2026 Tribute Day Photos

Here it is ... September already. 

As you know if you follow me at all, I'll be cycling 1,000 miles in September to help raise awareness and money to fight childhood cancer.

It is called the Great Cycle Challenge.

If you'd like to help out, head to my "Rider Page" at

https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/EricShepard

If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen me posting about "Tribute Day" on Wednesday, August 26.

Roll-a-Style 10: 6B. Rauchbier

The last time I did a Roll-a-Style post on this blog was Roll-a-Style 4: 9C. Baltic Porter back in February.

Yeah ... that was a long time ago.

So, it is probably worth a quick reminder: I created a list of BJCP beer styles that I've never brewed. When I want to decide which beer style to brew next, I originally rolled a virtual 20-sided online die, and brew the style that corresponds with the number that comes up.

Pretty simple, right?

After my 9C. Baltic Porter, I was down to 12 beer styles to brew, so I'm now using a 12 Sided Die.

It is close to Oktoberfest season, and I've unofficially declared this the "Year of the Lager". There is actually a style that fits Oktoberfest perfectly.

So .... I pretended to roll a 

GNorthside Gnome Cold IPA (Batch 396)

If you're new here, it will probably surprise you to know that I hate Gnomes. 

Well ... that isn't technically true. I don't HATE them. It would be much more accurate to say that Gnomes absolutely terrify me.

It creeps me out the way these little creatures sneak around causing mischief. The way they pretend to act like real people is unnatural. Their little voices send chills down my spine. Oddly enough, leprechauns and tommyknockers don't bother me. I can't completely put my finger on what it is, but something about gnomes are completely frightening. Quite often when I see several gnomes together, I scream like a little girl.

I can't help it, they freak me out. My wife has a similar issue with spiders. It certainly doesn't help that the use an unnecessary "G" in their name. Uggggg.

Chatfield SUP Photos

We went Paddle Boarding on Chatfield Reservoir again on Saturday.

This is the second time using the Akaso Brave 7 LE Action Camera. I think its supposed to be more of a video camera ... but I've yet to really take a video worth saving.

Oh Well.

One of us fell in. Sadly, it wasn't me.

Colorado is in a drought and Chatfield Reservoir is certainly showing that we need lots more rain than we've been getting. 

I'm really hoping for more snow this winter, and any rain we get between now and then is very welcome.

But, even with the low water level on the lake, it is always fun to get out there and paddle around.

Here are some pictures ...

J is for Jake's Beer Bar

If you're following along on the A to Z Series, you probably know we're in a tough section of the alphabet.

Round 7 started out nicely. A, B, C, D, F and G all had local breweries that started with the respective letters. E was a little stretch, but not bad at all.

On H is for Homegrown Tap and Dough, we picked a local Tap Room and Pizza Place rather than a brewery.

We totally punted on "I" with I is for IDK.

"J" was another letter that didn't really have any good choices on the Colorado Brewery Map & List, but I thought there was a good downtown Littleton Beer Bar we could slot into this spot.

J is for Jake's Beer Bar

I is for IDK

As you know if you follow along on the A to Z Breweries series of articles, we've decided to continue on with Round 7. 

If you're not familiar ... back in February of 2015, I was embarrassed by how few Denver Breweries that I had visited.

I decided to make an effort to hit more of them, and worked my way from A to Z, hitting a brewery for every letter.

At the end of Round 6, I mentioned that I wasn't sure we' really do a Round 7, because it is becoming more and more difficult to tie each letter to a Denver-area brewery.

So far, through the letter "H", we've actually been pretty solid on picking breweries (or at least a tap house) for the corresponding letter.

But, as I mentioned in H is for Homegrown Tap and Dough, "I" has been a challenging letter for us throughout this little project, and the Colorado Brewery Map & List doesn't really have any local choices that actually start with "I". I actually had no idea what we'll do.

I is for IDK

I screwed up the Potato Beer

If you follow along on this blog and/or SheppyBrew Brewery, you know that I recently brewed Potato Barley Rye (PBR) ... Batch 395.

I thought it would be fun to brew a Potato Beer. 

The potatoes I used came in the form of Idahoan Real Premium Mashed Potatoes, which is basically flaked potato. Add water and you get mashed potatoes.

I checked to make sure that the box said "no added flavorings" and no extra fats. 

The thing I guess I didn't notice on the nutrition facts is that each serving has quite a bit of sodium in it. WAY more than brewing salts I'd ever add to a batch of beer.

SheppyBrew – Potato Barley Rye (PBR)

Brewery: SheppyBrew
Style: Potato Beer ABV: 6.9%  IBU: 32  SRM: 4.4

Appearance

Pale gold with a faint amber glint from the rye. A tight, creamy head lingers like mashed potatoes whipped to perfection. Brilliant clarity despite the starchy origins — proof that tubers can sparkle.

Aroma

Earthy and rustic up front, with soft grain sweetness and a whisper of rye spice. A subtle floral hop note floats above a baked‑potato warmth. It smells like a harvest table in late autumn.

Wild vs Spotted Cow

If you read Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch (Batch 394), you know that I designed Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch as a tribute to New Glarus Spotted Cow back in 2020.

As I don't live in Wisconsin, though, my memory of Spotted Cow was sort of fuzzy. My brain had Spotted Cow as a darker beer than it actually was, and the original version didn't look anything like Spotted Cow.

I have family in Wisconsin and since 2020, I've had the opportunity to drink and study Spotted Cow a bit more, and I modified the Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch (Batch 394) recipe to at least look a little closer.

This past weekend, I had an opportunity to try the beers side-by-side.

Potato Barley Rye (PBR) ... Batch 395

I brewed a batch of beer last week, only my 9th of the year, but the 2nd brew this month.

I'm still way behind my usual brewing volume, and tracking to be one of the least-amounts brewed in any year since I started.

At this point, I'm thinking it is unlikely I'll catch up to my "normal" amount this year ... but I guess we'll have to see.

Currently, I have 4 beers "on-tap", which is my maximum, but 3 out of my 4 kegs are very close to being empty.

So ... I may need to brew a few more batches soon.

Anyway ... the beer I brewed last week is an interesting experiment (interesting to me) ....

Potato Barley Rye (PBR)

SheppyBrew Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch

Brewery: SheppyBrew Style: Cow Beer ABV: 4.7% IBU: 23 SRM: 6.4

Appearance

Pale golden with a faint amber hue from the touch of specialty malt. A dense, creamy white head crowns the glass and lingers like a milk mustache on a happy cow. Brilliant clarity shows off the beer’s clean fermentation and careful conditioning.

Aroma

Soft grain sweetness and a whisper of corn mingle with light floral hops. There’s a subtle fruity note — pear and apple from the Kölsch yeast — balanced by a rustic, countryside freshness that evokes barns, fields, and gnomes laughing over pints.

July Update on 2026 Fitness Goals

As you know if you follow this blog, I generally give a monthly update on my fitness / Strava goals. I'm sure no one besides myself really cares, but I figure sharing these publicly give me a little extra motivation because of the extra accountability.

Plus, from time to time I'll look at older updates just to see where I was in the past.

In previous years, my goals have been mostly around cycling, but starting this year, I've started running as well.

If you're interested, You can always track these workouts on Strava. 

So far, I'm tracking pretty well to my 2026 Fitness goals, although a couple of aches and pains (not quite injuries) do seem to be slowing me down a bit (at least on running).

More SUP Photos

So ... something happened during the Chatfield SUP Photos that made me think it probably isn't a great idea to bring my phone out on the lake to take photos.

I won't go into details, but you can probably imagine reasons a phone on a Stand-up-Paddle-Board is not a good idea.

You might even think it odd that it took me as long as it did for me to realize something so obvious.

After some research ... I decided to purchase an Akaso Brave 7 LE Action Camera, which has a waterproof case.

In addition to being less expensive and more water proof than my phone, it is also something that allows the wife to be able to take photos as well.

You may have noticed (or maybe not) that most of our SUP trips have very few photos of me and tons of her.

H is for Homegrown Tap and Dough

As I mentioned in G is for Green Mountain Beer Company, Round 7 of the A to Z Breweries series has been going fairly smooth.

A, B, C, D, F and G all had local breweries that started with the respective letters. E was a little stretch, but not bad at all.

But ... now we are up to "H", and the Colorado Brewery Map & List didn't really have any options that we had not already used.

Last Friday was a date night for me and the wife (aka the SheppyBrew Beer Model), and there is a Littleton restaurant / "tap house" we had not been to in awhile that just happens to start with the letter "H".

So ... I decided to use it as our H A to Z "brewery".

H is for Homegrown Tap and Dough

G is for Green Mountain Beer Company

As you know if you follow along on the A to Z Breweries series of articles, we've decided to continue on with Round 7. 

At the end of Round 6, I mentioned that I wasn't sure we' really do a Round 7, because it is becoming more and more difficult to tie each letter to a Denver-area brewery.

But, honestly so far, this doesn't seem to be the case. In fact, we are doing better so far this round than we did last round.

Regardless, we'll continue on. Eventually we'll come across some challenges, but we'll figure something out.

After F is for Full Frame Beer, we're now up to "G", and as luck would have it there is an obvious choice for us on the Colorado Brewery Map & List.

G is for Green Mountain Beer Company

Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch (Batch 394)

I brewed a couple Sundays ago for the first time since Bad Lands Kölsch (Batch 393).

Over a month between brew days. I'm still "on pace" for less than 75 gallons of beer, which would be the least amount of beer I've ever brewed in a year since 2009, the first year I brewed.

And ... back then I only did 2.5 gallon batches, so even though the volume was less, the number of batches would have been much higher that year.

Oh well! My beer supply isn't in danger of running out. 

Anyway ... as I mentioned in Bad Lands Kölsch vs. Spotted Cow, I recently traveled to Wisconsin, and picked up some Spotted Cow.

Back in 2020, I came up with a "tribute" recipe to Spotted Cow, but didn't have any to compare the two beers to.

I thought now would be a perfect opportunity to re-brew ...

Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch

Chatfield SUP Photos

If you read Pork Belly Burnt Ends, you probably knew this was coming ...

On Saturday, we took our Paddle Boards out on Chatfield Lake.

We had an extremely dry winter, and as a result, Chatfield Lake is much lower than any previous SUP trip.

But ... it is a big lake, so there are still plenty of room to paddle around.

So ... we packed a lunch along with a few beers and headed out to the lake.

Here are some photos of the Beer Model and me out on the lake Saturday ...

Pork Belly Burnt Ends

So ... it has only been fairly recent that I've been able to get Pork Belly at my local Sam's Club, which is where I buy most of my BBQ meat.

And in mid-June I finally attempted Pork Belly Burnt Ends.

They turned out delicious, but I didn't give myself enough time really, so they were not as tender as they could have been.

Saturday, I decided to try Pork Belly Burnt Ends again ... with a couple of little modifications ...

My kids are both away, so it is just me and the wife. I therefore only used half a Pork Belly.

A Brunette and Three Blonds

Those of you who have visited SheppyBrew Brewery generally have the opportunity to try a flight of beers we have on tap at the time.

It gives you a quick way to decide which beer(s) you might be interested in.

Every so often, I'll pour myself a flight and spend some time considering the beers I have.

Even though in 4th of July Steak and Corn, I listed and described the beers I have on tap, the Gnomes and I poured a flight to share.

4th of July Steak and Corn

For our 4th of July grilling, we took advantage of our grocery store's holiday sales on Ribeye Steak and Corn-on-the-Cob.

Both of these are things I feel like I have not perfected grilling.

My main issue with steak is that I hardly ever am able to consistently get them to the right temperature before searing. There is always one or two that cooks faster.

So, either one or two are over-done or one or two are under-done.

But ... Ribeyes are fairly forgiving even if cooked a little long, so I always make it work.

For corn, I'm just never sure how the best way to cook them is. Should I remove the husks and cook indirect? Should I remove the husks and cook them direct? Should I leave the husks on and when I do, should I cook them over the fire or off?