“Sylvan” is a word that means “of the woods” and evokes the peaceful essence of the forest. It is also the name of our collaboration with Bellwoods alum, and dear friend, Owen, from Passage Brewery.

Owen spent several years at Bellwoods, where he managed our barrel program alongside many of the brewers who are still here today. When he moved on, Rocky took over the program, while Owen went on to open Still Fields Brewing and, later, Passage Brewery.

Looking back on those early days, Rocky recalls bonding with Owen over beers built around interesting adjuncts and tasting notes of petrichor, the earthy smell of rain hitting dry ground. That memory helped inspire the use of white spruce tips in Sylvan, bringing a familiar rainy-day-in-the-forest character to this beer.

In April 2025, we brewed a rustic saison with Owen using the essentials: barley, wheat, spelt and aged hops. We sent the beer to our koelschip overnight to cool and capture wild yeast before transferring it to barrels to age.

Once fermentation was underway, we added a healthy dose of Owen’s own sour culture to bring our two brewing styles together. After fermentation had run its course, we blended the barrels and aged the beer briefly on white spruce tips.

The result is a dry, spritzy and brightly tart saison, with notes of sweet-tart candy, damp forest floor and white pepper. It brings together the sour character of a Passage beer with the sweet-tart qualities of a Bellwoods one.