Today, the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food (DARP) has announced the winning candidacies of the PITA awards in their various categories corresponding to the year 2020.
The jury, presided over by the general director of Food, Quality and Agricultural Industries, Carmel Mòdol, and constituted by representatives of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), University of Lleida (UdL), Institute for Food and Agricultural Research and Technology (IRTA), of the DARP, and by the Department itself, has recognised the feat of creating a homogeneous product which mixes the two apparently insoluble elements of oil and water.
A HANDCRAFTED BEER WITH A METICULOUS R+D PROCESS
ERM de Pallars, the company producing OLIBA Green Beer, has created a beer which incorporates attributes of the olive thanks to the obtainment of an extract which makes it possible to imbue the beer with the scent, taste and colour of this treasured fruit.
This has been possible through a maceration process following the biodynamic technique and exalting the positive attributes of the olives.
OLIBA Green Beer has been brewed in the Bohemian Pilsner style from the Czech Republic, using high-quality Pilsen malts and Czech hops like Saaz to offer a product with an alcohol content of 5%, refreshing and smooth.
A BEER LINKED TO A TERRITORY
In spite of its Czech style, it is a beer of Mediterranean inspiration created in the heart of Barcedana Valley, in the Pyrenees. This is where the concept of “the Mediterranean drink from the Pyrenees” was born, arising from the observation of olive farming in Catalonia, which stretches from the feet of the mountains to the Mediterranean coast, constructing a centuries-old gastronomic, natural and cultural tradition.
Ivan Caelles Colomés, a producer of extra virgin olive oil, is undertaking a project designed to shine a spotlight on Barcedana Valley and its landscapes and indigenous olive trees. The ERM Mountain Olive Oil brand produces some exceptional olive oils, and the beer has represented an authentic catalyst in a highly depopulated, historically agrarian territory.
This curious and innovative agricultural engineer is surprising the world with OLIBA Green Beer, this new product which combines two of his passions –olives and beer– and provides continuity to the initiative begun with oil.
A COMMITTED BEER
And, naturally, OLIBA Green Beer follows the line of all of Ivan Caelles’s projects and social values, which is why we are committed to organisations like FUNDACIÓ PRIVADA ILERSIS, which supports the integration of people with intellectual disabilities in Lleida, and ONCE, which promotes the inclusion of people with visual impairment and disabilities throughout the Spanish state.
Thus, the youths of FUNDACIÓ PRIVADA ILERSIS have taken on the task of handling and packaging our beers and attaching the braille label, created with the help of ONCE, which allows people with visual impairment to read the product in their hands.
A PRIZEWINNING BEER WITH TWO MAJOR AWARDS
OLIBA Green Beer, introduced on 10 May and only a few months “old”, has won this 2020 PITA, a high accolade from the Catalan government which joins the 2020 Innovation Prize bestowed by the Superior School of Olive Oil (ESAO), based in Valencia.
