Oliver Ales History Oliver Ales is the oldest continuously operating brewery in Baltimore. It was founded in 1993 and is continued today by our brew-master Steve Jones. Steve came here from Coventry England and specializes in English style brewing. The English method of brewing is known for its cask beer, which is also known as Real Ale Cask conditioned ales get their limited carbonation through natural means by adding a secondary amount of yeast to the cask its self. They yeast turns the remaining sugars to alcohol thus expelling CO2 and creating carbonation. We also do open fermentation, a style of fermentation that isn t practiced as widely. This means that when the beer is in the fermenter it is left open or slightly covered but not totally sealed. When we move to our new warehouse location and out of the basement of Pratt Street we will have half open fermentation and half closed. Olivers is also an all-natural brewery, meaning that we do not use syrups to flavor anything. For example, in the spring we have we have a Cherry Wheat Ale. This ale is brewed with an organic cherry puree, not with a cherry flavored syrup like other breweries use. So when talking to your tables about Oliver s, please inform them of this. Popular Oliver s Ales -3 Lions: 3 Lions ale is a strong English brown ale. It is full bodied with underlying hints of caramel sweetness. If your table is looking for something like a Newcastle this is the beer that you would recommend to them. -Bishops Breakfast: Bishops Breakfast is an oatmeal stout that is served on nitro pour. It has dark malt flavors, just a touch of malt sourness, and a smooth silky mouth feel. This is our version of Guinness (only A LOT better) so if that is what your table is looking for recommend this. This is beer that is also used in our cooking. -Dark Horse: Dark Horse is a classic English dark mild ale. It is modestly bittered, light bodied, with a pleasing malt presence. -Blonde: The Blonde ale is light bodied and easy to drink, with a dry and slightly bitter finish. This is one of the lighter Oliver s that we offer. If your table is looking for something refreshing and on the lighter side this is the beer for them. It does still have a hoppy flavor, so if they are looking for a Miller Light or Bud Light, just give them a heads up that it does have a hoppy finish. -Irish Red: The Irish Red is medium bodied with a beautiful red hue with hints of toffee and earthy English hops. This is one of Oliver s most popular brews. If your table is looking for something similar to a Killians this is what you would recommend. -Coventry Cream: The Coventry Cream is the nitro version of our Irish Red. These beers use the exact same recipie the only difference one is poured through regular means
beers use the exact same recipie the only difference one is poured through regular means (CO2) and the other is poured through Nitro (similar to a Guinness) -Draft Punk: Draft Punk is our most popular Oliver s Ale. It is an Englishman s version of an American IPA and it is delicious. It is not as hoppy as some of its American counterparts, but it will still satisfy any hop-head -Iron Man: Iron Man is an English Style pale ale. It has a firm malt backbone that balances a moderate but assertive hop presence. It has a nice crisp finish, and is not as hoppy as Draft Punk. -Winter Wolves: Winter Wolves is a dark ale brewed with a little clover honey and heather tips. It is aged with toasted American white oak. This beer is nice and dark without being overly hoppy. So if your table is looking for an amazing dark beer, this is the beer you should sell to them. Sea of Spears: Sea of Spears in new to Oliver Ale s. It is offered in both draft pours and nitro pours. Sea of Spears is red wheat ale made with Centennial & Citra and finished and dry hopped with lots of Citra & Nugget for a big hop presence. Modern Life Is Rubbish: A medium bodied Victorian Porter with a balanced hop presences and lush roast notes on the nose and palate. Any porter fan will love this, nice rich flavor, and not too heavy. The Brewing Process Malting: Turns raw barley (or wheat) into malt by sprouting and then drying. Malt is available in dozens of different shades and flavors, which differ depending on the degree to which the malt is kilned or roasted Mashing: A cooking process that uses enzymes into malt to convert starches into fermentable sugars. The sugar rich liquid, called wort, is run off into the brew kettle. Boiling: This sterilizes the sugary wort, and allows bitterness from the hops to be incorporated. After about an hour it is chilled quickly and moved to the fermenter. Fermentation: Yeast is added and begins vigorously consuming sugar and making alcohol and
Fermentation: Yeast is added and begins vigorously consuming sugar and making alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. This stage can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks. Conditioning: The fermented beer undergoes aging to reduce unwanted byproducts of fermentation and acquire a smooth, mature flavor. Beyond this, most beer is not meant to age. Packaging: The finished beer is packaged in bottles, cans, kegs or casks. Ales vs. Lagers All beer can be placed in to two categories: Ale or Lager. At Oliver Brewing Company we brew Ales, specifically English Style Ales. Ales are the oldest beers on the plant. There is record of Ales being made as early as Middle Ages, and were predominately brewed by woman. Ales are fermented warm with top-fermenting yeast (Saccharomyes Cervisiae). Top fermenting yeast is yeast that rises to the top of the brew during fermentation. Ales tend to have a fuller, more robust and forceful taste. This is due to the temperature of fermentation and the relatively fast fermentation process (can take as little as 7 days). Lagers are a relatively new style of beer; they did not appear until the mid 19 th Century. Lagers are bottom, cold fermenting yeast (Saccharomyes Uvarum). Bottom fermenting yeast is yeast that sinks to the bottom of the brew during the brewing process. Lagers require a much longer brewing process than ales do. This is due to aging process that lagers require. The longer brewing process results in a smoother, cleaner, and mellow flavor of beer. The chart below is an easy break down of the differences: Ale Lager Thousands of years old Relatively new Warm fermenting Cold Fermenting Top Fermenting Bottom Fermenting Yeast: Succharomyces Cervisiae Yeast: Saccharomyes Uvarum Relatively fast brewing time (as fast as 7 days) Longer brewing process; can take several months to produce Strong, Assertive, Robust flavor Smooth, Crisper, and Subtle flavor Temp:50-55 F Temp: 40-45 F Different Styles of Ales -Pale Ale: A pale ale is bitter, dry, crisp, often minerally finished. It has an English hop with some fruitiness on top of bready, nutty, or lightly caramel malt. Oliver s Pale Ale: Ironman nose -IPA (India Pale Ale): Moderately to massively hoppy, bready, caramelly malt character with a fruity or nut finish.
fruity or nut finish. Oliver s IPA: Draft Punk -Brown Ale: Light nutty maltiness, hints of toast, crisp to medium bodied, and lightly hopped. Oliver s Brown Ale: 3 Lions -Porter: Soft roastiness on the nose, lightly or firmly hopped, dry or slightly rich. Oliver s Porter: Modern Life Is Rubbish -Stout: Roasted malt always dominating the nose; flavor could be sweet, bitter, dry, and/or creamy. Oliver s Stout: Bishops Breakfast -Irish Style Red Ale: Caramel and toffee notes, roasted barley to create a dry finish. Oliver s Irish Style Red: Irish Red -Imperial/Double IPA: Taking a IPA and brewing it stronger; breathtakingly bitter, high ABV Oliver s Imperial/Double IPA: Atomic Punk -Witbier/White Ale: Light, elegantly fruity, creamy, milkshake like texture, spiced with coriander, orange peel, and other low bitterness. -Saison: Dry, crisp, complex with fruitiness, hints of earth, and refreshing hop aroma with bitterness. Cask Condition Ales A Cask Ale or Cask Conditioned Ale is an unfiltered and unpasteurized beer which is conditioned (including secondary fermentation) and served from a cask. Neither nitrogen nor carbon-dioxide pressure is added to these ales. But instead they are naturally carbonated from their serving vessel such as firkins or pins (casks). Due to the specialized training needed to produce cask ales, the trend has faded over the years. But in 1971 the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) was formed and took it upon themselves to save cask condition ales. They then coined the term Real Ale which is any ale that is brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container that it will eventually be dispensed and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide.
Beer Vocabulary ABV: Alcohol by Volume, the amount of alcohol in beer in terms of percentage of alcohol per volume of beer. IBU: International Bitterness Units, a system of indicating the hop bitterness in a finished beer Carbonation (CO2): The fizz of effervescence in a liquid. The carbonation is a byproduct of yeast eating fermentable sugars (which releases carbon dioxide in the form of carbonation). Carbonation can also be forced into a beer by adding pressurized carbon dioxide to a closed vessel. Nitro: Propelled by a mix of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Produces tiny bubbles in the beer which give a cascade effect upon settling. Gives the beer a smoother, creamier taste. Nose: Aroma or bouquet of a beer. Mouth-feel: Sensation derived from consistency of beer. Body: Thickness and mouth filling property of a beer described as thin or full. Finish: Lingering after taste that remains in mouth after swallowing a beer. Hoppy: Aroma of hops in a beer, does not include hop bitterness. Malty: Tasting like malt sugar, maltose, which is present in the roasted barley and other grains which are the primary fermentables of a beer.