USA, MD: Oliver Brewing Co. is transitioning to a production brewery

Steve Jones can finally stand up straight. Oliver Brewing Co.'s head brewer this week started transitioning from the low-ceiled basement brewery at Pratt Street Ale House, Baltimore, to a 12,000-square-foot Claremont-Freedom production brewery, situated in an old ice factory, Baltimore City Paper reported on July 3.

The new digs will enable Oliver Brewing to not only supply beer to its three bustling restaurants, but also send more beer out for distribution. Oliver Brewing just hired a second sales representative to peddle its beer in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia.

The company is upgrading from its seven-barrel, three-vessel brewhouse to a 20-barrel, four-vessel brewhouse. There are eight fermenting tanks (four open, four closed), and Jones says that Oliver Brewing wants to add its own canning line eventually.

"We have to start selling some beer before we can spend more money," Jones says, "because this stuff ain't cheap."

Oliver Brewing’s co-owner Justin Dvorkin says that the production brewery has cost about $1.3 million so far. But the price tag was worth it to keep pumping beer to Oliver Brewing's restaurants.

The only downside of the production brewery for Oliver Brewing’s devotees might be that the larger format will change Jones' brewing habits. On the tiny Pratt Street system, he could pretty much craft whatever beer he wanted, whenever he wanted. But it's a lot more difficult to sell 20 barrels of beer than it is seven. So the new brewery will limit the variety.

"Last year we brewed 53 different beers at the brewpub. Those days are definitely gone," Jones says. "We can't just brew 20 barrels of something on a whim and expect to be able to sell it."

“The Pratt Street's 22-year-old brewhouseand most likely will be sold for scrap,” Jones says.

08 July, 2015