Shmaltz Year in Review 2013

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September 19, 2013

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Shmaltz Brewing: A Rejewvenation Worth Drinking To

By DEENA SHANKER For most people, a spiritual awakening may lead to charity work, renewed membership in a local synagogue or church, or a large donation to a good cause. But Shmaltz Brewing Company founder Jeremy Cowan is not most people. And for him, it meant something very different: beer.

In the 1990s, as a mid-twenty-something, Cowan went to Israel for what he figured would be three months of a good time on a small budget. But instead, he says, "I just got inspired to participate in the community in a way I had never done before."

Returning to his home in San Francisco, Cowan wasn't sure how exactly to do that. He had been living in an Orthodox Jewish community, but despite the spiritual and emotional satisfaction, there was just something missing. "For me, I still wanted to have my feet in both worlds." And that meant not abandoning society's "secular and pop culture" influences.

So he decided to make beer.

Still though, it took some time for Shmaltz to tap into its full potential. "In the beginning, I thought that I was starting a Jewish nonprofit in the form of a beer company," he says. "And unfortunately that was like a self-fulfilling prophecy because it was not profitable for a long time. It took many years for me to realize, 'No, I'm running a beer company.'"

Once that switch was flipped, though, progress flowed quickly. Since its establishment in 1996, Shmaltz has gone from a Mission District, San Francisco apartment operation, where Cowan brewed his first hundred cases of HE'BREW Beer that he enlisted his mother to deliver, to a company that sells across 35 states through more than 40 wholesalers and 4,000 retailers. And with the recent opening of its own brewery just north of Albany in Clifton Park, New York, expect to see more of the brand's "chosen beers" here, with shelves filling with brews like Messiah Nut Brown Ale, Genesis Dry Hopped Session Ale, and the Rejewvenator 2013, which was recently announced as a new permanent member of the company's seasonal "mishpocha" (re: family).

By the way, it's not just the names ("schmaltz" is Yiddish for "excessive sentimentality in art or music") and Kosher certification that make this beer Jewish. Everything from the artwork to the causes the company supports to the ingredients (Cowan likes to incorporate the Biblical Israel's famous fruits and grains like figs and pomegranates, aka the "Seven Species," into the brews) contains meaning culled from Cowan's heritage.

Coming this holiday season, you can celebrate that: Jewish revelers excited to eat in huts and shake palm leaves in celebration of Judaism's harvest (and lets be honest, most cultish) holiday Sukkot may be disappointed to learn there is no lulav or etrog flavored brew, they can find comfort in the news that Shmaltz will be offering the perfect Chanukah gift for the beer-lover in their family by way of The HE'BREW Holiday Gift Pack, featuring eight HE'BREW Beers, a matching HE'BREW glass, and even a set of Chanukah candles so the creatively inclined can use the empties to build their very own beer menorah.

Not ready for that kind of commitment yet, even to a Nice Jewish Beer like HE'BREW? Stop by the Brooklyn Pour craft beer festival in Fort Greene on October 12 for a taste of one (or several!) of the many HE'BREW recipes. Your Jewish mother will definitely approve.

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August 15, 2013

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Heads Up: Jewish Brewer Thriving Amid Craft Beer Boom

By LISA ALCALAY KLUG, JTA With the creation of David’s Slingshot Hoppy Summer Lager, beer maker Jeremy Cowan is evoking the image of the legendary battle between David and Goliath — a match-up that’s also apt for Cowan himself.

Though still a small player in the world of craft beers, Cowan, Shmaltz’s owner and founder, is catapulting himself onto a much larger field.

After years in which his company, Shmaltz Brewing, paid others to produce its He’Brew beers, Cowan has opened his own brewing facility in upstate New York.

The facility in Clifton Park outside Albany, which opened in July, includes a 1,700-square-foot tasting room, custom-made brew tanks and a 120-bottle-per-minute Italian packaging line.

Cowan grew up in Atherton and founded the company from his apartment in San Francisco during Chanukah 1996, labeling and delivering the first contract-brewed batch of 100 cases by hand from the trunk of his grandmother’s Volvo.

In the years since, it’s certainly been “shofar so good” for the beer maker, who relied on Jewish puns and assorted kitsch to move 3 million bottles in 2012 alone. Those 125,000 cases — Cowan’s largest run yet — grossed $3.9 million, a 42 percent increase over 2011. Cowan’s libations are now sold by 4,000 retail specialty shops in more than 30 states.

Cowan recognizes that members of the tribe don’t typically drink as much as other barflies. So if it’s not Jewish consumers lugging home those distinctive six-packs, or throwing one back at the legions of bars where He’Brew and its sister label Coney Island Lagers are sold, just who is consuming his beer?

“You don’t have to be Irish to drink Guinness. You don’t have to be Belgian to drink Chimay. And you don’t have to be Jewish to drink great Jewish beer,” Cowan says. “If the beer tastes great and the shtick is funny, then why wouldn’t anybody like it?”

Though Jews carry a reputation as lightweight drinkers, Jewish brewers have a storied history in the United States.

One of the earliest Jewish-owned breweries in the country, Rheingold Beer, was founded in 1850 by Samuel Liebmann and became quite popular.

Today, beer lovers looking for Jewish-inspired alternatives to He’Brew can choose from Maccabee, marketed in the United States by Israel’s Tempo Beer Industries; Lompoc Brewing’s

8 Malty Nights, a chocolate rye porter; and the microbrews of New York–based Lost Tribes, which incorporates exotic ingredients from the Middle East.

But Shmaltz has embraced its Jewish side with a gusto unmatched by any of the others. Its newest addition, David’s Slingshot Hoppy Lager, joins a host of quirky labels including Funky Jewbilation, Hop Manna, Genesis Dry Hopped Session Ale, Messiah Nut Brown Ale and Rejewvenator.

Cowan, a Stanford University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in English, devises the shtick, as well as the written product descriptions and marketing concepts. His art director, Nat Polacheck, interprets the concepts into the company’s signature style.

The new brewery is a far cry from the brand’s humble beginnings in 1996 — a story he shares in his memoir, “Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah: How It Took 13 Years, Extreme Jewish Brewing, and Circus Sideshow Freaks to Make Shmaltz Brewing Company an International Success.”

That success owes much to the burgeoning appeal of the wider craft beer industry. Sales of craft brew increased to $10.2 billion in 2012, up from $8.7 billion in 2011. The ranks of small breweries are larger than they’ve been at any time since before Prohibition.

“Since the 1970s, the growth has been small but linear,” says Cowan, who spearheaded the creation of the nonprofit New York City Brewers Guild in 2012 and serves as its president.

“In the last four or five years, there have been more breweries opening every year than ever before.”

According to the Brewers Association, small craft brewers produce fewer than 6 million barrels of beer annually. Like Shmaltz, these brewers typically take distinct, individualistic approaches to connecting with their clients. They also use both traditional and nontraditional ingredients, like the fruit juice found in He’Brew’s Origin Pomegranate Ale. With his new facility, Cowan is now brewing 50-barrel batches every two to three weeks, with an annual capacity of 20,000 barrels.

“We’re controlling our destiny,” says Cowan. “It’s incredibly exciting, incredibly gratifying to be part of an industry that is going through positive change right now.”

A Kitschy, Kosher Beer for Every Jewish Holiday Shmaltz Brewing Company settles into its new brewery in Upstate New York

By Erik Ofgang|November 27, 2013 !

Move!over,!Manischewitz,!there’s!a!new!kid!on!the!Jewish! alcoholic!beverage!block!this!Hanukkah.!!! !

He’Brew,!proudly!billed!as!“the!chosen!beer,”!is!here.!Actually,! it’s!been!here!for!a!while.!Shmaltz!Brewing!Company!has!been! crafting!the!awardEwinning,!certifiedEkosher!line!of!Jewish! craft!beer!for!17!years,!but!until!this!summer!the!company! was!wandering!in!the!wilderness!of!contract!brewing!(brewE world!lingo!for!a!brewery!that!does!not!have!a!physical! location!and!instead!relies!on!other!breweries!to!brew!its! recipes).!Shmaltz’s!exodus!came!to!an!end!in!July!when!the! company’s!new!brewery!officially!opened!in!Clifton!Park,!N.Y.,! just!outside!of!Albany.!!! !

“It’s!awesome!to!have!a!home!for!the!brand,!to!have!a!facility! where!we!can!show!off!our!brewery,!and!our!brewing! techniques,!and!our!recipes,!and!our!flavors,”!said!Jeremy!

Cowan,!the!brewery’s!founder!and!owner.!“It!gives!us!a!lot!of! creative!control!and!flexibility.”!!! !

The!Clifton!Park!facility!is!a!50Ebarrel!brewhouse!that!has!an! annual!capacity!of!20,000!barrels.!It!will!serve!as!the!base!of! operations!for!the!Jewish!beer!company,!which!sells!200,000! cases!of!beer!annually!and!grossed!$3.9!million!in!sales!in!

2012.!!! !

The!new!brewery!also!has!allowed!Cowan!and!his!partners!in! kosherEbeerEmaking!crime!to!experiment!with!new! carbonated!creations,!including!Jewbelation!Reborn,!an! intense!beer!brewed!to!honor!the!brewery’s!17th!anniversary! that!features!17!malts!and!17!hops,!clocking!in!at!a!whopping!

17!percent!alcohol!by!volume;!St.!Lenny’s,!a!BelgianEstyle! double!rye!IPA!crafted!in!collaboration!between!Shmaltz!and!

St.!Louis’!Cathedral!Square!Brewery;!and!Death!of!a!Contract!

Brewer,!a!smoky!black!IPA!brewed!to!commemorate!the! opening!of!the!new!brewery.!(You!can!find!them!in!Shmaltz’s! annual!He’Brew!Holiday!Gift!Pack.)!!! !

The!new!brewery!is!located!in!an!industrial!park!off!Interstate!

87.!It’s!a!promised!land!flowing!with!beer!and,!well,!more! beer.!Visitors!can!sample!a!variety!of!fresh!Shmaltz!beers,! tour!the!facility,!and!learn!about!the!beerEmaking!process.!

They!also!can!witness!Shmaltz’s!signature!borscht!belt! humor:!in!the!tasting!room!there’s!a!beer!menorah!display! featuring!empty!bottles!from!the!gift!pack!and!TEshirts!with! the!slogan!“Don’t!Pass!Out,!Pass!Over”!hanging!on!the!wall.!!!

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Brewing!kosher!beer!is!actually!easier!than!some!people! realize,!Shmaltz!Brewmaster!Paul!McErlean!told!me!as!I! toured!the!new!digs.!!“Beer!is!pretty!much!inherently!kosher,”!

McErlean!explained.!He!said!the!trick!is!to!make!sure!there! are!no!nonEkosher!elements!that!contaminate!the!process.!

The!brewery!also!avoids!some!traditional!brewing!techniques! that!call!for!the!use!of!gelatin!or!other!nonEkosher!products.!!! !

Cowan!started!Shmaltz!Brewing!Company!in!1996!as!a!

Hanukkah!experiment.!That!year!he!brewed,!handEbottled,! and!labeled!100!cases!of!beer,!then!borrowed!his! grandmother’s!Volvo!to!personally!deliver!the!cases!across! the!San!Francisco!Bay!area.!!! !

Cowan!said!one!of!his!goals!with!He’Brew!has!always!been!to! bring!Jewish!humor!to!the!brewing!world.!!“It!really!is!about! incorporating!Jewish!content!and!shtick!into!a!truly!unique! brand,”!Cowan!said.!“Being!able!to!share!punch!lines!from!the!

Marx!Brothers!and!Lenny!Bruce,!and!tying!together!stories!of! sacred!fruits!and!biblical!heroes!on!a!beer!label!is!a!pretty!fun! project.”!!! !

Fun,!and!successful:!their!line!of!Coney!Island!Craft!Lagers,! launched!in!2007,!was!recently!bought!by!Alchemy!and!

Science,!a!craft!beer!outfit!owned!by!Samuel!Adams!brewer!

Boston!Beer!Co.!Now,!Cowan!and!his!crew!have!big!plans!for! their!new!brewery,!which!has!300!bourbon,!rye!whiskey,!and! tequila!barrels!that!currently!hold!various!beers.!!! !

In!the!meantime,!craft!beer!fans!can!enjoy!Shmaltz’s!festive! holiday!offerings.!For!tomorrow’s!Thanksgivukkah!meal,!

Cowan!recommends!the!Hop!Manna!IPA:!“That’s!the! absolutely!perfect!beer!for!Thanksgiving,”!he!said.!“It’s!got!a! hint!of!malt!sweetness;!it’s!got!a!beautiful!complexity!of!hop! bitterness,!floral!flavors!and!citrus!flavors,!and!incredible! aromas.!It’s!a!wonderful!beer!that!can!cut!through!some!of!the! richness!and!complement!some!of!the!sweet!flavors!of!

Thanksgiving.”!!! !

We’ll!drink!to!that.!

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September 25, 2013

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He’Brew’s Finally Brewing Its Own Brews

By RENEE GHERT-ZAND After 17-years of contracting out their beer brewing, Shmaltz Brewing Company, known for its award-winning HE’BREW craft beers, has finally moved in to its own brewery in Upstate New York. With the new space, there’s a lot of new developments on tap.

In honor of the new facility’s opening this summer, Shmaltz’s sole proprietor Jeremy Cowan and consulting brewmaster Paul McErlean came up with the company’s first-ever Black India Pale Ale. “Huge, rich, roast-y…a lot of chocolate. We wanted to make the malt profile extremely forward…an incredibly complex black malty beer that was hopped as much as we could possibly get in there,” is how Cowan described the brew’s flavor in a video shot at the brewery’s grand opening celebration.

Fittingly, the brew was called “Death of a Contract Brewer,” and it holds to a shiva (the seven-day Jewish mourning ritual) theme, with seven malts, seven hops, and seven percent alcohol by volume. Related Jewish Beer Company Grows Fast Build Your Own Beer Bottle Menorah Jews and Beer Cowan, 44, promises that he will continue to employ his Jewish sense of humor, but he is serious when it comes to the reasons for opening his own brewery after so many years of championing contract brewing.

“It’s about being in control of my destiny,” Cowan recently told the Jew and the Carrot. “I now have the opportunity to pay close, personal attention to the details, like the consistency of recipes and the exact science that goes in to making the same brew twice.”

Truth be told, it’s not Cowan who is “sweating like crazy, running up and down the tanks.” That is the job of his brewers, but Cowan is still very invovled. “I was an English major, so my ability to learn chemistry is limited at this point, but I’m good at drinking beer,” Cowan quipped. “I can say if it needs to be richer, more chocolate-y, more piney or more bitter.”

Cowan admits that opening his own brew house has been a big challenge. “I didn’t know all the questions to ask. There’s all this stuff like compressed air, steam, water, filters,” he said. “It’s not like ordering a new toaster on Amazon, where all you have to do is take it out of the box and plug it in.”

“It was never my intention to open my own brewery. There was no need so long as the quality and the supply of the beer were secure,” he explained. “But about two years there were problems getting enough beer, and I decided it was time.”

Cowan’s new facility has the capacity to brew 10,000 barrels, or 125,000 cases annually. He now also has the ability to introduce new and exciting flavors and to feature special yeasts. Having sold off the Coney Island Craft Lagers label, Shmaltz is focusing more on its HE’BREW beers.

The core “Chosen” lineup, including Origin Pomegranate Ale, Genesis Dry Hopped Session Ale, Messiah Nut Brown Ale, will continue to be brewed. Funky Jewbilation, a blend six ales and lagers aged in bourbon and rye whiskey barrels is also still available. Cowan is also planning some seasonal beers and special collaboration brews.

This fall, there will be the limited-edition release of St. Lenny’s: The Immaculate Collaboration from Shmaltz and Missouri’s Cathedral Square Brewing Company. This will be a Belgian Style Double Rye India Pale Ale. A second collaboration, this one with Terrapin Beer Company, will result in Reunion ’13, a Dark Imperial Brown Ale brewed with cocoa nibs, vanilla, cinnamon and coffee.

As always, all HE’BREW beers are certified kosher. “The rabbi has been up to the brewery twice already,” said Cowan. The owner sent him home with some six-packs.

“He wanted free beer, just like the rest of us.”

April!9,!2013!

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Shmaltz!Brewing!Co.,!A!Craft!Brewery,!Is!Set!To!Launch!

Operations!In!Clifton!Park! !

Shmaltz!Brewing!Co.,!an!American!craft!brewing!company!based! in!San!Francisco,!will!soon!open!a!production!brewery!in!Clifton!

Park.!!! !

Officials!for!the!company,!handcrafters!of!beers!including!

He'Brew!C!The!Chosen!Beer!and!Coney!Island!Craft!Lagers,!said! its!new!plant!includes!a!50Cbarrel!brewhouse!with!20,000!barrels! of!annual!capacity.!!! !

It!is!located!at!6!Fairchild!Square,!just!west!of!Northway!Exit!10.!!! !

"With!a!$3.25!million!dollar!budget!and!countless!hours!of! planning!and!preparation,!what!began!as!an!improbable!fantasy! only!one!year!ago,!has!blossomed!into!a!nearly!20,000!square! foot!brewing!reality,"!officials!said!in!a!new!release.!!! !

The!facility!is!off!Ushers!Road,!near!Northway!Exit!10.!Munter!

Enterprises!of!Middle!Grove!is!the!general!contractor.!!! !

The!first!stainless!steel!kettles!were!delivered!in!March!and!the! inaugural!brew!date!is!targeted!for!late!April,!officials!said.!

Packaging!should!start!in!May!and!June,!and!Shmaltz!projects! bringing!100!percent!of!its!production!inChouse!by!midCtoClate! summer.!The!official!public!grand!opening!is!scheduled!for!

Sunday,!July!7,!details!to!be!announced!later,!the!company!said.!!! !

The!heart!of!Shmaltz's!new!operation!features!a!customCmade,! fiveCvessel!manual!workhorse!brewhouse,!as!well!as!eight! manufactured!in!the!U.S.!from!Oregon's!JV!Northwest.!The!120C bottleCperCminute!packaging!line!comes!from!the!Italian!experts! at!SBC/BC!International,!Shmaltz!officials!said.!!!! !

The!new!Shmaltz!brewery!will!package!12C!and!22Counce!bottles! and!kegs!of!their!diverse!core!and!seasonal!favorites.!Several!new! releases!and!collaborations!are!on!tap!for!2013,!and!Shmaltz!will! continue!its!acclaimed!exploration!of!barrel!aging!with!a!current! inventory!of!more!than!300!bourbon,!rye!whiskey,!and!tequila! barrels,!the!company!said.!!! !

The!brewery!projects!hiring!upwards!of!10!fullCtime!staff!in! addition!to!the!dozen!staffers!currently!handling!sales,!marketing! and!contract!brewing!operations.!The!space!also!touts!a!1,700C squareCfoot!tasting!room,!and!roughly!800!square!feet!of!office! space.!Once!open,!craft!beer!enthusiasts!will!be!able!to!enjoy!the! tasting!room!throughout!the!year.!Brewery!tours!will!be! available.!!! !

Shmaltz!will!be!piloted!by!the!same!team!team!that!has!been! brewing!beer!since!1996,!including!Jeremy!Cowan,!proprietor;!

Bob!Craven,!general!manager;!Matt!Polacheck,!art!director;!Zak! Davis,!national!sales!manager;!Jesse!P.!Cutler,!public!relations! director;!and!Paul!McErlean,!consulting!brewmaster!who!created! every!recipe!in!Shmaltz's!family!of!beers.!!! ! !

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Financing!for!the!project!came!fromBallston!Spa!National!Bank,! the!New!York!Business!Development!Corp.!using!the!a!Small!

Business!Association!program,!and!additional!assistance!from!

San!FranciscoCbased!Wells!Fargo!Bank.!A!limited!amount!of! additional!equity!was!raised!from!personal!friends!and!family,! many!longtime!supporters!of!Cowan!and!Shmaltz!Brewing,! according!to!the!company.!!!! !

"What!began!in!1996!as!a!sincere!experiment!of!100!cases!of!beer! delivered!out!of!the!back!of!founder!Jeremy!Cowan's! grandmother's!Volvo,!has!grown!into!a!200,000CcaseCperCyear! operation!(over!12,000!barrels),!grossing!$3.9!million!in!sales!in!

2012,!a!42!percent!increase!over!2011,"!the!company!said!in!a! statement.!!! !

Ranked!in!2013!as!one!of!the!"Top!100!Brewers!in!the!World"!by!

RateBeer.com,!Shmaltz!won!nine!gold!and!five!silver!medals!in! the!Word!Beer!Championships!in!2012.!A!recipient!of!the!

Distinguished!Business!Award!by!the!Brooklyn!Chamber!of!

Commerce,!Shmaltz!was!also!included!in!the!"Top!50!Fastest!

Growing!Bay!Area!Companies"!by!the!San!Francisco!Business!

Times.!!! !

Established!in!San!Francisco,!Shmaltz!the!company!reports!it!has! sold!more!than!10!million!bottles!of!beer!to!date.!Shmaltz! offerings!are!available!in!more!than!30!states!through!35! wholesalers!at!more!than!3,500!retail!specialty!shops!across!the!

U.S.!In!2010/11,!Shmaltz!proprietor!Jeremy!Cowan!published!his! small!business!memoir,!"Craft!Beer!Bar!Mitzvah:!How!It!Took!13!

Years,!Extreme!Jewish!Brewing,!and!Circus!Sideshow!Freaks!to!

Make!Shmaltz!Brewing!Company!an!International!Success."!A! free!sampling!of!chapter!one!can!be!viewed!at! www.craftbeerbarmitzvah.com.!!! !

With!the!opening!of!the!"World's!Smallest!Brewery"!in!Coney!

Island,!N.Y!.(1Cgallon!at!a!time,!since!2011,!the!company!states),!

Cowan!spearheaded!the!creation!of!the!nonCprofit!New!York!City!

Brewers!Guild!in!2012!and!serves!as!its!president.!!! !

Shmaltz!Brewing!beers!have!appeared!in!such!distinguished! media!outlets!as!The!New!York!Times,!CNN!Headline!News,!Fox! Business!News,!Beer!Advocate!Magazine,!NPR's!"Weekend!

Edition,"!New!York!Magazine,!Playboy,!Associated!Press,!Reuters,!

MSNBC,!and!Forbes.com.!

July 8, 2013

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Shmaltz Brewing Company Opens in Clifton Park

By DEANNA FOX Clifton Park doesn’t do much for me. Sorry, residents of this expansive stretch of suburbia, but besides visiting a few friends, Clifton Park was rarely on my list of “places to go.”

Yesterday, that changed.

Let me take you back a few years, when a younger version of Deanna Fox first happened upon Mahar’s. I was bound and determined not to perpetuate the college experience of my peers – one filled with 30-packs of Miller High Life on Friday nights. The first beer I had (at least I remember it as such) at Mahar’s was a He’Brew Jewbelation, picked mainly for the witty title. I was feeling more hip instantly.

Since then, Shmaltz Brewing Company (maker of He’Brew beers) has been a favorite of mine, as much for the flavor as for the nostalgia. It’s not hard to find these worty, malty concoctions locally, but now I can go right to the source. Shmaltz Brewing Company (SBC) invited the public to check out its new brewery in Clifton Park (off Exit 10), and based on the throngs of people lined up at the entrance, I’m not the only one excited about the joint.

The beer nuts were there, too. Here’s what Chad had to say about the event.

SBC is no stranger to Saratoga County. Olde Saratoga Brewing Company previously contract-brewed SBC tipples. Dennis Yusko has more on the story.

But, why Clifton Park? What’s the draw? Says Jeremy Cowan, founder and owner of SBC and president of NYC Brewer’s Guild: “Well, I figured it was already a great place to live, work, and play, so what a perfect opportunity to do all of those and at least at a brewery. We have a bunch of staff that live here in the region, and it’s been an incredible time for great craft beer in Upstate New York, as well as pretty much the rest of the state. This is an incredibly opportunity to reach people who are halfway between New York City and Canada, and Boston and Syracuse. It’s just a wonderful, supportive community of home brewers as well as beer connoisseurs.”

SBC currently makes two brands of beer in the Clifton Park facility: Coney Island Craft Lagers and He’Brew Beer. “We produce about 12,000 barrels worth of beer, which is about 24,000 kegs. We’re trying to stay a small, boutique beer company and make really high quality exceptional, exciting beers. That’s our goal, more than just doing volume. We look forward to sharing that special stuff with people around the region,” says Cowan.

SBC also hopes to capitalize on the growing availability of local beer ingredients in our region. “Traditionally most of the materials and ingredients have come from other regions, but there are starting to be some local options and everyone is starting to explore them. We would absolutely love to be able to do some more [local sourcing],” says Cowan.

A highlight at the brewery is a new pilot brewing system, which will produce about eight kegs of beer at a time instead of 100.

SBC plans on producing 40 to 50 specialty beers that will be offered as one-offs exclusively for the region and in the tasting room.

One example of these Upstate-only brews is Death of a Contract Brewer Black IPA. It was designed and produced just for this opening event, featuring 7 grains, 7 types of hops, and an alcohol content of 7%. Chad Polenz says it is, “one of the better Black IPAs I’ve had. It’s well-balanced with a pleasant roasty character and a nice hoppy component that’s not overdone.” I agree. It is only available through the tasting room.

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August 2, 2013

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An Overlooked Part of New York New York has become synonymous with New York City. Its identity has been almost entirely consumed by that massive city/cultural center of the world. It’s a very understandable situation, but the rest of New York shouldn’t be overlooked; and as far as craft beer goes, there is quite a lot going on. Throughout the state, there are many great breweries such as Ommegang, Ithaca, Three Heads, Medieval, and Southern Tier (Captain Lawrence is just as much NYC as it is upstate, thus the omitting), and many new breweries are popping up regularly.

One such brewery is the new home for Shmaltz Brewing Company, just outside New York’s capital city, Albany.

Albany is one of those cities that is currently forming its identity in the craft beer world. There are a number of great bars and breweries starting to open, forming a new culture sure to rapidly continue.

One of the great boosts for this city will be the aforementioned Shmaltz Brewing Company. Shmaltz, better known as He’Brew Brewing or Coney Island Brewing, is by no means a new brewery, but as of July 2013, they are celebrating a new beginning. After many years of contract brewing, owner, Jeremy Cowan, has finally opened the doors to his very own production brewery. Located just outside Albany in Clifton Park, his beautiful, shiny, new brewery was 16 years in the making and the dream of contract brewers everywhere. Their 20,000 square ft. brewery boasts a 50 barrel brewhouse and gives Albany a production brewery they can proudly call their own. Making both their He’Brew Ales and Coney Island Lagers in their own backyard instantly added great credibility to this blossoming beer scene.

Outside of Shmaltz, the Albany area really only consists of a handful of brewpubs. You have C.H. Evans Brewing Company, better known as the Albany Pump Station, Mad Jack, and Troy Pub and Brewery, also known as Brown’s Brewing.

Brown’s Brewing is located in a restored warehouse just outside of Albany in the suburb of Troy. Opening in 1993, Brown’s was the area’s first brewpub. The brewery has won a number of awards throughout the years, including a gold and silver medal at the World Beer Cup. Visiting the brewery will typically provide the opportunity to try at least a dozen different beers in the industrial, classic-feeling pub. Also, not far down the road, you’ll find a pair of bars worth checking out. An Upstate classic, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is a fairly famous BBQ chain that’s been featured on multiple TV shows, but also has an impressive draft list to complement the BBQ. There are twenty-five beers are on tap—most of which are craft—and even a pair of drafts brewed just for them, including a smoked porter. Also nearby is The Ruck, which offers a fantastic selection of draft beer. This no frills, dive bar is a mix of neighborhood bar and destination, so you can expect to sit side-by-side with some regulars throwing back their bottles of Bud as you enjoy the great variety of local and hard to get beers. This bar also offers a simple pub menu with some tasty wings and classic bar games like shuffleboard, which is a rarity nowadays. This is definitely one of the best casual drinking bars in the region.

Back in downtown Albany, you find the Albany Pump Station. The Pump Station is located in what used to be an old water pumping facility. There are still two massive, functioning cranes located in the building, used for maintaining and fixing the water pumps and more recently used for installing the brewhouse. The lofty ceilings, exposed brick, along with the cranes, make the atmosphere of The Pump Station truly unique and a worthwhile experience. They also make some quality brews with about ten different beers on tap at a time, along with New York made Doc’s Draft Ciders. You can also find spirits from Albany Distilling Company, which is located in the same building. If you plan your visit appropriately, you can visit the distillery as well.

In the same neighborhood, you will also find The City Beer Hall and The Merry Monk. The City Beer Hall is somewhat hidden in a massive, old bank-type building. Adorned with beautiful, oak woodwork and long bier hall-type tables, the bar has a very comforting feel. This spot offers up a great selection of both drafts and bottles to go along with a gastropub menu featuring locally sourced food. On the second floor of the bar, they go a little western with the theme and even have a mechanical bull.

The Merry Monk is Albany’s take on a Belgian-style bar. The drafts are heavy with Belgian beers to go along with an extensive bottle list of imports.

The Monk is a small, simple bar and the complete opposite of City Beer Hall, allowing for a nice variety of experiences. Nearby, you will also find Albany’s German biergarten, Wolff’s, and their English pub, The Olde English Pub and Brewery, for those looking for a thematic experience.

In another suburb, Schenectady, you will find what is easily the region’s best draft list at The Bier Abbey, located in an old Victorian-style house. A mix of craft and European, one can expect anything from a local New York craft to Tilquin Gueuze on draft. Their 30 drafts are filled with very high quality offerings, guaranteeing there will be many beers you’ll want to drink. This is a bar definitely worth leaving downtown Albany for a visit.

Also, while in Schenectady, you can visit the Mad Jack Brewery at the nearby Van Dyck Lounge—a classic Jazz hall.!

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November 22, 2013

Joe Sixpack: Room at the Inn for Shmaltz Brewing

By DON RUSSELL LOOKS LIKE Jeremy Cowan and the rest of the team at Shmaltz Brewing are dipping into their own stash again.

America's least orthodox Jewish brewery is marking the convergence next week of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving with a fairly weird image of an "intergalactic turducken mothership" and a monster edition of its annual holiday ale, this year called Jewbelation Reborn.

The latke-eating turducken is powered by a menorah of nine flamespouting beer bottles. The beer is powered by 17 varieties of malt and 17 types of hops, launching you into the far reaches of the galaxy with a stunning alcohol content of 17 percent.

Yes, it's all fun nonsense - perhaps the product of too many afterhours sessions with the brewery's high-octane brands. But that's exactly what we've come to expect from Shmaltz.

This is, after all, a brewery that declares that its He'Brew ("The Chosen Beer") is "perfect for bar mitzvahs, weddings and circumcisions." Its website carries an endorsement from God himself: "Christ, that's good beer!"

The rare dual holidays are fertile turf for Cowan's engaging, offbeat humor. When I asked him if it was easier to sell his holiday beer in November than December, when it goes up against all those Christmas beers, he replied, "Are you kidding? If you thought it was tough to get shelf space at Christmastime, try finding shelf space during Thanksgiving, when grocery stores are selling all those turkeys!"

But Cowan's beer has a little more going for it this holiday season.

Until last summer, the company was mostly just a name without a physical plant - no kettles or bottling lines, no trucks or brewery workers. All of the company's products - including its He'Brew and Coney Island brands - were "contract-brewed" at facilities owned by other companies.

"Basically, we were a laptop and a cellphone," Cowan said.

Contract brewers often get a bad rap from others in the industry because they're regarded as interlopers without skin in the game. That never bothered Cowan because, he said, "I have a unique brand. . . .

But you reach the point where you're risking 100 percent of your eggs in somebody else's basket. It came to a point of wanting to protect 17 years of hard work. . . . It became obvious that this became the right direction to grow."

Room with a brew This summer, after 17 years, Cowan took out a mortgage, hired staff and moved into a brewery of his very own, in New York's Saratoga County. The company announced its "rebirth" with typical irreverence, releasing a commemorative black India pale ale called Death of a Contract Brewer.

This year's version of Jewbelation continues the theme by declaring it has been "reborn" as "proof of our conversion to a new life as a brewery owner."

In typical He'Brew fashion, the label obsesses with the numerology behind its anniversary. Seventeen is the number of syllables in a haiku and the number of Shakespearean comedies, it notes. In TV's "The Office," Dwight recited Rule 17, which all Schrute boys must learn: "Don't turn your back on bears, men you have wronged or the dominant turkey during mating season."

Yes, there's a lot of shtick at Shmaltz, but don't let that fool you. The beer is mighty ta'im (that's "delicious") and certainly worthy of a toast on this Thanksgivukkah.

The beer is the creation of Paul McErlean, who was the brewmaster at Olde Saratoga Brewing, where He'Brew was previously made. He moved to Shmaltz when it opened its own facility in nearby Clifton Park, N.Y. The 17 percenters A closer look at the 17 malts in Jewbelation Reborn offers some insight on how brewers develop complex flavors in strong beer. The grain bill includes: -Two-row barley: The standard base malt for most craft beer.

-Vienna, Munich and roasted barley: All are lightly toasted for both flavor and aroma.

-Chocolate: Very dark roasted with bittersweet flavor.

-Rye: Somewhat uncommon, provides spicy notes.

-Wheat, roasted wheat, spelt, einkorn and emmer: These wheat varieties' proteins provide a full body.

-Crystal rye, dark crystal, Cara-Munich 40 and Cara-Pilsner: Crystalline and caramelized sugars for added sweetness.

-Flaked oats: Like instant oatmeal, mainly for body.

-Kiln amber: Lightly roasted for a biscuit flavor.

As for the bitter stuff, the hops are a mix of Old World (Golding, Tettnang, Czech Saaz), the Three C's (Cascade, Centennial and Columbus), and newly introduced varieties (Crystal, Simcoe, Amarillo, Ahtanum, Citra, Summit, Chinook, Warrior, Apollo, Palisade and Santiam).

May$13,$2013$ $

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Shmaltz$Brewing$Co.,$a$new$craft$brewery$in$Clifton$Park,$ joins$growing$local$beer$market$

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By$FRANCINE$GRINNELL$

$ CLIFTON PARK -- It's often said timing is everything.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony and preview event attended by local officials, politicians, business development leaders and craft-beer industry professionals was held in Clifton Park Monday afternoon to welcome Shmaltz Brewing Co. to Saratoga County.

Shmaltz is the latest to join a growing number of local brewing operations, and its founder and president, Jeremy Cowan, planned the kick-off event to coincide with American Craft Beer Week.

Cowan led a small assembly of well-wishers that included Democratic U.S. Congressman Paul Tonko, Clifton Park Supervisor Phil Barrett, Clifton Park Councilman James Whalen, Saratoga Economic Development Corp. President Dennis Brobston, Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce President Todd L. Shimkus and Empire State Development's senior director of industry development for agribusiness, Pat Hooker, on a tour of the nearly 20,000-square-foot brewing facility. The brewery shone from top to bottom with stainless steel manufacturing tanks from Oregon and a bottling line from Italian experts SBC/BC International.

"The town of Clifton Park welcomes Shmaltz Brewing," Barrett said. "They represent a growing segment of the economy, and their commitment to locating in Clifton Park is a significant private-sector investment for our town."

"Last week, we heard about GlobalFoundries suppliers and retail revitalization at (Northway) Exit 9," he continued. "Jeremy didn't think he was going to build a brewery, and I certainly didn't think we'd be looking to attract a brewery to Clifton Park anytime soon.

This is just another wonderful example of collaborative relationships with SEDC and all our economic development partners. Another success story -- more private-sector investment in Clifton Park, expanding the tax base, creating jobs."

The brewery plans to hire upwards of 10 full-time staff members for the new operation, in addition to the dozen staffers currently handling sales, marketing and contract brewing operations. The space also touts a 1,700-square-foot tasting room and roughly 800 square feet of office space.

"It is wonderful to see a company like Shmaltz Brewing establish operations in New York's Capital District," Tonko said. "Our region's rich agricultural heritage coupled with the booming market for craft beers will provide them with the opportunity to hit the ground running. Small businesses like Shmaltz Brewing are the success stories of our recovery, and it is my pleasure to welcome them to Clifton Park and upstate New York."

Brobston told Cowan that his decision to locate the $3.25 million, 50-barrel brewery in Clifton Park "is proof that if you build the right business environment, small businesses will have an opportunity to flourish. This project was successful because we had prepared sites and buildings, a business-friendly local community like we have in Clifton Park and access to capital. ... When everyone works together, business happens."

Shimkus thanked Cowan for the investment his company has made in Clifton Park and Saratoga County by locating the brewery at Fairchild Square off Ushers Road.

"Small businesses with hard-working owners and dedicated employees are really the lifeblood of our local economy, and the team at Shmaltz Brewing is clearly hard-working and dedicated. We thank them for the jobs they have created, the investments they've made in our community and for helping us to expand our offerings to tourists looking for locally made craft beers via their really cool tasting room," he said.

Hooker said, "Governor (Andrew) Cuomo's commitment to growing the beverage industry is producing real results."

Shmaltz Brewing Co. joins other recent brewing endeavors in the region, including Davidson Brothers Brewing Co., owned by Rick and John Davidson, who invested $3.5 million to open a 20,000-square-foot brewery in a former movie theater in Queensbury; and Druthers Brewing Co., located at 381 Broadway in Saratoga Springs and owned by public finance lawyer Chris Martell.

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CLIFTON PARK: Calif. Brewery Plans to Open Plant in Area

By BETHANY BUMP Clifton Park will soon be the production home for an acclaimed line of craft beers out of California. Shmaltz Brewing Co. announced Friday its plans to open its own microbrewery in the fast-growing town.

The news is a break in tradition for the San Francisco-based contract brewing company, which has relied on a Saratoga Springs brewery to produce its award-winning HE’BREW beer and Coney Island Craft Lagers for the past 16 years.

Shmaltz, founded in 1996 by Jeremy Cowan, became well known for its creative beers and use of Jewish pop culture and history on its logos and artwork. Last year, the company grossed $3.9 million in sales, a 42 percent increase over 2011.

As a contract brewer, Shmaltz handled all of the beer’s marketing, sales and distribution, but left the brewing and packaging of its famous lines up to the folks at Olde Saratoga Brewing Co.’s facility in Saratoga Springs. The company’s relationship with Saratoga County helped pave the way toward opening its own microbrewery and begin transferring all of its production in-house. Just last week, the first stainless kettles were delivered to the company’s new 22,000-squarefoot warehouse at Exit 10. BREWING ROOTS “The Shmaltz tribe honors these contract brewing roots while embracing the miracle of new life in Clifton Park, New York — envisioning its expansion as a 50-barrel playground for brewing exceptional specialty beers and hosting a growing family of enthusiastic consumers at its new home,” read an announcement on its website.

Shmaltz will brew its first batch in late April, and begin packaging its beers in May and June. By mid-to-late summer, it expects to produce 100 percent of its lines at the 50-barrel facility, which was built on spec by developer Mark Rekucki, owner of M.J. Properties of Clifton Park Inc. It also includes a 1,700-square-foot tasting room and about 800 square feet of office space.

The $3.25 million production facility will create about a dozen new jobs, and was financed through Ballston Spa National Bank, the New York Business Development Corp. and San Francisco-based Wells Fargo Bank. Middle Grovebased Munter Enterprises is the contractor up-fitting the facility with a custom-made five-vessel manual workhorse brewhouse, as well as eight fermentation and two bright beer tanks that were manufactured in Oregon. Brewery tours will be available to the public throughout the year.

“Kudos to the town of Clifton Park for offering predictability and a business friendly environment for Shmaltz,” read a statement issued Friday by the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation.

Shmaltz will package 12- and 22-ounce bottles and kegs of its core and seasonal lines with a new 120-bottle-per-minute packaging line, and continue to explore barrel-aging projects with its current inventory of more than 300 bourbon, rye whiskey and tequila barrels.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held late next month or in early May, with an official grand-opening bash on July 7.

Specific details will be announced soon.

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May!13,!2013!

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L’Chaim!!Shmaltz!Brewing!Company!joins!growing! craft!beer!market! !

By!FRANCINE!GRINNELL!! !

CLIFTON( PARK( --( It's( often( said( timing( is( everything.( ( A( ribboncutting( ceremony( and( preview( event( attended( by( local( officials,( politicians,(business(development(leaders(and(craft-beer(industry( professionals( was( held( in( Clifton( Park( Monday( afternoon( to( welcome(Shmaltz(Brewing(Co.(to(Saratoga(County.((( ( Shmaltz( is( the( latest( to( join( a( growing( number( of( local( brewing( operations,( and( it's( founder( and( president,( Jeremy( Cowan,( planned( the( kick-off( event( to( coincide( with( American( Craft( Beer( Week.((( ( Cowan( led( a( small( assembly( of( well-wishers( that( included( Democratic( U.S.( Congressman( Paul( Tonko,( Clifton( Park( Town( Supervisor( Phil( Barrett,( Clifton( Park( Town( Councilman( James( Whalen,(Saratoga(Economic(Development(Corp.(President(Dennis( Brobston,( Saratoga( County( Chamber( of( Commerce( President( Todd(L.(Shimkus(and(Empire(State(Development's(senior(director( of( industry( development( for( agribusiness,( Pat( Hooker,( on( a( tour( of( the( nearly( 20,000-square-foot( brewing( facility.( The( brewery( shone( from( top( to( bottom( with( stainless( steel( manufacturing( tanks( from( Oregon( and( a( bottling( line( from( Italian( experts( SBC/BC(International.((( ( "The( town( of( Clifton( Park( welcomes( Shmaltz( Brewing,"( Barrett( said.( "They( represent( a( growing( segment( of( the( economy,( and( their( commitment( to( locating( in( Clifton( Park( is( a( significant( private-sector(investment(for(our(town."((( ( "Last(week,(we(heard(about(GlobalFoundries(suppliers(and(retail( revitalization( at( Exit( 9,"( he( continued.( "Jeremy( didn't( think( he( was(going(to(build(a(brewery,(and(I(certainly(didn't(think(we'd(be( looking(to(attract(a(brewery(to(Clifton(Park(anytime(soon.(This(is( just( another( wonderful( example( of( collaborative( relationships( with( SEDC( and( all( our( economic( development( partners.( Another( success( story( --( more( private-sector( investment( in( Clifton( Park,( expanding(the(tax(base,(creating(jobs."((( ( The(brewery(plans(to(hire(upwards(of(10(full-time(staff(members( for(the(new(operation,(in(addition(to(the(dozen(staffers(currently( handling( sales,( marketing( and( contract( brewing( operations.( The( space( also( touts( a( 1,700-square-foot( tasting( room( and( roughly( 800(square(feet(of(office(space.((( ( "It(is(wonderful(to(see(a(company(like(Shmaltz(Brewing(establish( operations( in( New( York's( Capital( District,"( Tonko( said.( "Our( region's( rich( agricultural( heritage( coupled( with( the( booming( market(for(craft(beers(will(provide(them(with(the(opportunity(to( hit( the( ground( running.( Small( businesses( like( Shmaltz( Brewing(

are( the( success( stories( of( our( recovery,( and( it( is( my( pleasure( to( welcome(them(to(Clifton(Park(and(upstate(New(York."((( ( Brobston(told(Cowan(that(his(decision(to(locate(the($3.25(million,( 50-barrel( brewery( in( Clifton( Park( "is( proof( that( if( you( build( the( right( business( environment,( small( businesses( will( have( an( opportunity( to( flourish.( This( project( was( successful( because( we( had( prepared( sites( and( buildings,( a( business-friendly( local( community( like( we( have( in( Clifton( Park( and( access( to( capital.( ...( When(everyone(works(together,(business(happens."((( ( Shimkus( thanked( Cowan( for( the( investment( his( company( has( made( in( Clifton( Park( and( Saratoga( County( by( locating( the( brewery(in(Fairchild(Park,(off(Ushers(Road.((( ( "Small( businesses( with( hard-working( owners( and( dedicated( employees(are(really(the(lifeblood(of(our(local(economy,(and(the( team(at(Shmaltz(Brewing(is(clearly(hard-working(and(dedicated.( We( thank( them( for( the( jobs( they( have( created,( the( investments( they've(made(in(our(community(and(for(helping(us(to(expand(our( offerings(to(tourists(looking(for(locally(made(craft(beers(via(their( really(cool(tasting(room,"(he(said.((( ( Hooker( said,( "Governor( Cuomo's( commitment( to( growing( the( beverage( industry( is( producing( real( results,( as( demonstrated( by( Shmaltz(Brewing(Company's(decision(to(open(a(new(state-of-theart( brewery( in( Clifton( Park.( Legislation( passed( last( summer( and( other( reforms( accomplished( since( New( York's( first( Beer( and( Wine(Summit(have(led(to(significant(growth(of(craft(breweries(in( our(state(and(the(creation(of(nearly(2,500(new(jobs(since(2010."((( ( Shmaltz(Brewing(Co.(joins(other(recent(brewing(endeavors(in(the( region,(including(Davidson(Brothers(Brewing(Co.,(owned(by(Rick( and(John(Davidson,(who(invested($3.5(million(to(open(a(20,000square-foot( brewery( in( a( former( movie( theatre( in( Queensbury;( and( Druthers( Brewing( Co.,( located( at( 381( Broadway( in( Saratoga( Springs(and(owned(by(public(finance(lawyer(Chris(Martell.(

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May 30, 2013

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What’s on tap at Shmaltz Brewing in Clifton Park?

By PAM ALLEN Jeremy Cowan’s Shmaltz Brewing Co. brewed its first vat of beer at its new Clifton Park brewery.

The craft beer processed at the $3.3 million brewery—50 barrels of an American amber from Shmaltz’s HE’BREW line called “Genesis Ale” —should take another couple weeks to ferment.

“It’s appropriate that our first brew means ‘the beginning,’ brewmaster Paul McErlean told me during a personal, hour-long tour of the new brewery.

Our photographer, Donna Abbott-Vlahos, was also there snapping awesome shots of the mammoth, 200-barrel stainless brewing tanks and fermenters, automated bottling system, and other moving parts of the operation that will run in an upcoming slideshow.

This is the first time that Shmaltz, which operates administrative offices in Brooklyn and San Francisco, California, has brewed its own labels. For the last decade, the company’s signature HE’BREW and Coney Island Craft Lagers were brewed at Olde Saratoga Brewing Co. in Saratoga Springs.

Cowan plans to brew between 15,000 and 18,000 barrels this year. One barrel equals two kegs.

McErlean and general manager, Bob Craven, formerly of Olde Saratoga Brewing, now work for Shmaltz.

Shmaltz grew 42 percent in 2012, ending the year with $3.9 million in revenue. The brewery has six employees. That number that will grow to 10 in the next two weeks.

Cowan says he settled near Northway 10 in Clifton Park because the craft beer market in upstate New York is expanding so quickly.

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May 31, 2013

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Behind the Scenes at Shmaltz Brewing Co. in Clifton Park, NY Jeremy Cowan, owner of Shmaltz Brewing Co., opened his first brewing operations this month in Clifton Park. New York’s craft beer industry is the third-fastest growing in the country. Cowan says he chose to brew in the Capital Region because so many of the area’s restaurants and taverns are tapping into the popular craftbrew market. (Photo is of Shmaltz Brewmaster Paul McErlean)

July 31, 2013

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Shmaltz tastes regional success

By STEVE BARNES After about a decade of being produced in the Capital Region, Shmaltz Brewing is finally starting to develop a local presence.

Founded in 1996 in San Francisco, Shmaltz's two lines — He'brew ales and Coney Island lagers — for the past 10 years or so were produced almost exclusively at Olde Saratoga Brewing Co.'s facility in Saratoga Springs.

That arrangement, known as contract brewing, ended earlier this year when Shmaltz opened its own brewery in an industrial development in Clifton Park. Debuted to the public at a grand opening in early July, the $3.75-million brewery is basically a 20,000-square-foot warehouse with a small tasting room/retail store at the front.

According to company projections, the new brewery will allow Shmaltz to grow from producing a little less than 200,000 cases last year to up to 350,000 annually within a few of years, and it will be able to make a greater variety as well. Shmaltz produces six He'brew beers year-round in bottles and three year-round drafts, plus nine seasonal beers in bottles and draft; there are eight Coney Island beers, all available as drafts and bottled.

"It started as a complete lark," says founder and owner Jeremy Cowan, who made 100 cases his first year, doing all the brewing, bottling and labeling himself and delivering in his grandmother's Volvo. "And now," he says, gesturing toward giant stainless-steel fermentation tanks during a brewery tour, "we've got this."

Shmaltz is a niche brewer with distinctive, sometimes bold beers and shtick in the names and labels. Its first He'brew beer was called, naturally, Genesis; others in the line include Funky Jewbelation, Rejewvenator, David's Slingshot and Hop Manna. Reflecting the carnival-sideshow history of Coney Island, Shmaltz's lagers boast monikers like Albino Python, Sword Swallower and Human Blockhead.

"People get a kick out of the shtick," says Cowan, "but this is definitely high-quality American craft beer. And some of our beers are outrageous."

Albino Python is a white lager with five kinds of malts, three kinds of hops and is spiced with ginger, orange peel and fennel seed; Bittersweet Lenny's is a rye-based double India pale ale with eight malts and seven hops, and it clocks in at 10 percent alcohol by volume, twice as potent as Budweiser and Samuel Adams lager.

Cowan chose to open Shmaltz's first brewery in the Capital Region because of positive experiences with Olde Saratoga and the area's growing brewing culture.

"We knew the work force would be here," he says. The area also offers easy access to highways to New York City, Shmaltz's biggest market, especially for its Coney Island beers, as well as to Boston, Montreal, Washington and Philadelphia. It is distributed in 36 states as well as Japan, with about 15 percent of production going to California, its second-largest market after New York state, which accounts for 25 percent of sales.

Cowan's official home is in San Francisco, though he's been renting it out for about eight months as he worked to launch the brewery and lived in a Clifton Park hotel. He expects to maintain a Shmaltz presence in San Francisco, at least with a retail outlet, but he is fully relocating, himself and the company, to the Capital Region.

"This is an awesome time for craft brewing in the area," he says. "We're really looking forward to becoming more a part of the community."

July 7, 2013

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Grand Opening of the New Shmaltz Brewery CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. – Area residents joined in to celebrate the grand opening of Shmaltz Brewing Company's new 20,000square-foot brewing facility Sunday. The custom-made brew house is a break in Shmaltz’s 16year tradition of offering contract brewing and features a 50-barrel brew house, with 20,000 barrels of annual capacity. The new brewery will package 12 and 22 ounce bottles and kegs. In sticking to tradition, Shmaltz will continue their barrel-aging projects, utilizing a current inventory of more than 300 bourbon, rye whiskey and tequila barrels. The grand opening celebration featured live music, carnival games, cotton candy, Giffy's BBQ and Shirley's Café food truck from 1 to 5 p.m. Following the opening event, craft beer enthusiasts were offered the chance to visit the 1,700-square-foot tasting room to sample the featured selection. The brewery is located at 6 Fairchild Square, just off Ushers Road.

July 7, 2013

Beer Lovers Learn How It’s Made at Shmaltz Brewing Company’s Grand Opening

By MARIA VALVANIS

Have you ever wondered how beer is made? Hundreds of residents got the opportunity to learn that and more at the grand opening of Shmaltz Brewery in Clifton Park. And as our Maria Valvanis explains, beer lovers got to see the grains, smell the hops, and of course taste a variety of fun flavors.

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. -- Rochelle Garcia said, "I really don't know much about beer except whether I like it or not when I drink it."

But at Shmaltz Brewing Company's grand opening Monday, hundreds of people got the opportunity to learn a little something about one of America's favorite beverages.

"Now, you get a chance to see the grains, smell the hops, see the process, meet some of the brewers," said owner Jeremy Cowan.

Jeremy Cowan founded the company 16 years ago. His new facility in Clifton Park has the ability to produce 20,000 barrels a year.

"We make about 20 different flavors a year," said Cowan.

Rich Lessard said, "It's great to have it in our back yard."

Cowan said his brewery is the only one in the suburban town. But, that didn't stop Long Island residents from making the trip upstate.

"Shmaltz makes a great product. We've been drinking it for years. So, we certainly wanted to be here," said Todd Long.

The facility also features a tasting room.

"I've only sampled the first and it's pretty good, got a nice hoppy and fruity taste to it," said Andre Lessard.

People can now come in to sample the beers, get a walking tour of the facility, and of course take some of the tasty treats with them.

Long said, "I'm definitely going to bring a bunch of stuff home with me; that's for sure."

July 8, 2013

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Movin’ On Up: Shmaltz Opens Clifton Park Brewery After 17 years as a contact brewer in Saratoga Springs, Shmaltz Brewing Company celebrated the grand opening of a brewery of its own yesterday in Clifton Park, about 15 miles north of Albany, marking the end of an era for the New York-based company and the “Death of a Contract Brewer.”

The facility includes a massive 50-barrel brewhouse, four 200-barrel and four 100-barrel fermentation vessels, two bright tanks, a state-of-the-art bottling and kegging line, and tons of space for the 300-strong barrels the brewery has in stock for aging. The 20,000 square foot space also includes a cozy tasting room filled with couches and chairs you might mistake for someone’s living room. The facility also includes the flexibility to double their capacity; the brewery expects to churn out 20,000 barrels of beer in their first full year of operation.

Amusingly, Shmaltz made the State Liquor Authority licensing for this massive facility a bit less painful when it transferred its brewing license from the “World’s Smallest Brewery" on Coney Island that was destroyed in Hurricane Sandy. Despite being able to brew over 1,500 times more beer at once, the two shared the same type of microbrewery license.

It didn’t take long to take advantage of the brewery’s amenities at the grand opening yesterday, as they debuted their Death of a Contract Brewer Commemorative Black IPA brewed at the new facility, and tapped several barrel-aged beers throughout the day, including a tequila barrel-aged version of the Coney Island Albino Python. Other breweries from New York were on hand to celebrate the opening, including Empire, KelSo, Brown’s, Peekskill, and some local homebrewers as well. And as seems to be Shmaltz tradition, space was allotted for a performance by the Coney Island sideshow Danny Vomit, the Human Blockhead.

While the brewery and tasting room was christened yesterday, it will be open Wednesdays through Fridays from 4-8pm and weekends from noon-6pm for tasting and bottles to go. It’s not exactly a quick trip from New York - it’s about a three-hour drive from the city - but it’s just a minute off of I-87 just north of Albany at Exit 10, making it an easy stop on a trip up north. Although since we regularly go out of our way just to drink beer, we’ll likely be taking some detours up to Shmaltz regularly for a piece of Brooklyn nestled in the Capital Region.

July 3, 2013

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Shmaltz Brewing Company’s New Brewery Long proponents of contract brewing, and having done so for 16 years, Shmaltz Brewing Company has opened its own brewery. The new facility, located in Clifton Park near Albany, will have its grand opening to the public on Sunday July 7 with not only a full line up of their own beers but also beers from around the area with Brown’s Brewing, Peekskill Brewing, Druthers Brewing and more. Shmaltz will be pouring Death of a Contract Brewer, a special black IPA brewed just for the opening of the brewery. As with many Shmaltz events there will be side show and burlesque entertainment from Donny Vomit and Legs Malone.

Regular tickets are $25 and include five drink tokens but the better deal may be the $50 bus ticket. The bus ticket includes the regular ticket and a ride to and from the brewery departing Sunday morning with some breakfast snacks. The bus leaves at 9 a.m. and departs the brewery at 5:30 p.m.

May 5, 2013

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Yiddish Humor Behind Shmaltz Brewing’s New Brewery With a $3.25 million budget, a desire to control the company’s destiny and endless hours of preparation, Shmaltz Brewing is just days away from opening a new 50barrel brewhouse with a 20,000 barrel annual capacity.

The facility, which is being built in the Albany area of New York State, projects hiring ten full time staff to run the brewing operation. Shmaltz already employs dozens of professionals who handle sales, marketing and their current contract (third-party) brewing relationships.

The heart of Shmaltz's new operation features a custommade, 5-vessel manual workhorse brewhouse as well as 8fermentation and 2 bright beer tanks which were manufactured in the United States by JV Northwest, a Canby, Oregon steel tank manufacturer.

The building of the brewery is being led by the experienced team who are committed to Shmaltz Brewing Company’s dedication to “Crafting Delicious Beer and Delicious Shtick.” The team includes Jeremy Cowan (Proprietor), Bob Craven (General Manager), Matt Polacheck (Art Director), Zak Davis (National Sales Manager), Jesse P. Cutler (PR Director), and Paul McErlean (Consulting Brewmaster who created every recipe in Shmaltz’s family of beers).

Brewing production will begin this month, with the official, public grand opening bash taking place on Sunday, July 7.

Following the opening, craft beer enthusiasts will be able to enjoy Shmaltz’s tasting room throughout the year. Brewery tours will be available to the public – times will be announced this summer.

Shmaltz began in 1996 as an experiment of 100 cases of beer delivered out of the back of founder Jeremy Cowan’s grandmother’s Volvo. Today, the company can boast a 200,000 case per year operation and $3.9 million in gross sales in 2012, a 42% increase over 2011.

In honor of the brewers' investment in control, and armed with The Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten, here is the translation of the "shtick" behind the beer.

Shtick (rhymes with quick), like many Yiddish words, has a number of meanings. It could mean “a piece” or “a clownish prank.” In modern day references, the word generally indicates an overly used device or gesture designed to steal attention. In a sentence: On Saturday Night Live, the "Drunk Uncle" shtick can be tiresome.

Shmaltz (often spelled schmaltz) literally refers to cooking fat. In traditional Jewish kitchens, schmaltz commonly refers to the chicken fat which is used in dishes like chopped liver.

Thanks to Vaudville and Yiddish Theater, Schmaltz began to be used as an adjective meaning corny or overwrought emotionalism. In a sentence: Lady Gaga's meat dress was both pure schmaltz and part schmaltz.

As the Jewish people moved around the globe, generally due to the possibility or the reality of persecution, Yiddish (a blend of multiple languages) created a communication lifeline. Hebrew, the ancient language used in the Torah (Old Testament) was revived in the late 19th century with "Modern Hebrew" associated with the 1948 creation of the State of Israel. To truly understand the shtick, it is important to note that in addition to the language, the word Hebrew was used in biblical times to refer to the Jewish people.

Inventing Shmaltz’s initial brand, HE'BREW – The Chosen Beer, took quite a bit of chutzpah (presumptive arrogance or nerve). But if Laverne De Fazio & Shirley Feeney (the fictional workers at Shotz Brewery in the 1970’s sitcom Lavern & Shirley) could adopt the Yiddish concepts of shlemiel (a foolish or naïve person) and shlimazel (a chronically unlucky person) and skip into entertainment gold, then surely Cowan and his brew crew can take some liberties in generating liquid gold.

In fact, we wish them a lot of mazel! (Luck.)

November 12, 2013

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The Essential Hannukah Gift Guide: Shmaltz Brewing Company

By DANIEL KOREN California and did exactly what I do now, which is say, "Hey I have an idea for a project and I'm wondering if you could help me." We brewed 100 cases of Genesis Ale, our flagship for Hanukkah 1996. It was all hand bottled and hand labeled, and I delivered it around Northern California to a handful of retail stores myself. Now, 17 years later, we're distributed in 35 states. We probably have about 40 wholesalers, and 4,000 retailers around the country."

After the first eight years of operations, Cowan decided that, for Hanukkah (and the company's anniversary), Shmaltz would release a special edition beer. That year, the beer contained 8 malts, 8 hops, and was 8% alcohol.

Now, 17 years since that first batch of HE'BREW's, and Cowan's still at it, with this year's Holiday beer, the Jewbelation Reborn, crafted with 17 hops, 17 malts, is 17% alcohol, and is a 'complex, enormous brown ale with a dynamic labyrinth of multi-layered flavours.'

That sounds like one strong and delicious beer.

Also in anticipation of the anniversary, and of Thanksgivukkah, which the brewing company notes has only occurred once before in history, they are also releasing their 4th Annual He'Brew Holiday Gift Pack, and their first-ever Black IPA, the Death of a Contract Brewer. These beers, Cowan notes, are being crafted at Shmaltz's brand new 20,000 square-foot brewery in Upstate New York.

Put on your yarmulke. It's time.

As Hanukkah draws nearer, Shalom Life is proud to continue with our Essential Hanukkah Gift Guide: 8 crazy nights of amazing gift ideas, and 8 crazy nights of free giveaways, poised to make this year's holiday a bit easier, a bit less stressful, and a bit lighter on your wallet.

Join us as we list the essential gifts for this year's Hanukkah season, and highlight those companies who are making every effort to bring them directly to your doorstep.

For Day 2 of the Guide, Shalom Life is proud to partner with Shmaltz Brewing Company, an American craft brewing company based out of Clifton Park, New York which distributes its famous line of HE'BREW - The Chosen Beers across the United States, Canada, and even England. Shmaltz has become famous for its hilarious Jewish-themed beers that are topical, creative, and also, absolutely delicious. We all know us Jews like to drink; naturally, a 6-pack of Genesis Dry Hopped Session Ale or a 22 oz bottle of Jewbelation Reborn would be the perfect gift for a parent, sibling, spouse, or best friend.

Or you can go ahead and treat yourself to one.

Break out the latkes, turducken and HE'BREW Beer, it's time to celebrate Hanukkah, and Thanksgiving, with Shmaltz Brewing Company Established in 1996 by proprietor Jeremy Cowan, Shmaltz is the world's only Jewish-themed craft brewing company.

Speaking to Shalom Life, Cowan describes the project initially as using beer as a vehicle to promote Jewish content, history and shtick. Since then, Shmaltz's successful line of HE’BREW Beer has become an internationally acclaimed venture. Just this year, they were ranked as one of the "Top 100 Brewers in the World" by RateBeer.com, and won 9 Gold and 5 Silver Medals in the World Beer Championships in 2012.

They've also been included in the "Top 50 Fastest Growing Bay Area Companies" by San Francisco Business Times.

"When I started Shmaltz, it was really just an experiment. I just thought it would be fun and funny to make this country's first and only Jewish celebration beer," says Cowan. "And so, I went to a tiny brewery in Northern

Shmaltz's 4th Annual HE'BREW Holiday Gift Pack features eight 12 oz. bottles of beer including the World Beer Championship Silver Medal winning Messiah Nut Brown Ale and Gold Medal winner Rejewvenator. The Gift Pack features a custom glass, Chanukah candles and instructions on "How To Build Your Own Beer Menorah."

"It's a kind of a fun, playful way to celebrate the holidays for adults," Cowan says.

"We focus creating high end craft beer," he explains to me, "bringing together the best of both worlds. We make beer that highlights the Jewish experience, but just like you don't have to be Irish to drink Guiness, as long as beer is delicious and super high quality, we make delicious craft beer that everyone can enjoy."

Cowan also notes that he's come up with all the clever beer titles (puns galore) himself.

In 2010, Cowan published his small business memoir, Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah: How It Took 13 Years, Extreme Jewish Brewing, and Circus Sideshow Freaks to Make Shmaltz Brewing Company an International Success. A free sampling of Chapter One and suggested beer pairings, can be viewed at www.craftbeerbarmitzvah.com.

Over the past 17 years, Shmaltz Brewing Company has grown into a 200,000 case per year operation (over 12,000 barrels), grossing $3.9 million in sales in 2012, a 42% increase over 2011.

Essentially, Cowan, who is an active member of the Jewish community, has started a movement in craft brewing, and one that Jewish beer pundits can seriously get involved with. While stereotypes may dictate that Jews should only drink Manischewitz during high holidays, Cowan has provided us with kosher, fun, and delicious He'Brews that's fun for the whole family (that is, if all the members of your family are over 19 in Canada, and 21 in the States).

Shmaltz's various gift packs and Hanukkah themed beers are the perfect gift for Jews and non Jews alike; and if you're a fan of memorabilia, and hilarious gift ideas.

Hag Sameach, and make sure to tune in to Shalom Life tomorrow as we continue our 8-day Essential Hanukkah Gift Guide.

L'chaim!!!!

November!21,!2013!

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Celebrate!Chanukah!with!a!He’Brew!Beer!Menorah,!and!Then!

Take!Pictures!and!Win!Stuff! !

By!DAN!GENTILE!! !

Put!on!your!yarmulke!and!Adam!Sandler!CD,!it's!time!for!Chanukah!!For!the!first!time!since!

1888,!the!Jewish!holiday!begins!on!Thanksgiving,!and!the!brewers!over!at!Shmaltz!are! celebrating!with!a!special!He'brew!Holiday!Gift!Pack!of!eight!bottles!of!their!schtickiest! awardHwinning!suds,!including!the!Rejewvenator!and!the!Messiah!Nut!Brown!Ale.!But!the! fun!doesn't!stop!there!HH!they've!also!included!Chanukah!candles!and!instructions!on!how!to! build!your!very!own!beer!menorah.!!! !

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After!you're!done!being!surprised!that!this!isn't!offensive,!line!up!those!eight!beers,!light!the! candles,!and!submit!a!photo!to!their!Facebook!page.!Their!fans!will!vote!on!the!winners!who! will!receive!"chosen!prizes",!but!remember!HH!if!your!menorah!sucks,!they're!all!gonna!laugh! at!you.!!And!check!here!for!events!happening!all!throughout!the!eight!nights!of!mental! instability,!or!whatever!Sandler!called!them.!

November!26,!2013!

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It’s!the!4th!Annual!Beer!Menorah!Contest! !

By!ZOE!BAIN! !

Not!only!is!this!year!the!first!time!that! the!first!full!day!of!Hanukkah!and!

Thanksgiving!are!coinciding!since!

1888,!but!it!also!marks!the!4th!

Annual!Beer!Menorah!Contest.!What! exactly!is!a!beer!menorah!contest,!you! ask?!The!folks!over!at!Shmaltz!

Brewing!Company!discovered!some! time!ago!that!beer!bottles!are!the! perfect!vessels!for!building!a! homemade!menorah.!! ! !

Since!this!year!also!happens!to!be!Thanksgivvukah,!Shmaltz!has!released!a! special!Holiday!Gift!Pack!of!eight!specialty!JewishLthemed!brews!that! comes!complete!with!Hanukkah!candles!and!a!guide!to!making!your!very! own!beer!bottle!menorah.!Fans!who!build!a!beer!menorah!can!submit!a! photo!to!the!Shmaltz!Facebook!page!and!a!popular!vote!will!determine!the! winners!of!"fabulous!Chosen!Prizes."!The!eightLbottle!HE'BREW!Holiday!

Gift!Pack!is!available!nationwide,!but!even!if!you're!not!drinking!Shmaltz,! all!you!need!to!make!a!beer!menorah!are!eight!empty!bottles,!candles,!and! a!little!Thanksgivvukah!spirit!!

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November 29, 2013

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Weird Holiday Gift Guide Holiday shopping presents certain challenges when you have a weird person in your life.

Try as you might, it's hard to find something suitable for that special strange person, something that will fit their suitably bizarre world view.

At HuffPost Weird News, we are amply qualified to help thanks to our extensive experience dealing with weirdos, kooks, geeks, and crazies (and that's just at staff meetings).

Got a person obsessed with Sasquatch? We've got you covered. Same with zombie aficionados and even lovers of crime scenes and terrariums.

The one problem, of course, is that the recipient of any of these wonderfully weird gift ideas is so likely to be thrilled you got them what they want that they may want to get closer to you.

Trust us, that could be a problem. If you're willing to take that risk, check out the suggestions below.

Beer Menorah Hanukkah is an important Jewish holiday that celebrates a miracle where candles burned for eight days when there was only enough oil for one. Shmaltz Brewing Company toasts this miracle with eight crazy beers turned into a menorah. Mazeltov!

April 3, 2013

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Raise a glass to the return of brewing in NYC

By JESSE GREENSPAN Many New Yorkers can relate to Homer Simpson, who once said, “I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer.”

Luckily for them, the city’s once-thriving brewing industry, which declined to nothingness in the 1970s, is enjoying a renaissance.

There are about a dozen breweries licensed to operate in the five boroughs, and that number is expected to increase to 20 by the end of the summer, according to Jeremy Cowan, founder of Shmaltz Brewing and president of the New York City Brewers Guild.

“The average New Yorker is more and more interested in these wonderful projects,” Cowan said. “It just makes life better, and it makes the economy more dynamic.”

The breweries are based everywhere from City Island in the Bronx to the Rockaways in Queens.

Some companies such as Shmaltz, which is known for its “He’brew–The Chosen Beer,” contract brew outside of the city limits. Others, like KelSo and 508 GastroBrewery, make all of their beer here.

A third group, consisting of Brooklyn Brewery and Sixpoint Brewing, operate smaller facilities within the city and larger ones outside it.

“It’s a great cross section of all the different brewing models,” Cowan said.

All receive tax incentives for smaller craft brewers, even Brooklyn, which just completed an expansion in Williamsburg and produces more beer than the rest of its New York City competitors combined.

“There are still extremely few breweries (especially per capita) making beer in New York City,” Brooklyn co-owner Robin Ottaway said via email. “And most of those that do are very small.”

Yet Cowan pointed out that momentum is building.

“It’s an alcoholic refreshment, so there’s that element to it, but it’s also a piece of art and culture,” he said in reference to craft brewing. “That’s a very, very different concept than the assembly line, massed produced, widget philosophy that the big brewers have.”

History of New York City brewing Ale has been brewed in New York City ever since the first Dutch and English settlers arrived in the 17th Century.

Germans immigrating in the mid to late 19th Century then introduced the concept of lager and turned New York into one of the two biggest brew states in the country.

With good tasting water and hops coming in from upstate, at least 100 breweries popped up in the five boroughs, according to Nina Nazionale, co-curator of “Beer Here: Brewing New York’s History,” an exhibit that ran last year at the New York Historical Society.

“It was a big industry here,” Nazionale said. “A big source of revenue, a big employer.”

Things started to turn south when mildew, spider mites and aphids decimated the New York hops crop.

Then came Prohibition, from 1920 to 1933, which proved to be “the near death blow,” Nazionale said.

“It was such a long run of not being able to sell their product,” she added. “They were broken by it.”

A few brewers held on, but New York was easily surpassed in terms of production by such cities as St. Louis and Milwaukee.

When Rheingold and Schaefer closed their plants in 1976, New York City lacked a single brewery.

It essentially remained that way until 1987, when a journalist who learned to brew while stationed in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, where alcohol is forbidden, founded Brooklyn Brewery.

Despite originally producing all of its beer upstate, Brooklyn opened a second brewery in Williamsburg in 1996. Since then, it has been joined about a dozen other city brewers, with more on the way.

“Historically, it is really cool to see New York coming back to where it was in the late 19th century,” Nazionale said.

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5 Places Where You C an Toast Hanukkah With S easonal Shmaltz B rews ! !

By#Laura#McKnight/November#19,#2013# # In case anyone needs another excuse to drink beer, Hanukkah is approaching — and a special Hanukkah at that. This year’s Festival of Lights begins Nov. 27, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, creating a rare overlap in the holidays.

Those eager to toast “Thanksgivukkah” with a special brew can find some seasonal Shmaltz beers at a handful of local bars, wine shops and eateries. Shmaltz Brewing Company, which in July opened its own production brewery in Clifton Park, N.Y., is known for its He’Brew craft beers, which often feature quirky traits and playful names.

“They come out with some pretty creative stuff, some off-the-wall stuff,” said Jeremy Byrne, general manager of The Bulldog in Mid-City.

This year’s limited-edition releases include Jewbelation Reborn, a brown ale brewed with 17 malts and 17 hops in honor of the company’s 17th anniversary, and Death of a Contract Brewer, He’Brews’ first-ever Black IPA, with seven malts and seven hops.

There’s also the annual He’Brew Holiday Gift Pack, a popular item that includes eight Shmaltz beers, a custom glass, Chanukah candles and instructions on “How To Build Your Own Beer Menorah.”

Shmaltz tends to make heavy hitters with high alcohol contents — Jewbelation Reborn boasts a 17-percent alcohol by volume, for example — so eat plenty of turkey and latkes when celebrating with these brews.

Here are five places where you can find Shmaltz seasonals: The Bulldog-Uptown, 3236 Magazine St., plans to start serving Jewbelation Reborn and Death of a Contract Brewer on tap within the next week.

The Bulldog-Mid City, 5135 Canal Blvd., plans to start serving Jewbelation Reborn on tap within the next few days and may also offer Death of a Contract Brewer.

Avenue Pub, 1732 St Charles Ave., plans to tap both Jewbelation Reborn and Jewbelation Sweet 16 next week.

Stein’s Market and Deli, 2207 Magazine St., is selling bottles of Jewbelation Reborn and, as of Tuesday afternoon, still had He’Brew holiday gift packs in stock.

Elio’s Wine Warehouse, 6205 S. Miro St. is selling bottles of Jewbelation Reborn and, as of Monday afternoon, still had He’Brew holiday gift packs in stock.!

June!3,!2013!

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Shmaltz!Brewing!Company!In!Dallas!for!!

Two!Events!This!Week!

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By!LAUREN!DREWES!DANIELS! ! !

The$quirky$kosher$craft$brewer$that$all$started$out$as$a$ Chanuka$experiment$back$in$1996,$Shmaltz$Brewing$Co.,$ will$be$in$town$later$this$week$to$promote$their$latest$ beer,$chat$about$old$ones$and,$in$general,$get$acquainted$ with$the$locals.$As$a$bonus$founder$Jeremy$Cowan$will$ also$give$lessons$in$how$to$say$hops$in$Hebrew.$$ $ This$New$YorkIviaISan$Francisco$brewing$company$was$a$longItime$contract$brewer,$but$more$ recently$got$its$own$digs$in$the$form$of$a$20,000IsquareIfoot$brewery,$in$Clifton$Park,$New$York.$The$ brewers$enjoy$extensive$use$of$both$historic$and$modern$storytelling$puns,$which$make$for$good$ bottleIlabel$reading.$$$ $ On$Thursday$Cowan$will$be$at$Sigel's$in$Addison$from$5$to$7$p.m.$for$a$tasting$and$to$sign$bottles.$The$ He'brew$brewers$will$have$their$new$seasonal$release$Rejewvenator$Dubble$Dopple$with$"sacred$ nectar$of$dates$and$figs$II$both$fruits$infused$to$create$a$truly$glorious$species."$This$halfIBelgianIstyle$ dubbel$ale,$halfIdoppelbock$European$lager$is$"the$only$one$if$its$kind,"$according$to$their$tip$sheet.$$$ $ Other$beers$at$the$tasting$include$Genesis$Dry$Hopped$Session$Ale,$Bittersweet$Lenny's$Rye$IPA,$Hop$ Manna$IPA$and$Messiah$Nut$Brown$Ale.$$$ $ Reservations$are$suggested,$but$not$mandatory:$store05wine@sigels.com.$They'll$sign$your$bottles,$ but$we're$sure$if$you$play$your$cards$right,$they'd$probably$sign$your$chest$too.$$$ $ On$Friday$Cowan$will$head$over$to$Goodfriend$Beer$Garden$and$Burger$House.$Shmaltz$school$starts$at$ 8$p.m.$where$you$can$imbibe$in$the$newest$member$of$the$lineup,$David's$Slingshot$Hoppy$Summer$ Lager$on$draft.$They'll$also$have$Genesis$Dry$Hopped$Session$Ale,$Hop$Manna$IPA$and$Bittersweet$ Lenny's$R.I.P.A.$$$ $ Not$that$we$need$an$excuse$to$hang$out$at$Goodfriends$on$a$Friday$evening,$but$this$event$certainly$ makes$it$all$more$enticing.$$$

October 13, 2013

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Shmaltz Brewing offering once-in-a-lifetime holiday beers

By BILL DOWD

CLIFTON PARK — Thanksgiving and Hanukkah will overlap this year for the first time in history, and that will not happen again for nearly 80,000 years. So, the Shmaltz Brewing Company has come up with several new products to mark the once-in-alifetime crossover.

• Limited edition Jewbelation Reborn (17% abv), created to celebrate Shmaltz’s new brewery here, is made with 17 hops and 17 malts.

• Death of a Contract Brewer Black IPA, celebrating the shifty from outsourcing its beer to making its own, will be available through the end of the year.

• The He’brew Holiday Gift Pack will feature Shmaltz’s own Messiah Nut Brown Ale, Rejewvenator, the 2013 edition of R.I.P.A. On Rye, Funky Jewbelation, Jewbelation Reborn and Death of a Contract Brewer beers, as well as collaboration beers with Georgia’s Terrapin Brewing, (Reunion Ale ’13 — A Beer For Hope) and Missouribased Cathedral Square Brewery (St. Lenny’s — The Immaculate Collaboration).

October 22, 2013

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Beer Release: NW: Coming Soon . . . Shmaltz’s He’BREW Jewbelation Reborn & Shmaltz’s Death of a Contract Brewer Black IPA There are few times in the year where food is the focus of celebration. For those of the Christian denomination this is usually Thanksgiving or Christmas. But for those who eschew pork for a beef brisket there’s Chanukah. But what if you're one of those greedy sods who want to share the festival of lights while simultaneously gnawing on a turkey leg?

That's right folks for the first time in over 125 years Chanukah starts the day before Thanksgiving. Go ahead and look it up if you don't believe us.

Mind you Thanksgiving is a relatively recent holiday in the eyes of the Jewish faith. Still there is nothing more menacing than the prospect of being invited for latkes and beef brisket followed up with mashed potatoes and some white meat.

Which is why Shmaltz reminds you that their new releases, Jewbelation Reborn and Death of Contract Brewer IPA, pair well with whichever faith-inspired meal.

Head over to your nearest grocer or pub and ask them for a bottle of Jewbelation Reborn, Death of Contract or a HE'BREW Holiday Gift Pack. As always if you can’t find it at your nearest store or pub then ask them to buy some!

Cheers Beer Description of Jewbelation Reborn® A complex, enormous brown ale with a dynamic labyrinth of multi-layered flavors, Jewbelation Reborn® celebrates Shmaltz's new brewery in Clifton Park, NY (10 miles north of Albany). Jewbelation Reborn® is brewed with 17 malts, 17 hops and soars to 17% alc.

Since its inception in 2004, Shmaltz's Jewbelation® series has been hailed by critics and showered with accolades including, "5 Stars" from Celebrator Beer News, "Best Holiday Beer" by Pacific Brew News, and Playboy Magazine naming Jewbelation Twelve® one of the "Best Winter Brews." Imbibe Magazine calls Jewbelation 14® one of the "Top 50 Beers in the World," and a blind, holiday tasting panel from SF Weekly determined Jewbelation 14® the "Best Christmas Beer" -- the brew also took home a Gold Medal at the World Beer Championships (2011). Smithsonian Magazine touted Jewbelation Sweet 16® as "the best specialty drink of all" in last year's "Guide to the Most Delicious Drinks for the Holidays."

Beer Description of Death of a Contract Brewer® Black IPA Shmaltz's first-ever Black IPA, Death of a Contract Brewer® (7 malts, 7 hops, 7% ABV), was initially brewed to celebrate the Grand Opening of Shmaltz's new brewery in July 2013. On shelves starting this month and available through the end of the year, Death of a Contract Brewer® is available in 22 oz. bottles and this year's HE'BREW Holiday Gift Pack®.

More on the HE'BREW Holiday Gift Pack® Shmaltz's 4th Annual HE'BREW Holiday Gift Pack® features eight 12 oz. bottles of beer which include the World Beer Championship Silver Medal winning Messiah Nut Brown Ale® and Gold Medal winner Rejewvenator®, plus the unique collaboration beers with Terrapin Brewing (Reunion Ale '13 - A Beer For Hope®) and Cathedral Square Brewery (St. Lenny's -- The Immaculate Collaboration®). It also includes two rare, barrel-aged beers, 2013's recipe of R.I.P.A. on Rye® (Great American Beer Festival, Silver Medal, 2010) and Funky Jewbelation®. Completing the only Chanukah Beer Gift Pack on any shelf this season are Death of a Contract Brewer® and Jewbelation Reborn®. The Gift Pack® features a custom glass, Chanukah candles and instructions on "How To Build Your Own Beer Menorah" -- which details how to enter the 4th Annual "Best Beer Menorah" Facebook competition for a chance to win a chosen prize!

October 18, 2013

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He’Brew/Cathedral Square St. Lenny’s What it is: A 10%-ABV Belgian-style double rye IPA What it tastes like: This brew’s superspicy in a beer way, but we’ll get to that.

Sticky caramel and (also sticky) orange ride the swallow, while the rye tingles, alcohol pricklies and hop bitterness are like a bristly brush on the tongue. This big sipper’s definitely alive and kickin’.

Why drink it now: Because it’s Sunday, and this collaboration between Shmaltz and Cathedral Square Brewery in St. Louis reminds us of where we were supposed to go today… and it wasn’t the bar…

Pair with: Salvation! A prayer. A sober driver. And something sweet and rich, like a honey-soaked sopapilla.

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Beer Review: St. Lenny’s Belgian-Style Rye Double IPA from Shmaltz Brewing BEER SESSIONS

By EMMA CHRISTENSEN How many styles can you possibly cram in a single beer and still emerge with something quaffable? At least three! Here we have an IPA that has not only been double-fied but that was also made with rye malts and then brewed with Belgian yeast strains.

Definitely crazy. Definitely extreme. Definitely awesome.

Beer Stats: St. Lenny's from Shmaltz Brewing Company, New York, NY — Collaboration brew with Cathedral Square Brewery (Belgian-Style Rye Double IPA, 10% ABV) Appearance: Sunset orange and crystal clear with a hearty cap of lemon-colored foam.

Aroma: Orange juice, caramelized fruit, spicy rum, vanilla Taste: I've been sitting here trying to translate my notes into coherent thoughts, but even now — an entire day after drinking St. Lenny's — my words come out as a babble of "Candy! Grownup candy!" and "tartbitterstickyspicyorangeyresinwow" and "ZOMG!" This is a massive beer and it definitely doesn't put up with small descriptions.

Every element of this beer comes through in the flavor: the warm spiciness of the rye and the Belgian yeast, a fruit salad flavor that also comes from the yeast, the deep candy caramel from the double dose of malts, the intense bitterness of the hops that ripples into orange and pine resin flavors. There's a sourness too — it reminds me of apple Jolly Rancher candies. It's juicy and coats your entire mouth and doesn't let up for a second.

In a fit of end-of-day fatigue, I poured this beer straight into a pint glass without reading the ABV (10%...ahem). Lemme just say, an entire pint of this stuff before dinner is not recommended. A more reserved tulip glass with dinner is another story — this beer is fantastic with food (see below).

This beer isn't going to be for everyone, but if you love IPAs and you love Belgian brews, it is worth combing all your local stores to find yourself a bottle. If you're into hoarding, this beer will likely age spectacularly.

Food Pairings: I drank this beer (the second half of my pint) with a bowl of beef bourguignon. Any rich and hearty winter stew would also be fantastic: chili, beef stew, black bean stew... The richness of these stews tempers the harsher bitter flavors in the beer while the boldness of both beer and stew are a good match.

Beer Review: Funky Jewbelation from Shmaltz Brewing Company BEER SESSIONS

By EMMA CHRISTENSEN You best be ready to shake some tail feathers when you bring this extraspecial beer to the party, my friends. It's a blend of not one, not two, but a grand total of six different beers from Shmaltz Brewing Company, each of them individually-aged for anywhere from a month to over a year. Just go ahead and wrap your head around that as you open the bottle and pour yourself a big ol' glass.Beer Details: Funky Jewbelation from Shmalz Brewing Company, Saratoga Springs, NY (Blended strong ale aged 73% in rye whiskey barrels and 27% in bourbon barrels, 9.8% ABV) Appearance: A frothy head of milkshake-like foam tops the glass before it's even half full. The beer itself is an opaque and somewhat muddy dark brown with a few glints of red against the light.

Aroma: The aroma sticks close to the glass — you really need to plunge your nose in there to get it, which I fully recommend. The first inhale brings aromas of baked cherries and other juicy summer fruits. The second is more reminiscent of thick caramel frosting. If "sticky" had a smell, this would be it.

Taste: There is a lot going on with this beer, which isn't surprising given its six-way blend. Playing the tasteassociation game between sips, I went from jammy cherries, figs, and raisins through to dark boozy fruitcake and ended with cocoa and very ripe bananas. The barrel-aging doesn't hit you right away. It's more like a cozy blanket wrapping you in vanilla and oak-y flavors.

Given its name and the current trend for sour Belgian-style beers, I expected more tart and funky flavors. But this beer was downright sweet with very little tartness or bitterness to balance it out. Molasses and brown sugar flavors dominate every mouthful.

I would have liked a little more bitterness to balance out all that the sweet. Delicate hop flavors and aromas are usually the first to go when beers are aged, so it makes sense that they are muted in this beer. I'd be curious to see how this beer ages over the next few months. You won't get more bitterness, of course, but it would be interesting to watch these beers chill out together for a little longer.

This is a fairly heavy beer for warm weather: I say drink it now while the nights are still crisp or buy a few bottles to stash away for fall. P.S. That nearly 10% ABV is extremely well-hidden in this beer, so be careful with your sipping!

Food Pairings: Given the strength and the sweetness of this beer, it's an obvious pick to go with an after-dinner plate of rich cheeses, dark chocolates, and dried fruits.

Have you tried this beer? What do you think?

April!12,!2013!

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Shmaltz!Brewing!Debuts!Funky!Jewbelation!!

Beer!Kosher!beer!lovers!rejoice!!! !

By!AMY!KRITZER! !

The!schtick*loving!brew! masters!at!Shmaltz!Brewing!

Co.!have!debuted!the!eighth!in! their!Limited!Engagement!

Barrel*Aged!series!with!

Funky!Jewbelation.!This! blend!of!six!ales!and!lagers! from!the!Shmaltz!roster!aged! in!bourbon!and!rye!whiskey! barrels!boasts!9.4%!alcohol.!It! is!available!in!22!oz.!bottles! and!a!limited!amount!of!draft! from!April!*!June!2013.!!! !

The!2012!version!of!Funky!

Jewbelation!won!a!Gold!

Medal!at!the!2012!World!

Beer!Championships!and! this!year’s!brew!is!equally!as! funky,!in!the!best!sense!of!the! word.!Dark!with!rich!notes!of! molasses,!vanilla,! pomegranate,!and!plum,!the! beer!is!complex!but! comforting.!! !

Shmaltz!Brewing!Company!was!established!in!San!Francisco!in!1996!with!their!HE’BREW! line,!and!now!offers!award*winning!beers!across!30!states!and!over!3,500!retailers.!

RateBeer.com!ranked!Shmaltz!Brewing!Company!one!of!the!“Top!50!Brewers!in!the!World”.!

Funky!Jewbelation!is!available!in!Austin!at!Whole!Foods!Downtown,!Whip!In,!Central!

Market!South!Lamar,!and!other!locations.!

May 14, 2013

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He’Brew Funky Jewbelation 2013 Brewed By: Shmaltz Brewing Company in Brooklyn, New York Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013 (Batch No. 02; Cases 1492 - bottled 2/18/2013) Style/ABV: American Strong Ale, 9.4% Reported IBUs: ?

Oh snap! I got me a bomber of the 2013 Funky Jewbelation. The 2012 Jewbelation was aight, but it left a bit to be desired. Here is to hoping that the 2013 version kicks things up a notch. About He'Brew: He'Brew is part of the Shmaltz Brewing Company.

The Shmaltz Brewing Company has two lines of beer: their He'Brew The Chosen Beer, and their Coney Island Craft Lagers.

Shmaltz Brewing Company is a craft brewery based in San Francisco, California, founded by Jeremy Cowan in 1996. The company previously contract brewed most of their beer through the Mendocino Brewing Company, while operating a small brewery in Brooklyn, New York. After 16 years of having their beer contract brewed, the Shmaltz Brewing Company opened its own New York State microbrewery in Clifton Park, NY. The new location features a 50-barrel brewhouse, with 20,000 barrels of annual capacity, and began production April/May 2013, officially opening July 2013. The company is known for its innovative beer, eye-catching bottle artwork, and sense of humor. For more information, check out the Shmaltz website HERE. Don't be a schmuck!

peppery rye spice as well, and I'm sure the two Lagers blended in with this are contributing some spice. The whole blend is nice, with the fruit playing off the fudge, giving the impression of chocolate-dipped cherries, and dried fruits. It's sexy.

Yay...this tastes big and bold, like how a blended beer should taste. The mouthfeel seems a bit beefed up from the 2013 version, and there's more balance between the Origin with the pomegranate/grape/plum/prune fruit, and the Bourbon/barrel/oak/fudge/malts. I'm getting Bourbon, wood, vanilla, big pomegranate, grapes, faint rye bread, fudge, rich malt complexity, mellow and smoothed out booze, and a bit of hop bitterness on the back. This is a really nice blend.

I'm getting the sense that you don't want to age this one. I had the 2012 Jewbelation after it aged a bit, and I felt like it was lacking some of the barrel character necessary to balance out the big fruit kick. It could have just been the blend. I grant that the 2012 Jewbelation was very smooth and hid the alcohol well...but when we're talking about these big, bold, blended beers, I do like to see some complexity and barrel character.

Bring on the Bourbon.

This one is great, with a mouthfeel that is smooth as hell, with supportive carbonation. The mouthfeel is fat and pleasantly chewy, and is definitely full-bodied. The finish is sticky and boozy, with just a hint of bitterness.

You get a lot of complexity from the barrel, the Bourbon, the Rye, the malts (aka the Jewbelation Fifteen), and lots of grape and pomegranate fruit (aka the Origin). Even then, I feel like this could dial up the complexity further. I'm curious to see how the 2014 version of this beer will evolve the series. Palate depth is great. You get sweet malts and big grape/pomegranate/plums up front; this rolls into Bourbon, oak, rye spice, and fudge malts; the back end is elusive booze, sticky sweet, trailing fruit, and burgeoning hop bitterness. An improved blend from the 2012....

Rating: Above-Average (4/5 Untappd)

The 2013 Funky Jewbelation is not unlike its 2012 counterpart. This one clocks in at 9.4%, and is a blend of "6 ales & lagers aged in 55% Bourbon Barrels and 45% Rye Whiskey barrels." This beer features a blend of the Jewbelation Fifteen aged 7 & 10 months; the Origin aged 11 months; the Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A. aged 12 months; the Messiah aged 6 months; the Coney Island Lager aged 12 months; and the Albino Python aged 3 months. I'm hoping to pick up more of the barrel with this beer since it is fresh, and I'm hoping to get a bit more depth of flavor and fat malt kick. Let's glass this up and see if this beer delivers.

This one pours a dark black color in low light, with 3 fingers of thick, bready, khaki-brown head. In bright light, I catch a little red and brown on the edges, but this is mostly a dark, opaque beer. Head retention is solid, especially for such a boozy beer, with a finger sustaining. There's some lacing.

I already like the aroma on this better than the 2012. There's definitely some fruity sweetness with plums and pomegranate, but I'm getting some oak, wood, Bourbon, and fat fudge and malt sweetness. I'm getting some

This gets a big thumps up from me, with a Strong Above-Average. This is just a good blend, with lots of balance between the Bourbon, Rye, malts, and fruit. This beer is ridiculously easy-drinking at 9.4%, and goes down without any hesitation. The alcohol is non-existent, except for some noticeable warming on the back. I still maintain that you want to drink this fresh, but it might be fun to age a bottle of this...or not...because once the barrel character drops out, you lose a lot of the fun. That's my 2 cents.

This is priced favorably at around 7-10 dollars a bomber, and would pair well with a cigar, dry chocolate cakes, fruit pies, steak with purple potatoes, sweeter sauces, sweet barbecue, sweet potatoes, and...if you really want to splurge...a Monte Cristo. Oh lawdy, this beer with a Monte Cristo would be off the hook.

Random Thought: I don't know what the consensus is on blended beers, but I wish more breweries would make them. I know Firestone does good stuff with their Anniversary series...I'm glad to see variation with the Jewbelation, and now I get to look forward to the 2014 release.

November 1, 2013

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6 Must-Grab Winter Releases for the Cellar

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Cold weather’s setting in, which means bigger brews are on their way. This time of year is the absolute best for hunting down bottles to populate your cellar, from stouts to barleywines to anything barrel-aged. Pick up these bottles this season, and by this time next year, you’ll have something extra-special to pop open.

Founders Sweet Repute The final beer in Founders’ 2013 Backstage Series comes out in early December and it’s a big one at 12.6% ABV. This wheat wine was aged for 16 months in both maple syrup bourbon barrels and regular old bourbon barrels, so expect spicyand-sweet notes that should develop with age.

Shmaltz HE’BREW Jewbelation Reborn As with past Jewbelation releases, the 17th clocks in with number-appropriate 17 different malts, 17 different hops and 17% ABV. It’s a big beer. Grab a couple bottles of this strong ale now: Drink one today (it’s available now) and plan to cellar the second for at least a decade—it can probably handle the time.

Firestone Walker Seventeen The California brewery’s anniversary beer comes out this month, and it’s a blend of some really rare stuff. According to the brewery, the final product includes threads of Bravo (an imperial brown), Stickee Monkee (an English barleywine), Velvet Merkin (oatmeal stout), Parabola (Russian imperial stout) and a whole lot more. It’s also a hefty 13.3% ABV. Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws This November release is a bold West Coast-style barleywine. It’s packed with malty caramel sweetness and dripping with resinous hops. Like other big barleywines (this one’s 11.5%-ABV, 70 IBUs), resting it in the cellar for a year will smooth out the alcohol, as luscious dark fruits emerge deep in the profile.

Deschutes The Abyss We have a nice vertical of The Abyss going back a few years, and we’re definitely considering opening them all to coincide with this year’s release mid-November. The imperial stout’s complex dark malts, molasses sweetness and 11%-ABV suggest it will have no trouble evolving over time.

Dogfish Head World Wide Stout This monster stout ranges from 15% to 20% ABV each year and it’s packed with layers of malt flavor. According to the brewery “World Wide Stout only gets better with age. After some time in your beer cellar, the heat of the booze fades into the background and the port notes and roastiness take over.” Grab a bottle when the beer returns in December. What are you planning to stash away this winter?

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November 19, 2013

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Five Drinks Particularly Well-Suited to the Holiday Table

By BRIAN FREEDMAN The holiday season is upon us: Time to drink like you mean it, or at least enough to act like you’re thrilled-just-thrilled to see everyone with a seat at the Thanksgiving-Hanukkah-Christmas table, even creepy Uncle Ned and your sister’s insufferable boyfriend. Happily, there are loads of new or otherwise notable beers and spirits that, even if they’re not available in Pennsylvania, can be found across bridges, through toll booths and on the other sides of local bodies of water.

As Hanukkah comes as early as Thanksgiving this year, let’s start with the excellent new He’Brew holiday releases from Shmaltz Brewing Company, located in a brand-spankingnew 20,000 foot brewery in Clifton Park, New York. These guys have been crafting serious suds for some time now, but lately, it seems, they have stepped their game up to the stratosphere. He’Brew’s Death of a Contract Brewer Black IPA is phenomenal, as is the massive Jewbelation Reborn, which boasts 17 percent alcohol, 17 types of hops and 17 styles of malt. Drink one of these, and even your impressively skilled Jewish mother won’t be able to make you feel guilty for not calling more often—Its powers of fortification are that impressive.

On the spirits end of things, there is also plenty to be thankful for. Whiskey, in my family and so many others, is as important a part of the annual festivities as the roasted bird. This year, I plan on drinking plenty of the magnificent Four Roses 125th Anniversary Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon, a stunning sipper that you may (justifiably) decide not to share and instead keep all for yourself.

I also have become a fan of the wonderful, aged Irish whiskies of Knappogue Castle—particularly the single malt, 16-yearold twin wood Sherry finish bottling. Seek this out, and sip with glee.

If you want that comforting, caramel-tinged character but tend to shy away from whiskey, make sure to try the excellent Casamigos Reposado Tequila. It has smoothness and soul to spare, and, based on extensive personal testing, is difficult to have fewer than two glasses of. (Their blanco is also lovely, either on its own or in a well-made cocktail.)

Rum, too—while not necessarily the first spirit most people think of when talk turns to the great holidays of autumn and winter—has its own unique appeal right about now. I find that a great glass, like of the marvelous Caliche Rum from Puerto Rico, is a perfect way to remind yourself that the cold days and long nights of winter won’t last forever. Plus, this one is treated to solera aging, not terribly different from good Sherry, and is rich and rewarding enough to warm you up on the coldest winter nights.

All of these are standouts in their respective category. And while they may not all be on shelves in the city proper, they’re more than worth the effort: Good drinking always is—especially this time of year.

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October 6, 2013

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Beer Review: Shmaltz Brewing Company He’Brew Jewbelation Sweet 16 Anniversary Ale (16% ABV) Good evening beer enthusiasts! I've been looking forward to cracking open tonight's beer. It is Shmaltz Brewing Company He'Brew Jewbelation Sweet 16 Anniversary Ale. If you couldn't tell this is an Anniversary brew. One of the great things in craft beer is the Anniversary Ale. Two of the best beers I have tried in recent memory have been Anniversary Ales (they are Firestone Walker XVI Anniversary Ale and Great Divide 19th Anniversary Ale. Two amazing brews.). I've heard a lot of good things about Shmaltz and I have been very excited to try their beers. So, without further ado, let's see what this brew has to offer.

Appearance: 9.5 out of 10 The beer pours a pitch black color with a really cool looking finger width mocha brown colored head. A really awesome looking brew.

Aroma: 9.5 out of 10 At first whiff I'm getting a lot of dark chocolate and bitter coffee. There's some dark fruits like raisins and plums. Some grain, cereal. Vanilla and oak. A really awesome smelling beer.

Taste: 9.5 out of 10 Big dark chocolate taste right at the front of the tongue with some bitterness from the chocolate and coffee. Very sweet tasting brew. Vanilla and oak round out the back end. There is definitely some heat from the alcohol. At 16% ABV there is a definitely a nice warming sensation at the back of the throat. It helps the palate get ready for the next sip. A truly amazing tasting brew. Well done!

Overall Impression: 9.5 out of 10 Holy moly this is one hell of a beer! I'm am loving every sip of this brew. It's got all the characteristics of an Imperial Stout crossed with an American Strong Ale. It's the best of both worlds. I strongly recommend trying to pick up or trade for a bottle (it is a 2012 release). It will not disappoint. Cheers!

Final Grade: 38 out of 40 = 95% (A)

November 20, 2013

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Thanksgiving Wine and Beer Selections, Bubbe Approved

By CHRIS WERTZ For the first time in a long time, two great days of diet-breaking are coming together in a synergy of gluttony that will be known forever more as “Thanksgivukkah”. This year, the second night of Hanukkah arrives on Thanksgiving Day and brings with it some word bending and menu melding heretofore unseen at this level. It’s a veritable chelm of tryptophan and it’s right around the corner.

The oh-so-awesome portmanteau of Thanksgivukkah (Channudank in Yiddish) has inspired dinner mashups and crossovers galore. Kosher cranberry dishes are filling up a table of turkey and kugel. And naturally the trend has quickly spilled from the kitchen to the kitsch. How about lighting a candle on the menurkey? Can’t have a new holiday without a t-shirt. And get your greeting cards here!

While there are plenty of much appreciated jokes, what none of the quipsters are providing is the answer to a very serious question that is really needed on this the holiest of days. What does one drink with a Thanksgivukkah feast?

Here are some recommendations for the once in a lifetime holiday: In the beginning there was light (beer). As friends and family shuffle in, treat them to a nice, fresh, low alcohol beer to start the evening off. For instance, chose a beer from The Chosen Beer: He’Brew Genesis Ale. It’s a session beer, which means it is low in alcohol, so you can ease into overindulgence, sipping while picking and kvetching. This is a perfect beer to kick off the Festival of Lights.

When all of the Janus-faced, franken-appetizers of Thanksgivukkah start to come out, the session beer will still work fine, but many guests would probably rather switch to wine with dinner food. For nosh like smoked salmon dip, squash knishes and sweet potato latkes, grab a glass of Mony Hills Semillon Chardonnay. Its bright, acidic notes and fruit aromas will help cut through some of the schmaltz.

On to the feast. While most people are focusing on the boon of Thanksgiving flavors being brought to the Hanukkah table, an argument could be made that the greatest contribution of this coincidence is the bringing of the brisket to Thanksgiving. Hallelujah! The reasons are twofold: Besides being a great dish to enjoy at any time, the presence of brisket also allows for some heavier red wines to enter the Thanksgiving meal that might not have been welcome before among all of the white meat and sweet sides. !

It’s easy to pour a cabernet that will work with both the brisket and the dark meat of the turkey. Or maybe a Washington State Pinot Noir that might gel with all of the meats, and even with the challah stuffing and horseradish mashed potatoes. For a big red that will work well on all counts, try Hevron Heights Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz, a medalist in the 2012 NY International Wine Competition.

For most, the feast that is the Thanksgivukkah meal is just a warm up for a top-button-busting round of dessert. Save room for pumpkin-ginger rugelach, mandelbrodt praline or apple cake, and of course, a beverage to wash it down. For the finale, let’s go back to what brought us here - He’Brew’s Jewbelation Reborn. At 17% alcohol it’s a beer that tastes more like a fine sherry than beer, and thus works great as a dessert drink. It’s very dark with a creamy-sweet mouthfeel of fresh sufganiyot and pronounced notes of Hanukkah gelt (milk chocolate) on the palate. The spiciness of the hops plays well with rugelach and spiced apple cakes.

It’s been a long day, and there’s been enough food and drink for two holidays. All that’s left is to sit down in front of the TV with a glass of Loch Chaim whiskey and root for the Lions against the Packers. L’chaim!

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He’Brew Jewbelation Reborn 17th Anniversary Ale

by Shmaltz Brewing Rating: 5.2/5 He’Brew Jewbelation Reborn 17th Anniversary Ale by Shmaltz Brewing is a 17% ABV American Strong Ale brewed with 17 Malts and 17 Hops Label: How could we hope to top last year’s Jewbelation Sweet 16 with its cupcakes, unicorns, & Satan’s Ferrari birthday cake? massive challenge. So for Year 17, we threw in a whole new dimension to our shtick – we built our very own brewery! After 17 years of contract brewing, our first Shmaltz Clifton Park batch emerged 17 months after the first draft of the business plan. Coincidence? Renaissance means “Re-birth” in French & Italian. In Buddhism, the concept does not truly translate as “reincarnation” but instead as “becoming,” or a “stream of consciousness.” 11 syllables structure a haiku. Shakespeare penned 17 comedies. In The Simpsons episode “Duffness” Homer sings “When I was 17″ about buying his first beer with a fake I.D. “I drank some very good beer. I stayed up listening to Queen, When I was 17.” In The Office, Dwight recites Rule 17 that all Schrute boys must learn: “Don’t turn your back on bears, men you have wronged, or the dominant turkey during mating season.” Knowledge and growth come in many forms. It is taught that Nirvana is only attained when the soul transcends cycles of rebirth. Looks like Shmaltz just isn’t there yet. So with 17 malts, 17 hops, and 17% ABV, JEWBEL4TIONREBORN serves as another mark of our death as a contract brewer and proof of our conversion to a new life as brewery owner…… L’Chaim!!!

We have reached the 17th anniversary for Shmaltz and with another comes another hop, malt and ABV addition. The 15th, and 16th are exceptional in their own way but even the challenge of figuring out the differences in the beers can be quite the hectic little task. Little by no means, very big in fact. Flavors do change somewhat every year. I do hope to try and show some of those changes in this review. Got this on at Total Wine in Redondo Beach California.

Aromas: Lots of chocolate, molasses, anise, dark fruits like cherries, raisins, plums, earthy hop notes, citrus, smoke, campfire, marshmallow, bubble gum, banana, rum, coconut, brown sugar, butterscotch and dates.

Flavors: Earthy and grassy hops, Grapefruit, rich chocolate, caramel, dark fruits, coffee, vanilla, hints smoke, rum, cherries, raisins, plums, molasses, anise, mint notes, fruit cake, dates, toasted rye bread in with blueberry jam, licorice notes, banana notes, barley, honey, coconut, butterscotch and more.

Aftertaste: The aftertaste leaves off with good chocolate, citrus, anise, minor smoke, very rich lingering dark fruits. If you were to tell me this was a 17% ABV Beer I would seriously not believe you. Where the hell is the alcohol? All I get is nice bitter and sweetness. Wow they did a great job with the alcohol in this section. A must sip beer but yet something about the beer is very inviting. It drinks like a 10% or lower. This shit is awesomely dangerous and smooth. Although it starts to hit hard like a rock soon after. She is a dangerous mistress.

Overall: Amazingly It is a great beer. Seems a lot better with the extra addition of hops.

September 3, 2013

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Shmaltz Brewing: David’s Slingshot What it is: A summer seasonal, hoppy lager.

What it tastes like: Grainy malts back this brew’s zippy, grapefruity hops; a pretty lavender note blossoms in the swallow. Bitterness is quick, bristling the tongue, before the signature lager finish caps things off clean.

Drink now because: Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year) starts tomorrow. There’s no better way to toast the festivities than by cracking open something from Shmaltz Brewing, a Judeo-themed brewery famous for its witty schtick (i.e., He’Brew, the Chosen Beer).

Drink with: Apples dipped in honey. This traditional food for the holiday is said to usher in a sweet new year, and it tastes simply delicious.

Keep the good years coming: It was a sweet year for Shmaltz, for sure: They opened a huge brewing facility in Clifton Park, N.Y., after 17 years (!) of contract brewing.

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May 24, 2013 -- Shmaltz Brewing Co. has debuted its first ever lager and a new summer variety pack. Launching this month, David’s Slingshot Hoppy Summer Lager is made with Cascade, Saaz, Summit, Citra and Crystal hops and will be available on draft across Shmaltz’s distribution footprint. Additionally, 12ounce bottles of the lager will be offered in the brewer’s new Hops In He’Brew Hoppy Variety Pack, which also rolls out this month. Along with David’s Slingshot, the variety pack will include 12-ounce bottles of Shmaltz’s Genesis Dry-Hopped Session Ale, Hop Manna IPA and Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A. Both David’s Slingshot and the Hops In He’Brew pack will be available through August. Shmaltz Brewing, which is in the process of completing a new, 20,000-barrel brewery in Clifton Park, New York, currently distributes to more than 30 states. !

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November 14, 2013

Don’t Forget the Shmaltz … Beer!

Break out the latkes, turducken and HE’BREW Beer, it’s time to celebrate Chanukah and Thanksgiving with the Shmaltz Brewing Company.

With a new 20,000-square-foot brewery in Upstate New York, Shmaltz Brewing is rarin’ to go with this year’s limited-edition anniversary releases, including Jewbelation Reborn, the annual HE’BREW holiday gift pack and its first-ever Black IPA, Death of a Contract Brewer.

A complex, enormous brown ale with a dynamic labyrinth of multilayered flavors, Jewbelation Reborn is brewed with 17 malts, 17 hops and soars to 17 percent alcohol. Since its inception in 2004, Shmaltz’s Jewbelation series has been hailed by critics and showered with accolades. Shmaltz’s annual HE’BREW holiday gift pack features eight 12-ounce bottles of beer, which include the World Beer Championship Silver Medalwinning Messiah Nut Brown Ale and Gold Medal-winning Rejewvenator, plus the unique collaboration beers with Terrapin Brewing (Reunion Ale ’13 — A Beer For Hope) and Cathedral Square Brewery (St. Lenny’s — The Immaculate Collaboration).

It also includes two rare, barrel-aged beers, 2013’s recipe of R.I.P.A. on Rye (Great American Beer Festival, Silver Medal, 2010) and Funky Jewbelation. Completing the only Chanukah beer gift pack on any shelf this season are Death of a Contract Brewer and Jewbelation Reborn. The gift pack features a custom glass, Chanukah candles and instructions on how to build your own beer menorah — which details how to enter the annual Best Beer Menorah Facebook competition.

Shmaltz’s first-ever Black IPA, Death of a Contract Brewer (seven malts, seven hops, 7 percent ABV), was initially brewed to celebrate the grand opening of Shmaltz’s new brewery in July 2013. On shelves starting this month and available through the end of the year, Death of a Contract Brewer is available in 22ounce bottles and with this year’s HE’BREW holiday gift pack.

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July 31, 2013

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Shmaltz Brewery Struts Its Stuff

By ERIC HAL SCHWARTZ Condensation beaded on the glass as Ben clinked glasses with his friends Dave and Alex and with a chorus of “L’chaim,” they all took a sip of their beers.

“Well that lives up to its name at least,” Ben said, pointing to the “Rejewvenator” listed on the paper menu in front of him. (Participants asked that their last names not be used.)

The beer, brewed with figs and dates, was one of over a dozen on offer by the Shmaltz Brewing Company last Saturday at Jack Rose Dining Saloon.

The event was part of a larger national campaign for the company, celebrating the opening of its own brewery in New York this summer. Previously, the company had produced craft beer by contracting with other breweries for space and equipment.

“We wanted to be able to control our own destiny,” said Shmaltz founder and owner Jeremy Cowan.

The rising demand for Shmaltz’s product also played a role in the decision to acquire their own manufacturing space said Zak Davis, national sales manager for Shmaltz.

“We’ve been contract brewing forever,” he said. “So this is a new thing for us.”

Cowan and the rest of Shmaltz began brewing in 1996 in San Francisco, creating the HE’BREW line of kosher-certified beer.

Starting with a small, hand-delivered production, they’ve since expanded into a national distribution of both HE’BREW and their Coney Island Craft Lagers lines of beers to bars and specialty stores, producing more than 200,000 cases of beer a year.

Along with more space, the new brewery provides an opportunity to experiment.

“It will give us a home to explore every single thing we feel like doing,” Cowan said.

One of the first examples of that exploration is the “Death of a Contract Brewer” beer made especially for the opening of the brewery. Containing seven percent alcohol by volume and seven kinds of malts and hops and debuting on July 7, it’s the first black IPA, Indian pale ale, Shmaltz has produced.

“It’s a really meaningful beer,” Cowan said.

The sevens are meant to represent the seven days of sitting shiva he explained, as part of the end of their contract brewing phase.

“I usually drink dark beers, and this is pretty good,” Alex said.

Dave meanwhile, had decided to go for his namesake’s beer, David’s Slingshot.

“I don’t know if it could knock down a giant,” he said laughing after being asked about the strength of the beer. “It is nice though especially when it’s so hot out right now.”

As part of the D.C. rollout, Jack Rose put on some promotional games — fishing for rubber ducks with magnets, bowling using light balls and large plastic baby bottles — all with a chance to win beer and other prizes.

Cowan, who once lived in the area, said that Shmaltz has a good relationship with a few bars in the area.

“We’ve been doing in business in D.C. for 10 years,” he said.

It’s a good time for expansion in the area as well, as interest in the kinds of craft beers produced at Shmaltz is higher than ever.

“The beer community in Washington has expanded so fast,” he said. “The beer market in D.C. is really spectacular.”

The increased capacity means not only more varieties but more of the already popular products they produce, which Cowan said the contract brewing method couldn’t keep up with successfully anymore.

“Our goal is to supply it to those who have been asking for it,” Cowan said.

“I’d definitely want to try more of them,” Alex said. His friends nodded agreement as they all eyed the line of beers displayed behind the bar.

“It’s definitely the kind of thing you could bring to a beer party that would stand out,” Ben said. “Plus it’s kosher so I can even bring it to my grandparents’ house.”

2013 He’brew Rejewvenator Dubbel Doppel by Shmaltz Brewing Rating: 4.85/5

He’brew Rejewvenator Dubbel Doppel by Shmaltz Brewing is an 8% Hybrid Ale consisting of a Belgian Dubbel and a Doppelbock Euro Lager brewed with all natural dates and Figs.

Label: How better to celebrate the evolution of the year than with recipes inspired by generations of the original craft beer warriors, the Monks! Top with a healthy dose of Shmaltz and witness the rebirth of Rejewvenator! “The winter of bondage has passed, the deluge of suffering is gone, the Fig tree has formed its first fruits, declaring all ready for libation.” -Song of Solomon. Dates were used to sweeten beer in Ancient Egypt as early as 3500 BCE. Genesis 3:7: “Their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked; they sewed fig leaves and made themselves aprons.” Queen Vic commissioned an 18″ plaster fig leaf for her cast of Michelangelo’s David. “The statue that advertises its modesty with a fig leaf brings its modesty under suspicion.” -Mark Twain. Under a fig tree, Romulus and Remus, mythical founders of Rome, were nursed by a she-wolf and worlds away Buddha found enlightenment. Zechariah: “Nations shall beat their swords into plowshares – all will sit with their neighbor under a fig tree, never afraid.” Mohammed: “Whoever eats seven Tamr (dates) at breakfast shall rise above magic and poison that day.” The Hebrew word for Date palm “Tamar” connotes a woman’s grace. “The only difference between a first date and a job interview is not many job interviews have a chance you’ll end up naked.”

Jerry Seinfeld. Psalm 92:12: “The righteous shall flourish like the Date palm.” Thankfully all we need to do is pop open a bottle and rejoice… L’Chaim!

I picked this one up since I was really curious. Dubbles and Doppel bocks are both really good beer styles in Belgium and Germany. However but to put them together and with figs and dates, this was definitely up my alley in terms of sweet beer goodness. The aromas of this beer include raisin bread, nuts, caramel, figs, toffee, fruit cake, bananas and cloves. The flavors are quite pleasant. You definitely get those nice Belgian bready notes and some toffee rich notes of the doppel along with bananas, raisins, dates, figs, plums, dried fruits, pecans, some hazelnut, caramel, earthy and spicy notes, fruit cake, slight vanilla, tangy and slightly tart cranberries, passion fruit, very small minty, molasses and licorice hints as well as a slight port wine flavor to it that reminded me of a Trois Pistoles light (If there ever was one). Ofcourse this is not the almighty Trois Pistoles, but needless to say, this beer turned out to be good. The earthy and minty or licorice like notes keep some of the excess sweetness away which tries to keep this hybrid balance. Overall I enjoyed this beer quite a lot. Definitely worth trying. So much so that I might get another one soon.!

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August 22, 2013

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Terrapin & Shmaltz Team Up Again on Cancer Fighting Brew Shmaltz Brewing Company (Clifton Park, NY), Terrapin Beer Company (Athens, GA), Alan Shapiro (SBS Imports) have teamed up to release another round of Reunion Ale. Subtitled A Beer For H0pe, a portion of the proceeds is donated to the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer.

This year’s feel good release is based off of 2012′s recipe, but with a new addition – coffee. The base imperial brown ale has cocoa nibs from Nashville’s Olive & Sinclair, vanilla beans, and cinnamon too. Look for bottles of this beer to hit shelves soon alongside fundraising events.

Style: Brown Ale (w/ Cinnamon, Cocoa Nibs & Shells, Vanilla Beans, Coffee) Hops: Willamette Malts: Pale 2 Row, Victory, Special Roast, Crystal, Brown Malt, Chocolate Availability: 22oz bombers, Draft. All Terrapin markets. Late September, 2013 8% ABV, 38 IBUs Worldwide, over 1,000 people per day are diagnosed with this cancer of the plasma. IMBCR is one of the world’s leading independent researchers. Their work not only affects myeloma patients, it also produces benefits in areas such as lymphoma and breast cancer.

September 1, 2013

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Shmaltz / Terrapin – Reunion Ale ‘13 We brought you a peek at the Terrapin version of the annually released Terrapin / Shmaltz Reunion Ale for 2013 (here) and now today we get to see the version being released by Shmaltz Brewing. This is Reunion Ale ‘31 and it is an ale brewed with cocoa nibs, cinnamon & coffee and proceeds from the sale of this beer continue to support the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research. This is the 3rd version of this beer brewed in memory of Virginia MaClean and while the Terrapin version will use Jittery Joes coffee and come in at 7.5%, the Shmaltz version will use Southern Artisan cocoa and come in at 8% ABV. Look for the Shmaltz version of this beer to also be packaged in 22oz bottles.

October 10, 2013

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Beer of the week: He’Brew Messiah Nut Brown Ale

By EVAN S. BENN

Beer: He’Brew Messiah Nut Brown Ale Style: American brown ale Alcohol: 5.6 percent by volume Price: About $10 a six-pack of 12-ounce bottles at Total Wine & More Story: Shmaltz Brewing Co. produces its He’Brew line in upstate New York. Messiah (tagline: "The beer you’ve been waiting for") is an American version of a classic English brown ale, with bitter hops accentuating the nutty flavor of richly roasted malts. Those malts translate into notes of chocolate and coffee, although Messiah remains much lighter on the palate than a porter or stout.

Pairing: Brown ales tend to complement most foods, especially roasted meats and other earthy dishes. For a full-on He’Brew experience, pair Messiah with a cup of mushroom barley soup and a Jewban sandwich (pastrami, roasted pork and Swiss on Cuban bread) from Josh’s Deli in Surfside. L’Chaim!

Six For Thanksgiving – Or Thanksgivvukah

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By TOM BEDELL The fourth Thursday in November has become a great (if totally unnecessary) excuse to do some fancy beer shopping. But trying to line up a great beer menu to accompany the country’s grandest feast day is always an intriguing challenge, especially if, like me, one is unencumbered with any other culinary duties for the day.

Actually, I’m not even encumbered with picking beers this year, since we’re heading down to Wildwood Barbecue for the day—the smokin’ new Hadley, Massachusetts eatery owned by my daughter and son-in-law. It’s not open for business, only our Thanksgiving dinner. And since there are eight craft beer taps on hand, all I really have to show up with is an appetite and a thirst.

But old habits die hard, and I came up with these six anyway, which should help any brew fan through the day with ease. And since there seems to be at least a mild movement afoot to replace Black Friday with Beer Friday—drink instead of shop—leftovers are always welcome. There’s a mild east coast bias here, but the styles can be found anywhere.

Saison Dupont (Brasserie Dupont, Tourpes, Belgium) 6.5% ABV I’ve seen a few articles this year belittling the choice of Saison Dupont for the Thanksgiving table as old hat, a tired choice. These are the voices of ignorance. Not to say there aren’t other great saisons out there (see next choice). But you might as well start at the top of the mountain, and this traditional farmhouse ale from the Wallonia area of Belgium is the touchstone for all the Saisons that have followed. It’s a pale, spritzy, dry, easy-drinking brew, but hardy timid. It’s packed with fruity, spicy, peppery flavors that frankly go with just about anything on the table.

Will o’ the Wisp (Mystic Brewery, Chelsea, Massachusetts) 6.6% ABV A wildly experimental saison brewery near Boston, Mystic is producing an impressive portfolio of beguiling beers, including four seasonal saisons (which only sounds redundant), currently available only in Massachusetts and Vermont and a few west coast test markets. This corked autumn offering is made with rye malt and brown sugar, both quite evident in the aroma and palate—a lightly sweet and mildly spicy mahogany brew with a touch of farmhouse funk. Brewery sales rep Matt Sloan said, “I would be happy to tell you the hops if I knew myself, and of course, with the holiday, I can’t get ahold of the brewer.”

We’ll content ourselves with knowing that “American and Slovenian hops” contribute to the long, dry finish.

Messiah Nut Brown Ale (Shmaltz Brewing, Clifton Park, New York) 5.6% ABV Brown ales lean to the malty side, and the Messiah is no exception, which should let it handle those candied yams or sweet potatoes nicely. What makes this an additionally chosen beer is that this particular Thursday is being touted as Thanksgivvukah. The last time Thanksgiving and Chanukah overlapped was 1888. The next time will be in 79,043 years, so it would be best to celebrate now. Shmaltz Brewing will also be releasing its latest anniversary beer—Jewbelation Reborn—taking note of its new brewery as well as its 17th year with a 17% ABV beer with 17 malts and 17 hops.

Limbo IPA (Long Trail Brewing Co., Bridgewaters Corners, Vermont) 7.6% Long Trail doesn’t seem to be calling this new beer a Double IPA, perhaps to avoid invidious comparisons to Heady Topper, the Waterbury, Vermont beer that has been called the best in the world on some rating sites. They needn’t worry; Limbo not only fares well as a hophead’s dream—juicy, fruity, piney, almost chewy with Bravo, Chinook, Galaxy, and Mosaic hops—but it’s a lot easier to lay hands on than Heady, at least in about a dozen northeast states. Double IPAs seem to be the style of the moment, and though perhaps less adept at pairing with food than others, it should go well with brine-soaked birds, or grilled and smoked turkeys, like the one we’re having tomorrow.

DirtWolf Double IPA (Victory Brewing Company, Downingtown, Pennsylvania) 8.7% ABV While still distributed mainly in the east, the always reliable Victory Brewing Company has made it out to Colorado and the west coast. DirtWolf debuted in October, replacing Victory’s Hop Wallop for the time being. The result of the brewery’s experiments with whole flower American hops, in this case Citra, Chinook, Simcoe and Mosaic, DirtWolf is another candidate to go head to head with Heady, or Limbo for that matter. (Mini beer tasting for Thanksgiving?)

Alta Gracia Coffee Porter (Wolaver’s Organic Brewing, Middlebury, Vermont) 5% ABV Time for coffee and dessert? This beer might serve for both, and it ratchets back on the firepower in case one’s eyes are beginning to glaze over. (Granted, very sweet desserts sometimes seem to call for an answering attack from the big guns of the beer world, the barleywines and imperial stouts, but it ain’t necessarily so.)

This seasonal from the organic arm of Vermont’s Otter Creek Brewery is a fine and roasty porter with chocolate notes, but there’s no doubt about the coffee—Wolaver’s uses dark-roasted Dominican coffee from the Vermont Coffee Company (fair trade, of course), leavening this a bit with an infusion of vanilla beans.

Eat hearty, drink wisely, drive carefully. And remember that after all the feasting, Friday is National Flossing Day!

March 29, 2013

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5 Crisp and Refreshing Beers We Can’t Get Enough Of

By NICOLE PERRY Warmer days and longer nights have us craving crisp, fruity brews with near-alarming intensity; thankfully, we've found a handful of options that fit the bill. Keep reading for five picks that will see you through Spring happy hours — and beyond — in style.

He'Brew Hop Manna IPA Kitschy name aside, Shmaltz Brewing Company's beers mean business — the company just opened its own New York State production brewery, and its delightfully floral Hop Manna IPA even took home a gold medal at the World Beer Championships. While this brew has many positive attributes, we most appreciated how drinkable it is while maintaining a complex bitter finish typical of the style.

November 28, 2013

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Brewed Gratitude More great beers for your big holiday feasts.

Thanksgivingakkuh is here! You’ll have to wait almost 80,000 years for this crossover to happen again, which calls for a beer. We’re deeply grateful for all this time of year entails, and for having done our shopping early. But if you’re still headed to the store today, we have some great last-minute ideas to go with our holiday beer pairing list curated with Whole Foods earlier this week. As for Hanukkuh, many beers are certified kosher, including the always-delicious Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale from Boulevard, a spicy, 8.5%abv saison in wide release.

Or when in doubt, look for the Shmaltz lineup, “The Chosen Beer”, including He'Brew Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A., an outstanding rye-based Imperial India Pale Ale of 10%abv dedicated to the spirit of Lenny Bruce.

As for today, here’s what to share as the big bird hits the tabletop.

APPS, SALADS, GAME TIME Beer is filling; beer is boozy; pace thyself, or be couch-bound too soon. Best to stick with a low alcohol—but not low-in-flavor—beer. We’re planning to try Smuttynose’s tasty new Bouncy House, a juicy American pale ale, dry hopped with El Dorado and Citra (4.9%), but alas, that beer doesn’t go nationwide until 2014. Your best bet? Firestone Walker’s incredibly delicious, citrusy Pale 31, just 4.9%abv but fathoms deep in flavor. There’s a good reason it’s won twelve gold medals on both the national and international stages.

TURKEY, STUFFING & TRIMMINGS Jon Richards, Certified Cicerone at The Growler Station in Greenville, SC has some, erm, sage advice: “When in doubt, go with saison or a full-bodied brown ale like Bell’s Best Brown or Avery Ellie's Brown,” Richards says. “These beers will pair with anything on the table. They have enough spice to match the stuffing as well as a good amount of carbonation to cut through heavy foods.”

CRANBERRY SAUCE Craft and Specialty Brands Manager Eric Kobus of Louis Glunz Beer, Inc., Chicago’s largest craft and specialty imports distributor, suggests the citrus-laced St. Bernadus Wit from St. Bernadus Brewery. “With flavors of sweet orange and an earthy, grassy undertone, the Wit complements the sugary-sour cranberry sauce,” Kobus says. Yum. We concur: witbier and cranberry is a dream pairing.

DESSERT Our friends over at The Brewers Association shared Stone Brewery’s Dr. Bill Sysak’s smart picks. “My dessert of choice (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream of course), can take on massive quadruples, imperial stouts or barley wines with ease.” Sounds massively tasty to us. Sysak recommends Old Numbskull by AleSmith Brewing Company, Three Philosophers

by Brewery Ommegang, or Expedition Stout from Bell’s Brewery.