Clifton Park, NY — Shmaltz Brewing Company starts the year 2015 in fine fashion with an ambitious brewing schedule featuring seven limited-edition seasonal brews and two variety 12-packs. This year, the Upstate New York brewery continues its award-winning barrel-aged series, hops program, Belgian-inspired releases, sessionable beers, and winter holiday offerings. Joining Shmaltz’s year-round line-up in May 2015, Slingshot Hoppy American Lager® becomes a staple of their annual portfolio and will be available in 6-packs (12 oz bottles). To download the 2015 Shmaltz Product Planner, please visit shmaltzbrewing.com.
Kick-starting the Spring/Summer 2015 season, Shmaltz releases a brand new blend of Funky Jewbelation® (9.4% ABV, March 2015) featuring six ales and lagers aged in bourbon and rye whiskey barrels. Bock Bock® (10% ABV, May 2015) marks a brand new barrel-aged imperial American bock, aged in half Jim Beam and half Heaven Hill whiskey barrels. For all the hop heads out there, the limited-edition release ofWishbone Session Double IPA® (8% ABV, June 2015) adds a delightful “sessionable” option for any summer occasion. The Hops In He’brew Variety Pack® will be available for 4 months (May – August 2015) and includes: Wishbone Session Double IPA®, Hop Manna®, Genesis Dry Hopped Session Ale®, and Slingshot®. Shmaltz also continues its immaculate collaboration with Cathedral Square for the July 2015 release of St. Lenny’s® Belgian IPA.
Fall/Winter 2015 brings Shmaltz’s fifth installment of Reunion Ale ’15 – A Beer for Hope® alongside Terrapin Beer Company and Alan Shapiro (founder of SBS Imports) to raise money for the Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research. In addition to Death Of A Contract Brewer® being available year-round in 22 oz. bottles, Shmaltz releases the Black IPA in 4-packs from August – October 2015 to set the scene for Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos. Three delicious winter offerings close out 2015: Hanukkah, Chanukah: Pass The Beer® (8 Malts, 8 Hops, 8% ABV), He’brew’s anniversary ale Jewbelation 19®(10 Malts, 9 Hops, 10.9% ABV) and the first-ever He’brew Holiday Variety 12-Pack® including Slingshot®, Hop Manna®, Messiah Nut Brown Ale®, and Hannukah, Chanukah: Pass The Beer®. Please see the detailed information below for Shmaltz’s 2015 craft beer releases.
Funky Jewbelation® 2015 (9.4% ABV, March 2015)
Dancing off the packaging line at Shmaltz Brewing’s Upstate New York brewery, Funky Jewbelation® is the latest Limited Engagement in the brewery’s bold and beautiful Barrel-Aged Series. This year’s hand crafted recipe of Funky Jewbelation® features a unique blend of six ales and lagers from the Shmaltz beer lineup aged in bourbon and rye whiskey barrels, and hustles in at 9.4% alc. Funky Jewbelation® is an expert mash-up of Jewbelation Reborn® (aged 16 months), Messiah Nut Brown Ale® (aged 8 months), Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A.® (aged 6 months), Winter Lager 2013® (aged 15 months), Rejewvenator® 2014 (aged 11 months), and Death of a Contract Brewer® (aged 16 months).
Funky Jewbelation® 2014 currently has a 99 overall rating on Ratebeer.com, and the 2012 and 2013 versions of Funky Jewbelation® took home two consecutive Gold Medals at the 2012/2013 World Beer Championships. The 2012 World Beer Championships featured 799 breweries from 54 countries and 45 U.S. states with 3,921 beers in 95 beer categories.
Bock Bock® (10% ABV, May 2015)
Bock Bock® is a burly Imperial American Bock aged over 3 months in half Jim Beam and half Heaven Hill whiskey barrels. Fusing Old World brewing traditions with bold, flavor-driven American ingenuity,Bock Bock® is a fine example of how Shmaltz continues to lift lagers to the creative heights that ales have enjoyed in the American craft beer movement. Brewed with oatmeal and rye, and emerging from the barrel softened and silky, Bock Bock® is as rare and special as it is highly coveted.
Wishbone Session Double IPA® (8% ABV, June – August 2015)
Following this past winter’s release of Shmaltz’s Anniversary Black Session Barleywine (Jewbelation 18®), Shmaltz continues a fun new tradition with the special release of a “sessionable” double IPA,Wishbone®. Shmaltz, meaning chicken fat in Yiddish, pays homage to its cultural roots with a delightful session beer loaded with the tropical edge of hops including calypso, citra and amarillo; the IPA you’ve been wishing for!
Hops In He’brew Variety Pack® (May – August 2015)
Ever wonder How To Say “Hops” In He’brew?! With the release of the Hops In He’brew Variety Pack®, Shmaltz gives a brand new meaning to “adult education.” The variety pack is filled with equal parts of Genesis Dry-Hopped Session Ale® (Silver Medal, World Beer Championships), Hop Manna IPA® (“The Best Beers of 2012” by Esquire.com and Gold Medal, World Beer Championships), Shmaltz’s latest annual brew Slingshot Hoppy American Lager® (97 Rating, RateBeer.com), and the new Wishbone Session Double IPA®. Variety packs are the spice of the craft beer world and the fourth most popular craft beer package in the country. Combine the enthusiasm for variety packs with the fervor over hoppy beers and you have a match made in craft beer heaven.
St. Lenny’s®: The Immaculate Collaboration (July 2015)
For its 10th Anniversary in 2006, Shmaltz brewed the first batch of Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A.® to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the death of prophetic Jewish comedian Lenny Bruce. The rye-based double IPA went on to win two Gold medals at the World Beer Championships (2010 & 2011), and it currently holds a 99 Rating with BeerAdvocate beer bros and 98 Rating with RateBeer.com.
2015 brings the return of “The Immaculate Collaboration” — a labor of personal history and love of beer and shtick between two longtime friends and colleagues from Shmaltz and Cathedral Square. In the true spirit of collaboration, Cathedral Square’s Brian Neville will join the Shmaltz brewing staff to concoct the second recipe of St. Lenny’s® (Belgian Style Rye Double IPA). St. Lenny’s® flips the award-winning rye double IPA on its head using a custom Belgian yeast blend (2 Trappist and 1 Abbey) with the original R.I.P.A.® recipe. With a spicy punch of rye and caraway, fruity clove and anise flavors, and a gorgeous Belgian character, St. Lenny’s® is destined to intrigue hop heads and Belgian beer fans alike.
Reunion Ale ’15® – A Beer For Hope (September 2015)
Shmaltz Brewing proudly joins Alan Shapiro (founder of SBS Imports) to participate in brewing Reunion Ale ’15 – A Beer for Hope®. Reunion® is brewed annually in memory of Virginia MacLean, a dedicated cancer research supporter who lost her own battle with Multiple Myeloma in 2007 and a dear friend and co-worker of Alan Shapiro and Pete Slosberg’s (creator of Pete’s Wicked Ale™). As a tribute to Virginia, a portion of the proceeds from Reunion Ale ’15® is donated to the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research (IMBCR) in Virginia’s name.
Reunion Ale ’15® is a dark Imperial Brown Ale brewed with toasted coconut, vanilla, cinnamon, roasted coffee from Creekside Café in Burnt Hills, New York and cocoa nibs from Nashville, Tennessee’s Olive and Sinclair Chocolate Company. Following its initial release in 2007, the Reunion project has raised more than $130,000 for the IMBCR through bottle and draft sales of Reunion®, retailer fundraising events, and private donations. Beer lovers can also donate money directly through the Reunion website or the IMBCR website.
Shmaltz will exclusively brew and release this year’s Reunion® through their extensive nationwide network of wholesalers.
Hanukkah, Chanukah: Pass The Beer® (8% ABV, November – December 2015)
After only 19 years in business, America’s largest, most award-winning and still only Jewish themed Craft Brewery, Shmaltz Brewing proudly releases its new winter warmer Hanukkah, Chanukah: Pass The Beer® to celebrate the festival of lights. Destined to become the official chosen beer of the holiday season, Hanukkah, Chanukah: Pass The Beer® is a luscious Dark Ale brewed with 8 malts, 8 hops, and heats up at 8% ABV. 8 is a miraculous number in Jewish life. Its cultural/religious significance runs the gamut with several holidays spanning 8 days (Chanukah, Passover, Sukkot), a bris (circumcision) taking place on the newborn’s 8th day, etc. As latkes are frying and the battle royale of dreidels are spinning, Shmaltz lends some much needed light to the impending winter darkness with Hanukkah, Chanukah: Pass The Beer® launching nationally in 12 oz bottles in 4-packs starting on November 1, 2015, as well as in the He’brew Holiday Variety Pack® 2015.
Jewbelation 19® (10.9% ABV, November – December 2015)
Over the last decade, Shmaltz Brewing has boldly elevated each year’s Jewbelation® with increased amounts of malts, hops, and ABV — in 2004, they debuted Miraculous Jewbelation® with 8 malts, 8 hops, 8% ABV and continued through 2013’s Jewbelation Reborn® (17 malts, 17 hops, 17% ABV). Similar to 2014’s Jewbelation 18®, this year’s Jewbelation 19® features the brand spankin’ new craft beer category, Black Session Barleywine. Brewed with 10 Malts and 9 Hops, and coming in at 10.9% ABV, Jewbelation 19® will begin to warm craft beer aficionados’ bellies (and will be available in alllll 37 states Shmaltz beers are distributed) starting just before Thanksgiving 2015.
He’brew Holiday Variety 12-Pack® (October – December 2015)
For the past five years, Shmaltz has released its extremely popular He’brew Gift Pack® for the holiday season. For Chanukah 2015, Shmaltz mixes it up with an exciting variety 12-pack featuring He’brew® favorites Slingshot®, Hop Manna®, Messiah Nut Brown Ale®, and Hannukah, Chanukah: Pass The Beer®. Shmaltz’s He’brew Holiday Variety 12-Pack® is sure to add cheer this holiday season and light up any cold winter night.
To find a wholesaler in one of the 37 states Shmaltz beers are distributed, please visit shmaltzbrewing.com/HEBREW/distributors.html
About Shmaltz Brewing Company
Ranked in 2013 as one of the “Top 100 Brewers in the World” by RateBeer.com, Shmaltz won 9 Gold and 5 Silver Medals in the World 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 San Francisco Business Times.
Founder and owner Jeremy Cowan established the company in San Francisco in 1996 with the first 100 cases of He’brew Beer® hand bottled and delivered throughout the Bay Area in his Grandmother’s Volvo. He’brew® now sells across 37 states, through 40 wholesalers and nearly 5,000 retailers. In 2007, Shmaltz released a new line of craft brewed lagers under the Coney Island® banner. The Coney Island brand was recently acquired by Alchemy and Science, a craft beer incubator, owned by Boston Beer (Sam Adams).
After 17 years of being an outspoken cheerleader for contract brewing, Shmaltz recently broke with tradition and opened its own New York State production brewery in Clifton Park, NY, 10 minutes north of Albany’s capital district. Shmaltz’s new home boasts a 50-barrel brewhouse with 20,000 barrels of annual capacity. The new brewery packages 12 and 22 ounce bottles and kegs of their diverse core and seasonal favorites, and hosts fans and beer tourists in their new tasting room for tours, barrel-aged previews, and special releases.
In 2010/11, 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. In 2012, Cowan spearheaded the creation of the non-profit New York City Brewers Guild (which manages NYC Beer Week) and served as its Founding President.
Cowan also has presented at the 2013 Craft Brewers Conference, as well as previous Great American Beer Festivals, BevNet’s Brewbound conference, Beer Advocate’s Extreme Beer Festival, the Atlanta and the St. Louis Jewish Book Fairs, and the San Francisco and New York Jewish Museums.
Shmaltz Brewing beers have appeared in such distinguished media outlets as The New York Times, CNN Headline News, Beer Advocate Magazine, NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” Fox Business News, Men’s Health, San Francisco Chronicle, The Jerusalem Report, New York Jewish Week, and Washington Post.