2021 Thanksgiving Turkey

This past Thursday (yesterday) was Thanksgiving.

The Sheppy Family generally eats turkey on Thanksgiving. 

Weird ... right? (no not really)

Since 2018 ... I've been in charge of cooking the turkey (see Cherry Wood Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey).

It generally turns out better smoking it on the grill than in the oven. Plus, it is one less thing we have to juggle the plans around what gets cooked in the oven.

Plus, I really enjoy doing it.

So ... 2021 Thanksgiving was my forth time smoking the Thanksgiving turkey.

YUM!

At some point, my wife picked up a 14 pound frozen turkey from our local King Sooper. The kind that is always on sale this time of year.

300,000 feet in 2021

According to Strava, over the weekend, I passed 300,000 feet climbed on my bikes this year.

#10EverestsIn2021

300,000 feet was my yearly goal for 2021. I still have over a month of cycling to go before the end of the year, but with the cold weather, I probably won't do a whole lot of climbing in the next month.

As I mentioned when I first mentioned the goal, to get to 300,000 feet in the year, I was going to have to average 822 feet climbed every day. 

That is quite a bit. As of today, I've averaged 928 feet per day, which is even more. This is certainly the most climbing I've done in my life.

For what it is worth, I've also cycled more miles this year than last year, which makes this the highest number of miles I've ever ridden in a year. 

Not bad for an old couch potato.

I'm not sure what cycling goals I'll have for next year. We'll see what I come up with.

Stay tuned and you can find out ... Sheppy's Blog: Biking

P is for Prost Brewing Company

2021 started out pretty slow for my A to Z Denver Breweries series of blog posts.

It was December of last year that I posted C is for Cerveceria Colorado.

Mostly due to covid guidance, it wasn't until May until I posted D is for Dead Hippie Brewing.

I got in E is for Evergreen Brewery a couple weeks later.

Then, it was another couple months before I posted F is for Fiction Beer Company.

After that, though the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) and I have been speeding through the alphabet. We seem to be making pretty good progress.

We got from "F" to O is for Oasis Brewery pretty quickly. 

Now ... as you can imagine if you've been paying attention ... it is time for a "P" brewery. As I mentioned, I had a brewery in mind.

Big P Little P what begins with P?

P is for Prost Brewing Company

Mr. Awesome vs. Mountain Time

As you may remember if you follow this blog ... not too long ago I brewed Mr. Awesome Merican Lager (Batch 300).

This is my first recipe that I've called an American Lager style of beer. 

I was inspired by New Belgium's Mountain Time Premium Lager, which has become a favorite local commercial beer for the Beer Model and myself over the summer.

I kegged a couple of weeks ago. I added gelatin a couple days later, and it has been carbonating since then.

I poured some a couple days ago and noticed its carbonation and clarity was about perfect. Not to mention it was delicious.

I had some Mountain Time in the fridge and thought it would be fun to compare the two beers.

So, I did.

Learn to Homebrew Day: Dudocs English Mild (301)

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

This year, my friend "Doc" decided he wanted to host a brew day, so I packed up my equipment and traveled to his brewery.

The recipe that I designed for this brew day, was Dudocs English Mild.

It is a pretty simple English Mild recipe fermented with Lallemand Voss Kveik Ale Yeast.

It should be an easy drinking flavorful dark, malty session beer. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

As usual, I started the mash at home and let the amylase enzyme do their thing while I was driving.

This way, when I got to Doc's I just had to drain the wort into the kettle and start heating to boil.

10th Everest of 2021

According to Strava, I've climbed 291,913 feet on my bikes this year. This means I passed up my 10th Everest in my #10Everestsin2021 goal.

Mission accomplished. Sort of.

For my official Strava climbing goal, I rounded up to 300,000 feet. (see #10Everestsin2021), so I still have some climbing to do over the next couple months.

With shorter days, especially with the end of daylight savings time, I'll have less time to bike outside, so I'll probably slow down.

Even so, another 8,000 feet should be easy to accomplish.

I'll probably let you know when I pass up 300,000 feet. Follow Sheppy's Blog: #10Everestsin2021 to see.

Go Bears!

O is for Oasis Brewery

It is somewhat amazing that I'm already over halfway through my 3rd round of the A to Z Denver Breweries series of blog posts.

As a reminder ...

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 my first round in February of 2019 with A to Z Denver Breweries.

I finished round 2 in November of 2020 with  A to Z Denver Breweries Round 2. 

Now, I'm up to "O" in round 3. As I mentioned in N is for Novel Strand Brewing Company, we had actually visited our "O" brewery already. I just had to write and publish this post.

O is for Oasis Brewery

Caliente Fuerte Mexican Stout (Batch 300)

When I bought my Anvil Foundry ... there were two main reasons I thought I would like electric brewing. 

The first thing is something I take advantage of quite a bit ... I can set a timer on the Foundry to start heating strike water while I'm sleeping so that I can start brewing right when I get up in the morning.

The other big thing is that the electric boil doesn't get affected by a windy day as much as my propane burner.

As I've brewed with the Foundry, there are two disadvantages I've found over my old mash tun / propane burner system.

The first disadvantage isn't that big of a deal to me, but especially for bigger ABV brews, my mash efficiency isn't as good as it was with the "older" method.

The second disadvantage is that it takes much longer to get from mash temperature to boiling. Generally, it takes about 45 minutes to get from 155 degrees to 200, which is boiling for me at my high-altitude.

N is for Novel Strand Brewing Company

It has been awhile since we biked to M is for Mountain Toad Brewing.

I actually don't think the Beer Model had been on her bike at all since Mountain Toad.

But this past weekend, we decided to continue our exploration of A to Z Denver Breweries.

As I mentioned in M is for Mountain Toad Brewing, there was really only one logical choice for our "N" brewery.

I'd actually ridden my bike by this brewery a couple times on my various biking journeys.

It is a nice ride from our Home Brewery along bike paths to ...

N is for Novel Strand Brewing Company 

Rocktoberfest vs. Odell's Oktoberfest

In Mid-September, I brewed  Rocktoberfest Lager (Batch 296). It was the 7th time I've brewed this beer, although I had not brewed it since 2018 before this batch.

I have a few cans of Odell Brewing Company's Oktoberfest Marzen Style Lagers in my beer fridge and thought I'd do a quick comparison. 

Stylistically, my Rocktoberfest Lager design is right in the middle of Style Guidelines for OG and Color. 

It's actually on the low end for ABV. It's on the high end for bitterness.

Mr. Awesome Merican Lager (Batch 300)

If you were paying attention to the SheppyBrew Instagram Feed, you know that I brewed this past Sunday.

This was my 23rd batch of beer of 2021, and my 9th lager of the year.

It was the 28th batch that I've brewed on the Anvil Foundry.

It was my 299th batch of beer that I've brewed since I started this whole homebrew thing way back in 2009.

My past few batches have been very Autumn themed.

Rocktoberfest Lager (Batch 296)

Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale (Batch 297)

Falling Leaves Autumn Saison (batch 298)

I thought it was time to brew something lighter and drinkable. I decided to brew an American-style lager.

Mr. Awesome Merican Lager

Designing Caliente Fuerte Mexican Stout

It has been awhile, but in Updating the Colorado 6 Pack, I mentioned that I was updating my Homebrew Colorado 6 pack, replacing 3 beers that no longer exist.

The first replacement was T.Ra.Sh. Light Mexican Lager vs Ska Mexican Logger. That really turned out well.

Next up ... I want to try to make a beer inspired by another one of my local favorites ... Copper Kettle Mexican Chocolate Stout.

"Dynamic stout with cinnamon, local organic chocolate, and habanero, ancho and guajilo peppers!"

Bridesmaids Gift Boutique: Koozie Couple

My old friend "Joe" from Bridesmaids Gift Boutique: Ice Ice Baby emailed me again. He wanted to know if I'd like to try out another gift from Bridesmaids Gifts Boutique.

He thought I might like to try the "Koozie Couple" in exchange for posting about it on this blog.

I thought that was a cool idea, so I let him know "Sure, I'd be willing to write a post about the Koozie Couple."

He was kind enough to send me out a set to try. One for me. One for my wife.

9th Everest of 2021

I finished up my 1000 miles of the Great Cycle Challenge. I'm blown away by the generosity of everyone who donated. I blew away previous years' totals of donations.

And ... the page will remain open through the end of October. So ... if you wanted to donate, but have not had a chance yet, feel free to visit the page between now and November 1st ...

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

Along with the 1000 miles, I climbed around 42000 feet of elevation during the month. 

This also means I passed up my 8th and 9th Everest in my #10Everestsin2021 goal.

2021 Q3 SheppyBrew Stats

Q3 is over. 

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.

Summer Lovin' American Wheat

Falling Leaves Autumn Saison (batch 298)

As you know if you follow my Instagram feed, I brewed Sunday.

If I'm counting correctly, it was my 298th batch of beer.

My 22nd of the year. My 27th on the Anvil Foundry.

It is Autumn. For the most part, the weather here in Denver isn't really cooling down THAT much, but regardless, Summer is technically over.

My last couple of batches have reflected the passing of Summer. 

A couple weeks ago, I brewed a Märzen, Rocktoberfest Lager (Batch 296).

Last week, I brewed a pumpkin Ale, Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale (Batch 297).

This past weekend ... I continued the Autumn-themed beers with my Autumn Seasonal Saison ...

Falling Leaves Autumn Saison

Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale (Batch 297)

It's that time of year again ... pumpkin spice beer time.

Sigh.

As you probably know if you've been following this blog for awhile, the SheppyBrew Beer Model (aka my wife) likes pumpkin spice ales.

Unfortunately, back in September of 2014, I brewed a pumpkin spice beer that she really liked.

Unfortunately, I've been brewing this beer every year since.

Unfortunately, last Sunday it was time to brew it again.

Fortunately, the Beer Model was willing to help. So we brewed it together.

Will-o'-Wisp Pumpkin Ale

M is for Mountain Toad Brewing

I wasn't invited to L is for Lady Justice, but the SheppyBrew Beer Model did a great job on that brewery visit.

I guess that's fair. I did most of round 1 without her, and the "L" is the first one I've missed.

Anyway ... last weekend, after logging some morning miles on my Great Cycle Challenge, we decided we should bike a brewery together.

As you probably know, after L comes M. 

There are tons of "M" breweries on the Colorado Brewery List, but most of them are outside the Denver area. 

I used one of them on X is for Mad Jack's [JaX] Mountain Brewery ... which ... again ... wasn't my idea/

Molson / Coors or Miller / Coors (whatever you prefer to call them) is a possibility, but not ideal.

When it came right down to it, I really only had one choice for this trip ... 

M is for Mountain Toad Brewing

Sin Lima Mexican Lager vs Ska Mexican Logger

Well ... Hell. The summer is almost over. How did this happen so quickly?

Blah.

Last time I was at my local liquor store, I didn't see any of Ska's Mexican Logger. That probably means the Mexican Logger season is about over. 

Luckily, I had a can of it in my beer fridge to compare with my Sin Lima Mexican Lager (batch 293).

Smoked Mac and Cheese Pictures

A couple of weekends ago, my son wanted Smoked Mac and Cheese. So, I made Smoked Mac and Cheese on my Weber Kettle.

I pretty much followed the recipe from Smoked Mac and Cheese.