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“Dry Hopping” – What is it?

Hops - the main bittering ingredient in beer - are the perennial flowers of the Humulus lupulus plant. They are added during the 60-90 minute wort boil to balance out the sweetness of the malt. Without them, beer would be far too sweet, and wouldn't taste like beer.

There are many strains of hops that have been genetically modified to suit the preferences of the brewer. Some types are used primarily for bittering and some used to enhance aroma.

Dry hopping is all about enhancing aroma. The rule of thumb is: the later the hop addition, the greater the aroma you get from the hops. Some variants are used at the beginning of the wort boil primarily for bittering purposes while others are added in the last few minutes to enhance aroma (and have a much smaller impact on the bitterness). Can you guess when dry hopping occurs?

CORRECT GOOD FRIEND! After it's already fermented for a week! Dry hopping is all about aroma, and so the hops are added directly to the fermentation vessel (a pail, or glass carboy) after the yeast has fermented the sugars to alcohol.

I've been doing this with my most recent kegged beers and it enhances the taste and aroma substantially. Henceforth, nearly all of my beers are likely to be dry-hopped. You get an A+ for already knowing all this.

December 7, 2015 - Comments Off on Silly Sir Sara’s Cider

Silly Sir Sara’s Cider

Well really, this cider has very little to do with Silly Sir because Sara did 90% of the work (although we are a team). She decided to make a cider today using about 10 crushed apples, cinnamon sticks, a whole nutmeg seed, and cloves, as well as a couple oranges and a bit of brown sugar towards the end. "It smelt great!," Sara just said two seconds ago. It only yielded about half a gallon of cider, which was somewhat disappointing. Initially it was just going to be a regular cider, but I suggested we ferment it to give it some punch.

Looks freaking amazing, right?

True to Silly Sir form, we experimented and messed around without caring too much about the end result because there's so much learning that goes on through experimentation (I'm a scientist at heart). We used a bread yeast rather than an ale yeast which according to research could produce a "bready" cider depending on the brand. Regardless it should flocculate (drop out) nicely, and if we let it clean itself up for a couple weeks, it should taste crisp and clean. I'm excited to see how this tastes.

November 30, 2015 - Comments Off on My Favourite Label Yet

My Favourite Label Yet

Me and Teddy share a fire

Sara reminds me that I say this every time, but this is my favourite Silly Sir design yet. I wanted to create something that was intimate and captured the spirit of Christmas. The vectors are small but the negative space creates a sense of stillness.

The Silly Sir packaging is admittedly further ahead than the consistency of the beers, and I am very proud of the designs so far. Without Sara to execute my vision, and offer her impressive design insights, the Silly Sir brand wouldn't be as established as it already is.

This is the original sketch before Sara made it awesome:

November 26, 2015 - Comments Off on November Stroll

November Stroll

Last night Sara and I walked a few side-streets east of Yonge to pick up some stuffing for knitted cacti that she's gifting this season.

As we admired houses adorned with Christmas lights, we got to talking about Silly Sir and what the company really is and what it stands for, and the idea is slowly becoming more focused.

Successful businesses excite customers by offering something original that can be sustained over time. I want to build a company that appeals to casual beer drinkers who are put off by the snobbish stereotypes that often typify the craft brewing community. The Silly Sir experience will be one that parodies both the micro and macro brewing industries in order to bring people together under the banner of exceptional beer.

Think Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, but for beer.

That's all I'll say for now.

November 16, 2015 - Comments Off on In The Beginning…

In The Beginning…

If you know me decently well, you know I'm unfazed by crazy challenges. As such, I'm founding a brewing company (Silly Sir Brewing Co.), and have established this blog for you, oh beautiful reader, to read when you are bored.

Am I crazy? Yes.

Silly? Yes!

Sir? ...oh absolutely!

...because admittedly, the brand is more developed than in needs to be at this stage. But gosh darn this whole process is a hell of a lot of fun!

This blog is your ticket into the mind of an obsessive brewer and founder of what will be and is a decidedly silly company... sir.

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