Shmaltz Brewing Introduces (518) Summer Session

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Clifton Park, New York — For more than 150 years, one of the most celebrated sporting events in American culture has taken place right in the backyard of Shmaltz Brewing’s Upstate New York brewery at the historic Saratoga Race Course (Saratoga Springs, NY). Shmaltz Brewing is proud to announce the latest addition to its locals-only (518) Beer Sessions in honor of the oldest racetrack in the United States and the proud tradition that runs each racing season.

An interpretation of the classic Saratoga Race Course cocktail, the Saratoga Sunrise, (518) Summer Session is a refreshing and light bodied Belgian Wit with a fresh and floral aroma. The unfiltered end of summer sipper is brewed with New York State wheat, dosed with sweet orange peel and balanced with a pinch of pomegranate. At a highly sessionable 5.18% ABV, Shmaltz’s glowing gold refresher will quench the thirst of 518 locals and visiting racing fans all season long. (518) Summer Session is now available at local watering holes exclusively within the 518 area code.

Rumored to have originated at the Saratoga Race Course in the 1800s, the Saratoga Sunrise is made with orange juice, vodka and topped with a splash of grenadine. While the Sunrise has a reputation for knocking you off your seat, the (518) Summer Session® is by comparison a smooth ride to the finish. While wide-brimmed hats and racing fans go a long way towards keeping the shvitz at bay, cold craft creations do the job even better. So, keep an eye out for (518) Summer Session all across the Albany/Saratoga Springs region this racing season!

Locals-Only (518) Beer Sessions:

Shmaltz Brewing Company has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a contract brewer to the opening of its very own brewery in Clifton Park, NY. Along with new brewing capacity and a growing staff, now over 30 strong, Shmaltz has the flexibility to take on standout projects like a locals-only brew just for NY’s Capital Region. The series began earlier this year with Eagle Lager®, brewed with locally grown New York State rye and wheat malt as well as New York State grown Cascade hops.

Shmaltz founder Jeremy Cowan explains, “We are so thrilled to be in Upstate New York that we’re celebrating our new home with an extremely specialized series recognizing the area’s emerging craft beer culture and wonderful local ingredients now available to brewers. There’s something really special about releasing limited-edition beers only to our local retailers for metro area residents to enjoy.”

Paul Leone, Executive Director of the New York State Brewers Association, adds, “With over 200 breweries and counting in New York State, New Yorkers are thinking more local than ever when it comes to their beer choices, so when Shmaltz brews a beer like 518, it goes to the heart of our Think New York, Drink New York campaign slogan. It’s hyper local and plays to the community in which they brew their beer, which is what ‘craft’ is all about.”

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.