.

Since that day, I've been brewing at least one saison for every season.

I call these series of beers, my Seasonal Saisons.

Summer. Autumn. Winter. Spring. 

They all use French Saison yeast except the rare occurrence that my LHBS is out of stock and I have to substitute some other yeast. 

They are all dry with simple malt bills. They are all fairly hoppy and use mostly noble hops.

None of them use spices or other flavor additives other than malt / water / hops / yeast.

They range in color from very light (summer) to very dark (winter).

Obviously, I find these beers delicious (otherwise I would stop brewing them).

As this past weekend was the beginning of Spring 2021, it was time to brew my Spring Saison ....

Melting Stream Spring Saison

Smoked Mac-n-Cheese

My son is home from college for Spring Break.

His favorite thing I smoke is Smoked Mac and Cheese, and so I made a batch this past Saturday.

He also wanted to go hiking on Saturday. Since my kids don't get up until fairly late in the day, I prepared the Mac and Cheese in the morning so I could just throw it on the smoker in the afternoon.

If you would like to see the recipe ... go to my blog post Smoked Mac and Cheese. 

It is basically the recipe I (sort of) followed.

I started by cooking the bacon on my grill.

As the bacon was cooking, I started the sauce inside on our stove.

BBQ in the Snow

This past weekend, it snowed a lot in the Denver area. Like a historic amount of snow between late morning Saturday and Sunday night.

I don't know exactly how much snow we got here, but there were drifts over 4 feet in my driveway and yard.

Most of the day Sunday, the roads were pretty much unpassable without high-clearance four wheel drive.

Lactic Pickles and Jalapeno Sauerkraut

It's been awhile since I posted about making Fermented Food or Sauerkraut partially because its been quite awhile since I've made any Fermented Food.

It actually keeps a really long time.

A weekend or two ago, I used up a jar of homemade Sauerkraut, and I needed to make more.

When my wife last asked me if I wanted anything at the grocery store, I mentioned that I wanted cabbage, jalapenos, and cucumbers. 

Obviously, to make some Lactic Fermented Food.

Today, I prepared some Lactic Pickles and Jalapeno Sauerkraut to ferment over the next week or so.

2nd Everest of 2021

As I mentioned in  #10Everestsin2021 - February Progress Report, I am on track to climb the elevation of Mt. Everest 10 times in 2021.

On Monday, March 8, I went on a ride that brought my total for the year up over 59,803 feet.

As I'm sure you know, Mt Everest is 29,032 feet high. 2 x 29,032 = 58,064. 

So, I've climbed Everest a little more than twice so far this year. (2.06 Everests)

Galena Dave's Pale Lager (Batch 283)

I was going to brew Sunday. Then I didn't.

I actually had Monday off work, so on Sunday I thought I was going to brew Monday. 

Later on Sunday, I decided that I wouldn't brew the next day. 

I was on a walk Monday morning when I thought that it was silly to not brew on my day off.

And then I decided to brew. 

If I had followed through with the original plan, I would have done an over-night mash, so by waffling like I did, I totally engaged in the kind of delay I complain about when the SheppyBrew Beer Model brews with me.

Oh well.

I had the ingredients all ready for ...

Galena Dave's Pale Lager

#10Everestsin2021 - February Progress Report

Don't forget ... I'm raising money to help fight Childhood Cancer by signing up for the Great Cycle Challenge again this year.

My plan is to ride 1000 miles in September. Between now and then, I'll beg for people to donate money on my GCC Rider Page:

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

If you can afford it ... head over there and make a donation. I'd really appreciate the support. If you don't want to do it now ... don't worry ... I'll be reminding you at least once a month until at least the end of October.

If you're my facebook friend or follow the SheppyBrew Facebook Page, I'll nag you even more often. Sorry. (not really that sorry)

More Spare Ribs on the Kettle

I smoked some spare ribs on my Weber Kettle last Saturday.

Last time I posted about spare ribs, I mentioned that I haven't really figured out how to best fit them on the kettle.

I think I've settled on trimming them to square them up (what some people call St. Louis Style).

But then, I add the extra pieces on as well.

Last Saturday I tried doing a (sort of) snake method over half the kettle and placing the two racks on the indirect heat half of the kettle.

I think I like this setup more than other things I've tried.

I may have found my preferred set up for spare ribs on my Weber Kettle. Or maybe I'll try something different next time. 

Sin Lima Mexican Lager (Batch 282)

Believe it or not, I've been using my Anvil Foundry for almost 4 months. 

At the beginning of November of last year, I used it for the first time to brew Bud Lite Lime (271) on the Anvil Foundry.

I named the beer "Bud Lite Lime" as a joke.

It isn't anything like "Bud". It isn't really that "Lite". It doesn't use any "Lime".

I really enjoyed the beer. It is one of those beers that the SheppyBrew Beer Model also really enjoyed.

One thing I mentioned in "SheppyBrew 2020 Year-End Brewing Stats" is "I do think I want to work a little on my Mexican lagers 2021". When I wrote that, Bud Lite Lime was the beer I was specifically thinking of.

I think I'd like to have it on tap a lot this year.

KFC take 2

A few weeks ago, I made Kettle Fried Chicken (KFC) for the first time.

As I mentioned in that post, I like it, but I wanted to play around with KFC and see how to make improvements.

Sunday, I had chicken thighs ready to cook and decided to give KFC a second try.

This time, I simplified the recipe.

Rather than an egg / buttermilk wash, I used cooking oil to help bind the dry ingredients.

I only applied one layer of the dry ingredients.

As I mentioned in the "Brisket in the Cold", the outdoor temperatures were right around 0 degrees all weekend, so I used a lot of charcoal in my kettle.

Brisket in the Cold

Last week, while in Sam's Club I saw an 11 lb USDA Prime Brisket. 

When I see one around 10 lbs, I am always very tempted to pick it up. 

I succumbed to the temptation, which of course meant I had to cook it up this past weekend.

It was cold in Denver over the weekend. Much colder than we're used to here on the front range.

The high I saw on Saturday was something like 3 degrees F, and most of the day was colder than that.

I don't know for sure, but I'm fairly sure I've never smoked a big hunk of meat on such a cold day, so I was a little nervous about keeping my smoking temps up.

Even so, I was pretty sure my Kettle would be able to do it, so I gave it a try.

Quarter Life Crisis (Batch 281)

Recently, I turned 40 years of age. Recent is a  relative term.

Even more recently, I turned 50. Time flies when you are having fun.

To be honest, I'm now significantly over 50. I think with all the biking I've been doing over the past few years, I might be in better shape than I was at 40.

At least I'm in better cycling shape.

Anyway, when I turned 40, I thought it might be a good idea to have a quarter life crisis, since I was obviously too young to have a mid-life crisis. 

I never did get around to having that quarter life crisis, but I did brew

Quarter Life Crisis Hoppy Red Ale

Stouticus vs. Left Hand Milk Stout

As I mentioned in 2021 Stouticus American Stout (batch 278) ... I brewed my final beer in my Homebrew Colorado 6 pack.

Stouticus American Stout

Stouticus represented Left Hand Brewing Company's Milk Stout, which is still an iconic Colorado beer.

Unlike some of the beers in my Colorado Six Pack, actually still exists, so I was able to compare my homebrewed beer to the commercial beer it is meant represent.

To be honest, though,  Stouticus wasn't really designed to clone Left Hand's Milk Stout.

And ... they are significantly different.

Regardless, I thought it would be fun to try Stouticus and Left Hand side by side.