CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. — The pinnacle of craft beer in New York State is now upon us with New York City Beer Week’s Opening Bash taking place this Saturday, February 24 at Brooklyn EXPO Center (6pm – 9:30pm). What better time for Shmaltz Brewing Company to officially launch its latest brand, Alphabet City Brewing Company (ACBC). Now available exclusively in cans in New York City, Shmaltz builds on the history of the brand on the Lower East Side of Manhattan along 7th Street. Born on a stovetop homebrew system in 2012, Shmaltz delves into the storied history of the neighborhood and city with a new line of beers with re-branded graphics and packaging, new beer styles and names, and a new IPA recipe.
For NYC Beer Week 2018, Shmaltz founder and owner Jeremy Cowan debuts two new ACBC releases, Rapture Double Platinum Blonde Ale and Village IPA, as well as two of Shmaltz’s latest beers, Pastrami Pilsner and Funky Jewbelation, at the biggest night in NYC craft beer at the Opening Bash. Additional NYC Beer Week events featuring Shmaltz and Alphabet City beers include:
Friday, February 23 @ Barcade (148 W 24th Street, NYC, 12pm): Join the Shmaltz crew for a massive Tap Takeover at Barcade featuring Pastrami Pilsner, Star Trek Captain’s Holiday, Slingshot American Craft Lager, Hop Manna IPA, Jewbelation 21, Messiah Nut Brown Ale, Wishbone DIPA, and Chanukah, Hanukkah: Pass the Beer. More info at http://barcadenewyork.com/special-events
Saturday, February 24 @ Brooklyn EXPO Center “NYC Beer Week 2018 – Opening Bash” (72 Noble Street, Brooklyn): Shmaltz and Alphabet City pours their latest and greatest beer releases including Rapture Double Platinum Blonde Ale, Village IPA, Pastrami Pilsner, and Funky Jewbelation. Tickets are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nyc-beer-week-opening-bash-tickets-41242789293
Wednesday, February 28 @ Whisky Live Fest! (125 W 18th Street, NYC): Shmaltz joins the WhiskyLive NYC festival to pour many of their prized barrel-aged beers: Funky Jewbelation, RIPA on Rye, Chanukah in Kentucky, and Genesis 20:20. WhiskyLive NYC festival includes over 250 varieties of scotches, bourbons, whiskies and beers! Tickets are available at http://whiskyliveusa.com/new-york
Wednesday, February 28 @ Alphabet City Brewing Company “Yaaassss Queen Esther: A Dank Meme Purim Party” (96 Avenue C, NYC): The Shmaltz Tribe teams up with the Tech Tribe crew for a one-of-a-kind Dank Meme Purim Party. More details are available at https://memepurim.splashthat.com
Thursday, March 1 @ Brookfield Place New York Winter Biergarten “Best Brews of NYC 5 Boroughs” (230 Vesey Street, NYC): Shmaltz Brewing’s Creative Director Matt Polacheck will represent Alphabet City Brewing Company’s Village IPA as they go up against 15 of the city’s best beers and breweries. All NY’s borough presidents will be in attendance to cheer on their respective breweries.
Friday, March 2 @ City Swiggers “The Beers of Shmaltz” (320 E 86th Street, NYC): Pat Fondiller of Shmaltz and Alphabet City will sample a variety of beers at City Swiggers for NYC Beer Week.
Please see the beer descriptions below for the four new special releases featured at select NYC Beer Week 2018 events. Shmaltz founder and owner Jeremy Cowan is available for interviews upon request.
Rapture Double Platinum Blonde Ale
The latest release from Alphabet City Brewing, Rapture Double Platinum Blonde Ale is a hoppy blonde ale in tribute the iconic Lower East Side punk band Blondie and their hit single, “Rapture.” Released in 1980, the seminal Blondie album Autoamerican represents the crossover of the Lower East Side’s legendary punk scene and emergence of New York’s rap and hip-hop movement. Reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, “Rapture” marked the first #1 charting song to feature rap vocals while it name-checked such notable hip-hop pioneers Fab Five Freddy and Grandmaster Flash. Alphabet City commemorates Blondie as one of the mainstay artists on the CBGB’s punk scene in the ’70s and ’80s with a 7% ABV hoppy blonde ale now exclusively available in Manhattan in 16 oz. cans.
Village IPA
Hop Culture Soaring. East and West. City and Village. Alphabet City releases a new recipe of Village IPA for 2018 in newly designed 12 oz. cans. Coming in at 6.2% ABV, Village IPA is brewed with five specialty malts (2-Row, Maris Otter, Red X, Caramel 20, Flaked Oats) and five juicy hops (Warrior, Simcoe, Citra, Equinox, Amerillo). Village IPA is now available in 6-packs of 12 oz. cans and on draft at select NYC bars.
Pastrami Pilsner
Shmaltz takes the pairing of craft beer with your favorite foods to the next level with the release of their latest collaboration beer with one of the East Coast’s most beloved beer bars Barcade, Pastrami Pilsner (5.5% ABV). Pastrami Pilsner summons savory sensations reminiscent of the quintessential Jewish tradition. Shmaltz’s brewing team stacked the special beer with caramel, Munich and Pilsner malts to provide light, toasted bread flavors with caraway seeds for the complete rye bread experience. Brewers took a pinch of kosher salt, a dash of pepper, mustard seed, and some smoked malt to wrap together the best pastrami characters. An aromatic blast of horseradish completes this truly unique offering. Pastrami Pilsner is nationally available in 4-packs in 30 states across the country. Nosh it up across the nation!
Funky Jewbelation
For its sixth year in a row, Shmaltz releases a new recipe of their famed barrel aged sour, Funky Jewbelation. The lauded Funky Jewbelation series (2012-2018) has brought home some impressive honors, including a Gold Medal with the World Beer Championships, being awarded the Grand Champion (Giant Beer Category) at US Beer Tasting Championship, a Gold Medal in packaging with Beverage World’s “BevStar Awards,” a silver medal at the prestigious World Beer Cup 2014, and consistent 94-98 ratings from RateBeer.com.
For the 2018 release of Funky Jewbelation, Shmaltz loaded eight individual ales and lagers from across their acclaimed craft beer portfolio for ten to thirty months into bourbon and rye whiskey barrels from Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, Willett, Redemption, Sazerac, and Wild Turkey. Funky Jewbelation glistens a deep, rich, ruby color with tart flavors of dark fruit, raspberries, blueberries, fig, and complex malts — caramel, toffee, and rye. Aromas bounce between bittersweet chocolate, farmhouse funk, and tart peach and apricot. A mouthwatering puckering is complemented by pronounced hits of bourbon, charred wood, molasses and light notes of bing cherry, ending with a wine-like mouth feel.
This year’s hand blended recipe of Funky Jewbelation is an expert mash-up of Jewbelation 20, St. Lenny’s, Rejewvenator, Origin Pomegranate Strong Ale, Messiah Nut Brown Ale, Hanukkah Beer 2015 Winter Warmer, Genesis 20:20 and Death Black Ale. Funky Jewbelation is nationally available in 22 oz. bottles in 30 states across the country.
Additional Shmaltz and Alphabet City launch events during NYC Beer Week 2018 will be announced on the Shmaltz Calendar at http://shmaltzbrewing.com/calendar
About Shmaltz Brewing Company
Founder and owner Jeremy Cowan established Shmaltz Brewing in San Francisco in 1996. The first 100 cases of He’brew Beer were hand-bottled and delivered throughout the Bay Area from the back of his Grandmother’s Volvo. Shmaltz Brewing now sells He’brew Beer across 30 states, through 40 wholesalers and in nearly 5,000 retailers.
After 17 years of being an outspoken cheerleader for contract brewing, Cowan and staff opened their own New York State production brewery in 2013 in Clifton Park, 10 minutes north of Albany. Shmaltz’s home boasts a 50-barrel brewhouse with 30,000 barrels of annual capacity and packages a diverse and tasty variety of core and seasonal favorites in 12 and 22-ounce bottles and kegs. The Shmaltz Tasting Room is open five days a week (Wed-Sun) and offers tours, barrel-aged previews, beer-to-go, and special releases.
RateBeer.com ranked Shmaltz as one of the “Top 100 Brewers in the World” in 2013, and the brewery brought home 1 platinum, 10 gold and 6 silver medals from the World Beer Championships in the past several years.