An eclesiastical beatdown.
February 8th, 2010
The Bishop challenges the Friar. There can only be one winner. The Bishop dusts off his Miter and the Blackfriar is vanquished. No, I haven’t lost the plot, it’s just a round about way of saying that since we started brewing the Bishop’s Breakfast, sales of the Blackfriar Stout have been slow so I thought it was time for a change. Out of the ashes comes the Three Spires Ale (hello Coventry) , a hoppy little Golden Ale, 5% a.b.v. (or thereabouts) which will be replacing the Blackfriar on our nitro tap as soon as the current supply of Blackfriar is done. I’m brewing it tomorrow. It’ll also be an excellent candidate for casking so look out for firkins of it in a couple of weeks. I’ll post updates on the Oliver Ales facebook page.
Strongman Pale Ale
February 8th, 2010
Strongman Pale Ale, on tap Tuesday 9th.
On tap tomorrow, Strongman Pale Ale, oh yeah.
Winter wonderland
February 6th, 2010
Well I’m officially sick of answering the phone now. Yes, we’re closed, go figure. Unfortunately for me the fermentations carry on regardless of the weather outside so someone has to come in and check them …. that’ll be me then! It was a cold walk from Fells Point but I have to say, the city looks beautiful under a blanket of snow. Wish I had a sled and team of dogs though, that would’ve been fun!
the long walk along Pratt Street
Ah, sanctuary!
Stay safe and warm out there this weekend.
Steve
The Friday Question (updated)
February 5th, 2010
Now if there’s ever a time to win a growler of The Bishop’s Indulgence this is it (if you can get to the Ale House before the snow comes)! I must confess (no pun intended), I think that The Bishop will be keeping me company over the weekend and probably the Scottish as well (mmm, The Scottish Bishop, that could be an interesting blend!) Anyway, Nick wins the growler with his guess of 30. There were actually 25 beans in the Bishop’s Indulgence. Ten were used in the brew, ten in the conditioning tank and five in the casks. Congratulations Nick.
Next on the beer release horizon is the Strongman Pale Ale which will make it’s debut on tap at The Pratt Street Ale House on Tuesday. You may remember from an earlier post that I’ve discussed the type and amount of hops that went into brewing this 8% a.b.v. English Pale Ale. As you may also know, throughout my brewing career I have never given an indication of the I.B.U. value of any beer I’ve produced, but this is about to change. I hasten to add there is no special reason for announcing I.B.U. values other than the fact that Whitelabs are running a special deal on beer analysis this month so I thought it’d be sorta cool to find out a bit about a couple of my beers. I’ve got to say I’m more interested in getting a lab analysis of specific gravities and a.b.v. but I.B.U.’s are included so what-the-heck, why not? Obviously then the question will be this…. what is the I.B.U. value of the Strongman Pale Ale? The winner will get a growler of the Strongman and a souvenir Oliver pint glass with which to drink it. As usual please post your answers via the comment section below. The competition will close next Friday but it may take a while to announce the winner as obviously I have to send the samples of to Whitelabs in San Diego and then wait for the results so your patience is appreciated.
By-the-way, I’ve finally set up the Brewery facebook page (Oliver Ales), please check it out and if you’ve got any photographs from past events/festivals, please feel free to post them.
I’ve just filled a Beaujolais -Nouveau cask with 3 Lions. It leaked a lot when prepping it but as the wood absorbs liquid it expands and the more major leaks have stopped. Hopefully it will seal completely soon, fingers crossed. If all goes well it’ll be sitting in the cask room for a couple of months and will then go out to Bruce at the wonderful Metropolitan Coffee House & Wine Bar. I’ll keep you posted.
At last, England and France in perfect harmony!
cheers
Steve
Mid-week Round Up
February 3rd, 2010
Firstly a big thank you for everyone who braved the snow and came out for The Bishop’s Indulgence release and cask ale social last night, it was a great night. I had a blast and it was great to put faces to some of the names that crop up in the blog comment section and to meet such enthusiastic beer drinkers. I was very pleased with the response to The Bishop’s Breakfast and to the glass ended firkin of dry hopped Best Bitter, nights like that really make being a brewer an incredibly enjoyable profession! Here are a few photos of the glass ended firkin
Dry Hopped Best Bitter
The Auto-tilt stillage gently tilts the cask as it becomes lighter
Check out Brad’s review of the evening at www.beerinbaltimore.com
We sent out a lot of casks this week so keep a look out for the Bishop’s Indulgence @ Metropolitan Coffee House (Fed. Hill) on Thursday and the Biere de Garde there in a few weeks. Max’s, Frisco Grille and ChurchKey will also have the Bishop’s indulgence on cask soon and Frisco also have a cask of dry hopped Strongman Pale Ale. Dry hopped ESB, Strongman Pale Ale and Dark Horse went out to the two Pizzeria Paradiso locations in D.C. and more Dark Horse went to ChurchKey. A firkin good time guaranteed!
The Bishop’s Indulgence will also be on tap at The Judges Bench and Victoria Gastro Pub soon.
Cheers
Steve
Bishop’s Indulgence Release
February 1st, 2010
Just a reminder regarding the release of The Bishop’s Indulgence at The Pratt Street Ale House tomorrow evening @ 6pm. The Bishop’s Indulgence is an 8% a.b.v. stout brewed with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans. As well as making its debut on tap we will have a kilderkin on the beer engine that has been aged on American Oak. Tuesday evening is always cask appreciation night at The Ale House so cask pints will be $3 with the exception of The Bishop’s Indulgence which will be available as a 10 oz pour for $3. If that wasn’t enough we’ll have a glass ended firkin of Best Bitter (dry hopped with Maryland grown Chinook) on gravity pour in the lounge area. If you have an interest in cask ale and want to know more about how we make it here then come along and we’ll answer your questions as best we can. We will also be introducing our new “seasonal veterans club”, come check it out!
The Friday Question
January 29th, 2010
The time has finally come to reveal the winner of the Tactical Nuclear Penguin. There was an incredible spread of answers, from 9 pounds sterling at the lower end to over 60 at the other. A couple of answers were pretty close but one was the clear winner. The correct answer was …. bagpipe flourish & drum roll ….
If you can’t quite make that out apologies for the poor picture quality (you’d think i-phone could do better) but the answer is 17.32. By my reckoning, that makes “Red Rob” the winner with the answer of 18.86. Congratulations sir, I will be in touch to arrange collection of your prize. For those of you who may be interested, to have it shipped directly from BrewDog to the Ale House would have been 40 pounds! I had asked my Mother to ship it to me by the quickest method regardless of cost (within reason) but she, of course, being my Mother ignored this and just sent it regular parcel air mail. She didn’t even put a “fragile” sticker on it! Clearly no respect for beer there, even though her son has been a brewer for 16 years.
So, as you may know, on Tuesday @ 6pm we will launch our latest seasonal beer, The Bishop’s Indulgence, at The Cask Ale Social at the Pratt Street Ale House. As well as having the beer on tap and on cask (aged on a little American Oak) we will have a glass ended firkin of Best Bitter dry hopped with Maryland Chinook on gravity pour in the lounge so you can see how yeast settles in the cask. The Bishop’s Indulgence will be available in 10 oz snifters for $3 and our other cask beers will be priced at $3/pint. We’ll also have an informal discussion of cask ale brewing and handling so if you have any questions about cask ale come along, have a beer and we’ll do our best to answer them. You may have read in the previous posts about the Bishop’s Indulgence that it is an 8% a.b.v. stout brewed with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans. This week’s question is simple. How many vanilla beans did I use making this brew? I want the number of vanilla beans not the weight of beans and it includes any beans that may have been used in casks. As usual, answers via the comment section please, one answer per person only. The closest answer to the correct number wins and in the event of a tie the answer posted first takes it. The prize will be a growler of The Bishop’s Indulgence. Good luck.
For those of you in the DC area, look out for the Blonde Ale dry hopped with Chinook and Dark Horse mild @ RFD and Best Bitter and Dark Horse at ChurchKey. Next week we’ll also be sending casks out to both Pizzeria Paradiso locations and more to ChurchKey. Also mark your calendar for the Strong Beer Tasting at The Brickskeller on Tues 9th February where we’ll have our last sixtel of ‘09 Hot Monkey Love. Commonwealth Gastro Pub will be hosting an Oliver Ale Beer Dinner on March 2nd (t.b.c.), more details to follow.
Have a great weekend.
Cheers
Steve
New on cask
January 27th, 2010
Now on the Brewer’s Choice beer engine is the Blonde Ale, dry hopped with Chinook (grown, hand-picked and air dried in Frederick County). There’s only one pin available so get it while you can.
Dry Hopped Blonde Ale now on cask.
Remember on Tuesday 2nd February @ 6pm we will be releasing our latest seasonal offering, The Bishop’s Indulgence, an 8% stout brewed with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans (see the blog archive for details of the brew). As well as having a kilderkin of The Bishop’s Indulgence aged on American Oak on the beer engine, we will have a glass ended firkin of Best Bitter dry hopped with Maryland Chinook on gravity pour in the lounge for a more “interactive” cask ale drinking experience . I’ll be on hand to talk about cask ale brewing and handling and, as Tuesday night is cask ale appreciation night at The Pratt Street Ale House, cask pints will be just $3 (with the exception of The Bishop’s Indulgence, which will be $3 for a 10 oz snifter).
Cheers
Steve
End of week round up
January 22nd, 2010
Firstly, no Friday Question this week as I’m letting last weeks question for the bottle of Tactical Nuclear Penguin run until next Friday. It’s something of a relief actually as it’s becoming quite a challenge to come up with a question and prize every week!
I’m getting ready to move the Strongman Pale Ale out of FV and into conditioning tank. I’ve just weighed out hops for dry hopping the tank which I think will add an extra dimension to this ale (the “dimension” of aroma!!….I think my former Physics and Biochemistry professors might have something to say about that!) We’ll be doing a couple of casks which will be dry hopped with Maryland grown Chinook, hand picked and air dried in Frederick County, in contrast to the Kent Goldings which I’m using in the conditioning tank. I’d like to do more casks of this but we used so much cooperage on the Dark Horse yesterday that we don’t have any more available at this time. I’m praying that we get some empty firkins returned next week so I can fill them with the Biere de Garde. Speaking of which, that fermentation is being crash cooled at the moment. The Belgian Ale Yeast strain behaved very differently from my English Ringwood, fermenting well at a lower temperature than I am normally used to and with little yeast head accumulation, almost like a lager yeast. I had to battle to keep the fermentation below 70F whereas I’m normally trying to keep it above 72F! We’re expecting a grain delivery today so a second batch of Scottish Ale is on the schedule for Tuesday.
Have a great weekend.
Cheers
Steve
Cask news
January 21st, 2010
For the first time since I began brewing in the States an entire batch of my Dark Horse Mild has been put in cask rather than being carbonated. This makes me a very happy brewer! What might also surprise you is that the entire batch is destined for the D.C. market with beer going out to ChurchKey, Commonwealth Gastro Pub, RFD and the Wonderland Ballroom. Cask ale is certainly alive and well and I think the market will continue to expand as more drinkers discover the pleasures of fresh, naturally conditioned ales. Max’s are soon to be adding an additional 2 beer engines and Victoria have started serving casks by gravity pour on the bar at many recent beer club nights (and will hopefully be adding a beer engine in the near future). Frisco Grille have similarly increased their cask output by adding a Thursday night cask on the bar in addition to their regular beer engine offering and Bertha’s have started offering a cask on the bar on the first Thursday of the month. Metropolitan Coffee House & Wine Bar also continue to offer an excellent variety of casks on their regular Thursday firkin night. Good news, I think you’ll agree, for the discerning “real ale” drinker in the Baltimore-Washington area!
