Clifton Park, NY — On Sun, Mar. 8, 2015, Shmaltz Brewing Company will brew the very first She’brew Beer to commemorate the 2nd Annual International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day. The singular brewing effort is coordinated by thePink Boots Society to empower female brewers and help women further their careers in the craft beer industry through scholarships and educational programs. Women around the world will suit up in their pink boots to brew variations of a single recipe. Proceeds from beer sales will be donated to the Pink Boots Society and a select charity, Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region (Albany, NY), whose mission is to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold. Shmaltz celebrates their sisters in brewing with the debut of She’brew.
“The first She’brew Beer is an exceedingly delectable Triple IPA that will pour a rich blonde with a silky white head,” says Richie Saunders, the lead brewer at Shmaltz Brewing. “The bouquet of She’brew will have distinct high alpha hops, complete with subtle pine notes. Yet, the focus will be on sultry fruit perfumes from a collection of specifically selected hops, such as Calypso, Citra and Amarillo. At a modest 12% ABV, She’brew will pack a wallop, but behind the numbers you will find a silky beer with a mild mouthfeel and softer body than what would be expected. She’s hoppy, she smells great, she’brew!”
The rich history of American Brewing heralded by women dates back to the 18th century, when a good portion of brewers, otherwise known as brewsters, were women. Female brewers date back over 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia. A quick history lesson: Sumerians had the beer goddess, Ninkasi. She was also known for her power to satisfy human desire. The Zulu people had a goddess of the rainbow and water, Mbaba Mwana Waresa, who taught the people of South Africa the art of making beer. Ashnan, the Mesopotamian and Sumerian Goddess of Grain, was also the goddess of drunkenness.
Throughout history, brewers were primarily women. Currently, women only account for 10% of jobs in charge of breweries. Today, we honor our goddesses in pink boots, the modern day Brewster, and savor their fermented libations. Along with a band of small craft breweries, Shmaltz encourages everyone to empower their sisters, daughters and friends to embrace the legacy of brewing and join the legions of brewsters in Pink Boots.
As William Shakespeare once said, “She brews good ale, and thereof comes the proverb, Blessing of your heart, you brew good ale.”
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 atwww.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.