The Canadian Brewing Awards 2006 winners have been announced, and one of the winners in the Amber/Red Ale style has me curious:
D. Sykes Brewing – Copper Cream Ale - Bronze - Barrie, Ontario
Anyone ever heard of these guys?
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Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
D. Sykes Brewing Co.
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inertiaboy
- Bar Fly
- Posts: 556
- Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 10:18 pm
- Location: Steve, Ottawa West
- Contact:
This is the first I've heard of them. Here's some information about them, including a phone number if someone is more outgoing than I am.
An older, cached page in Google includes the following text, which seems to imply that it used to be a brew-on-premises:
An older, cached page in Google includes the following text, which seems to imply that it used to be a brew-on-premises:
Be your own Brew master at D. Sykes Brewing Co., located at 551 Bryne Dr. in the South Barrie Power Center.
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Berliner Weisse
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2005 6:57 pm
- Location: somewhere
Hey all - I was flattered to see that people are talkin' about the D. Sykes Brewing Co. in Barrie - that's me !
I opened the ANTI - U BREW in October 2005. I had the brewmaster from F&M in Guelph (Amazing Brewer and even a better guy) help me start the place & develop 4 (ALL GRAIN) recipes for me. I got a (previousely enjoyed) 8 hectolitre brewing system from a "Hops Brewpub" that went out of business in Tampa Florida & have been brewing ever since.
I do only cans (nice ones if I do say so myself - see www.allisonmbrown.com ) for the can design.
My copper cream ale is about the colour of a rickards/micks red but tastes VERY different - nutty and a little sweet. I dont use sugar and I dont use malt extract. Things are goin well.
I'll check in from time to time any questions about anything I may be able to answer - lemme knpw -Don
I opened the ANTI - U BREW in October 2005. I had the brewmaster from F&M in Guelph (Amazing Brewer and even a better guy) help me start the place & develop 4 (ALL GRAIN) recipes for me. I got a (previousely enjoyed) 8 hectolitre brewing system from a "Hops Brewpub" that went out of business in Tampa Florida & have been brewing ever since.
I do only cans (nice ones if I do say so myself - see www.allisonmbrown.com ) for the can design.
My copper cream ale is about the colour of a rickards/micks red but tastes VERY different - nutty and a little sweet. I dont use sugar and I dont use malt extract. Things are goin well.
I'll check in from time to time any questions about anything I may be able to answer - lemme knpw -Don
to answer some of the questions I see- the radio ad was me. it worked to some degree (awareness, but no quick business) I've done newspapers mostly since then)
I'm the only guy there
The awards allowed all brewers in canada that sell their beer to the public (by sept 2006 i believe) - some of the winners were brewpubs etc (on site draught sales only - no cans/kegs or bottles alowed off premise)
my long tem goal is to turn into a "real" brewery
in the meantime I'll continue to make "real" beer under this humiliating "U Brew" umbrella. rest assured, there are no "sudsweisers" or "Richards Red's" on the menu
p.s. if that one fella heard the ad & likes beer - how come I ain't met him yet?? :0)
take care all!
I'm the only guy there
The awards allowed all brewers in canada that sell their beer to the public (by sept 2006 i believe) - some of the winners were brewpubs etc (on site draught sales only - no cans/kegs or bottles alowed off premise)
my long tem goal is to turn into a "real" brewery
in the meantime I'll continue to make "real" beer under this humiliating "U Brew" umbrella. rest assured, there are no "sudsweisers" or "Richards Red's" on the menu
p.s. if that one fella heard the ad & likes beer - how come I ain't met him yet?? :0)
take care all!
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joey_capps
- Bar Fly
- Posts: 592
- Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2001 7:00 pm
- Location: Waterdown
If I'm a little slow and I've missed something, please forgive me, but how does your business work. Are you a U-Brew with four recipes? If I wanted your beer, would I have to come in and brew it myself? Could someone walk in and buy a case? Is there a minimum order? Is it available in any bars or restaurants?
Cheers,
Joe
Cheers,
Joe
I have a "wort licence". It allows me to make the beer (just shy of 1000 litres at a time). I brew eack flavour as I get close to my last few batches. I keep all flavours on hand at all times (with no yeast in it)
customers come in - spend 5 seconds putting the yeast in - then 2 weeks later they come in to can their beer.
The minimum quantity is 3 cases of 24 cans. it's $58.00 including tax cans etc (thats a little over $19/case by the way)
other questions are - can you mix and match flavours in the 3 cases - no
how long does it keep - a few months - if kept cold
what is the booze content - typically 4% for the light to about 5.3% for the pils
to can 3 cases you're looking at 20-30 minutes
I can't express enough that its NOTHING LIKE the green bottle U-Brew stuff that everyone tried 10 years ago. They use malt extract syrup, liquid sugar and hops. I use the same grain, hops etc as your favourite micro.
customers come in - spend 5 seconds putting the yeast in - then 2 weeks later they come in to can their beer.
The minimum quantity is 3 cases of 24 cans. it's $58.00 including tax cans etc (thats a little over $19/case by the way)
other questions are - can you mix and match flavours in the 3 cases - no
how long does it keep - a few months - if kept cold
what is the booze content - typically 4% for the light to about 5.3% for the pils
to can 3 cases you're looking at 20-30 minutes
I can't express enough that its NOTHING LIKE the green bottle U-Brew stuff that everyone tried 10 years ago. They use malt extract syrup, liquid sugar and hops. I use the same grain, hops etc as your favourite micro.
So the "D" in D. Sykes stands for Don?newbrew wrote:I have a "wort licence". It allows me to make the beer (just shy of 1000 litres at a time). I brew eack flavour as I get close to my last few batches. I keep all flavours on hand at all times (with no yeast in it)
customers come in - spend 5 seconds putting the yeast in - then 2 weeks later they come in to can their beer.
The minimum quantity is 3 cases of 24 cans. it's $58.00 including tax cans etc (thats a little over $19/case by the way)
other questions are - can you mix and match flavours in the 3 cases - no
how long does it keep - a few months - if kept cold
what is the booze content - typically 4% for the light to about 5.3% for the pils
to can 3 cases you're looking at 20-30 minutes
I can't express enough that its NOTHING LIKE the green bottle U-Brew stuff that everyone tried 10 years ago. They use malt extract syrup, liquid sugar and hops. I use the same grain, hops etc as your favourite micro.
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Jon Walker
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1899
- Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2001 8:00 pm
- Location: Wherever you go there you are
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midlife crisis
- Beer Superstar
- Posts: 2009
- Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 7:00 pm
- Location: Toronto
new questions - i'm loving it!
Yep - the "D" id for Don
I wanted to have a style to suit the masses so I went with the copper cream ale (Mild british ale - a little sweet - almost some real maple syrup flavours and some nuttyness)
stone cellar lager - pretty safe lager - I like to think its got more flavour than your typical "hockey beer" to use a phrase from a customer
amber light (a contradiction perhaps) - it's light beer - not much to say
Trillium Pilsner - for the euro crowd. I have a friend from slovakia who got me into the golden pheasant etc. I like the colour and the bolder hopping than what you find in your average north american lager.
My intent was to get the ball rolling with these flavours (seems to cover the needs of most people) .... then I was planning on doing a special brew 1x per month (Stout/ipa/fruit etc - depending on the season) With pre orders. It's probably a little early for that at this point as i'm still learnng, tasting etc. In the mean time, i'm meeting lot's of nice folks and getting better at the brewing process. - i get scalded far less often than in the early days
Yep - the "D" id for Don
I wanted to have a style to suit the masses so I went with the copper cream ale (Mild british ale - a little sweet - almost some real maple syrup flavours and some nuttyness)
stone cellar lager - pretty safe lager - I like to think its got more flavour than your typical "hockey beer" to use a phrase from a customer
amber light (a contradiction perhaps) - it's light beer - not much to say
Trillium Pilsner - for the euro crowd. I have a friend from slovakia who got me into the golden pheasant etc. I like the colour and the bolder hopping than what you find in your average north american lager.
My intent was to get the ball rolling with these flavours (seems to cover the needs of most people) .... then I was planning on doing a special brew 1x per month (Stout/ipa/fruit etc - depending on the season) With pre orders. It's probably a little early for that at this point as i'm still learnng, tasting etc. In the mean time, i'm meeting lot's of nice folks and getting better at the brewing process. - i get scalded far less often than in the early days
oh yeah - the ipa ....
funny you should mention that. My beeer snob customers LOVE the american style ipa - especially the sierra nevada (i think that's the one that comes up so often)... anyhooo - I had honestly not tried one until recently my wife found me some of the dog fish head IPA - (so many hops that it'd make your toes curl .... please don;t hate me for this but.... although i can appreciate the beer - i could barely get it down - a little big for me i'm afraid.
having said that, i'm stil;l VERY open to doing one down the line.
I've met a group of avid homebrewers from collingwood "Brewshiners" & i've invited them by to do a brew of .... whatever they want .... maybe they'll want a big IPA - y'a never know
funny you should mention that. My beeer snob customers LOVE the american style ipa - especially the sierra nevada (i think that's the one that comes up so often)... anyhooo - I had honestly not tried one until recently my wife found me some of the dog fish head IPA - (so many hops that it'd make your toes curl .... please don;t hate me for this but.... although i can appreciate the beer - i could barely get it down - a little big for me i'm afraid.
having said that, i'm stil;l VERY open to doing one down the line.
I've met a group of avid homebrewers from collingwood "Brewshiners" & i've invited them by to do a brew of .... whatever they want .... maybe they'll want a big IPA - y'a never know
Hey newbrew,
Can the public buy grains, hops and all that from you for home brewing? My friends and I are starting up our brewing machine again and Toronto is proving to be difficult to find the various ingredients. This summer I'll be making frequent weekend trips to the Barrie area and could pick stuff up to take back.
I think I may even stop in to pitch in some yeast for a batch of your copper cream ale and/or pilsner so my girlfriend and I have some fresh beer up there for the summer.
Can the public buy grains, hops and all that from you for home brewing? My friends and I are starting up our brewing machine again and Toronto is proving to be difficult to find the various ingredients. This summer I'll be making frequent weekend trips to the Barrie area and could pick stuff up to take back.
I think I may even stop in to pitch in some yeast for a batch of your copper cream ale and/or pilsner so my girlfriend and I have some fresh beer up there for the summer.
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