Oliver Brewing has been brewing beer in Baltimore for 28 years, the longest operating craft brewery in Maryland. I spent some time with Steve Jones, Oliver Brewing’s Head Brewer, and talked about his career, from his start in England to moving to the States to brew here in Baltimore.
Steve then left the University of Warwick in Coventry, England and took a job as a guitar tech with a friend’s band who had just started touring. When the band stopped touring, Steve Jones needed a job.
Steve then had two weeks of training at one of the company’s larger breweries, following the head brewer through his day, taking notes, reading, and filling and cleaning casks. Then it was back to Coventry to the Firkin Brewery—an existing pub that had added a brewery.
Steve learned very quickly and brewed at the Firkin Brewpub until 1999 when his company was part of a massive sale including his brewpub and 7000 others. It was then that Steve decided to move to Baltimore, a city he was already visiting on a regular basis because his girlfriend had taken a job here. With his solid brewing experience, he quickly landed a job at the Wharf Rat on Pratt Street—what is now the Pratt Street Ale House.
Oliver Brewing makes really good beer! Next week, in Part II on Steve and his career, we taste some Oliver beer while Steve tells us about the Pratt Street brewing system he started on and the move to their current, much larger brewery on Shannon Drive in Baltimore.
For the weekend, grab a BMore Hazy, an absolutely awesome Double IPA from Oliver Brewing!
Cheers!
Jefferson
The Craft Beer Guy
Email: jward@thebayonline.com
