Oliver Brewing Co. - 25th Anniversary flight

I'm a sucker for sampler six-packs, and so when this limited edition release from Oliver Brewing Co. was delivered to the shop, I had to grab it. Based in Baltimore, Oliver is celebrating its 25th anniversary and in commemoration they released six different beers, including some collaborations, in one six-pack. Recall that DC Brau did something similar a few years ago. I admit that I have never heard of Oliver before buying this, so I'm going in totally fresh.

First up is the "Roots of The Mountain", a 8.40% ABV sahti-style ale. Sahti is a Finnish type of farmhouse ale, traditionally using with juniper branches instead of hops. According to BeerAdvocate, this style is one of the oldest in Europe.

Today's example is an unfiltered kettle sour made with Belgian yeast and juniper berries. A bit about kettle souring - this means the souring process is controlled in the brewery (as opposed to making a sour beer the traditional way, which is a natural and risky process using open-air bacteria.)

It pours orange, generates thin white bubbles, and throws a sour oak aroma....not super fruity on the taste, though. There's a showing of apricot, peach skins, some wild yeasts tossed in, and a twitch of wood. Quite refreshing, excellent mix of sour, flavors, and approachability. The sour is toned down more than I expected, which is most surprising.

For something lighter - "White Witch," a white IPA. At 6.2% ABV, dry hopped with Citra and Centennial hops. I can sure smell that Citra! Unfortunately, the pictures I took of it were blurry so I can't use them.

It generates a lot of bubbles and thick white foam and projects quite the juicy aroma. It's a bit thin though, but the flavor is nice mostly normal IPA flavors and a long finish of hops. It's not super remarkable, comparable to Boston Beer Company's "Sam Adams Winter White", but I could get behind this, as it serves nicely as a sessional. On to the next one!

"Beyond the Doors of Darkness" is a rye porter made with pureed plum, which is not a typical ingredient in beer. It's a collaboration with DC's own 3 Stars Brewery and Maryland-based Manor Hill.

Like the "Roots of the Mountain", this 5.00% ABV porter is kettle soured. I like all the little bubbles and thick white head. I'm excited to see a darker sour; so many sours are bright and sugary and filled with tropical fruit flavors so sometimes it's nice to have a change.

You can definitely taste the sour on this one - it's on par with Brouwerij Strubbe's "Ichtegem's Grand Cru" in terms of texture and sourness, but of course without the raisin and lactobacillus notes. Hard to pull out the plum notes; I think the sourness takes over and covers those flavors. Still tasty though, and definitely attractive to those who like darker sours.

Next up is the "Eye of the Beholder", a 6.80% ABV red wheat ale dry-hopped with Mosaic, Citra, and Centennial hops.

This doesn't have the same kind of flavors as red ales usually do, and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I really like the hop mix, and there are some wheat flavors in there, but beyond that it's tough to identify anything else in there. It's also lighter than I was expecting. In the words of my friend Nathaniel - it "tastes like beer."

Here we have the delightfully Pink Floydian "The Gates of Dawn", a wee heavy. 7.00% ABV, smoked malt, cherry wood and brewed in collaboration with Brewer's Art.

I was actually intending on reviewing Duck Rabbit's wee heavy, but ended up drinking it all and not taking good enough notes. Now's a good enough time to briefly touch on this style, though - a wee heavy is also called a Scotch ale and is generally super malty with lots of caramel and wheat notes. They traditionally go through a very long boil in the kettle to caramelize the malts. The result is a beer very low in bitterness (IBUs) and one packed with biscuity, malty flavors.

Now here's where this example differs - it's kinda hoppy. There's a strong preseence of brassy hops, not by any means what an IPA might bring, but certainly unexpected in this style. While I appreciate the effort, it's hard to appreciate the delivery - or at least not what I was expecting. Doesn't mean it won't work for some people; if you like hops, and want a wee heavy with hops, this could work. Not what I like in hops, and not what I want in this beer. Good lingering finish, though.

Last but not least is "Auslander." It's a sticke. which is a stronger style of altbier, a style of beer from Dusseldorf.

 Some of you may remember the "Alt Route" altbier from the Sierra Nevada pack I reviewed in 2014. This is a similar color - deep brown, generating lots of bubbles. This one is a 6.5% dry hopped variant, with lemondrop and fermented with Jasper yeast. It's made in collaboration with former Wharf Rat brewer Barrett Laurer.

It generates a very nice wheat nose, kinda like sticking your nose in a box of Weetabix cereal. My kind of aroma! Fortunately the taste echoes that with a very biscuity, slightly zest flavor. Nice soft grains in there, and while it's malty, it's not as much of a malt bomb as a Scotch ale. I can barely detect the lemon, but it's in there. Nice caramel sugar on the finish, and were I smoking a cigar, I'd pair this with an Avo Uvezian "Classic Covers LE 2015".

Overall, this was a good six pack with a nice range of flavors and styles. Although not all of the beers were particularly my speed, I can appreciate the craft (and having a survey of their brewing capabilities was also nice!) This six pack was 15.99 plus tax, and although it's not available any more, I encourage you all to check our Oliver Brewing Co. in the future.