Coming out of New York’s Shmaltz Brewing Company comes their “He’Brew Jewbelation Reborn (17)” an American Strong Ale. The beer bast brewed in 2013 and I purchased it in January 2014 and cellared until May 2016. The beer was brewed for the breweries 17th Anniversary and the first year they had their own brewery (No longer contract brewing).  The beer pours a deep brown with a ruby tinge and a brown head. The aroma consists of dark fruits, chocolate, roasted malts, molasses, toffee, coffee and sweetness.  The flavour is of dark fruits, chocolate, coffee, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, roasted malts, ash, sweetness and alcohol.  The beer used 17 malts, 17 hops and comes in at 17% Alcohol. With just over two years of cellaring this beer is surprisingly smooth for the alcohol content! It is also quite enjoyable on to of being smooth for the ABV.

Commercial Description:  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!!!