Shmaltz Brewing Company Partners with Lake Beverage Company in Rochester

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Clifton Park, NY — Shmaltz Brewing Company is thrilled to announce the partnership with a new distributor for its home state of New York, Lake Beverage Corporation. The latest addition to Shmaltz’s team of distributors across the country, Lake Beverage, enhances the regional retail presence and draft availability of the award-winning craft beer line: He’brew — The Chosen Beer®. Shmaltz’s distribution growth throughout Upstate New York comes on the heels of opening a new 20,000 square feet brewing facility in Clifton Park, NY. 100+ new Upstate New York bars, restaurants, and off-premise accounts have recently added Shmaltz’s beers to their portfolio, and a notable 12,000 consumers visited the onsite tasting room since its opening (May 2013). Shmaltz increased its staff to 30 employees (many of which are new employees from the Albany, NY metro area) to oversee its latest capacity expansion from 20K barrels to 35K barrels per year.

“Lake Beverage is excited to add Shmaltz Brewing Company’s fine craft beers to our current lineup of high quality ales and lagers,” says John Mula, Craft & Import Manager of Lake Beverage Corporation. “Our talented team of experienced sales professionals is confident that launching Shmaltz’s diverse array of award winning styles will prove a big success around greater Rochester. Brewed upstate and with a national presence, Shmaltz fits perfectly into the growth and excitement about Local New York State beers that can stand with the best craft beers around the country and beyond.”

“We couldn’t be happier with our decision to partner with Lake Beverage,” says Jeremy Cowan, Founder of Shmaltz Brewing Company. “They have wholeheartedly embraced our craft beer portfolios and are excited as we are about growing our presence here in Upstate New York. The entire family at Lake Beverage has welcomed our brand and you can feel the level of enthusiasm from everyone in the company. We look forward to this exciting chapter of our growth with them.”

This week, come join the Lake Beverage and Shmaltz teams at the following locations to sample exceptional brews from their line-up:

  • Wednesday, October 7, 2015 @ Pittsford Pub (60 N Main Street, Pittsford, NY, 5pm): Hop Manna® & Jewbelation® will be on draft.
  • Wednesday, October 7, 2015 @ Donnelly’s Public House (1 Water Street, Fairport, NY, 6:30 pm): Hop Manna® & Slingshot American Craft Lager® available in 12 oz. bottles.
  • Thursday, October 8, 2015 @ Beers of the World (2599 E Henrietta Road, Rochester, NY, 4 pm – 6 pm): Sampling of Shmaltz’s portfolio.
  • Thursday, October 8, 2015 @ Acme Pizza (495 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, NY, 7 pm): Hop Manna® and Messiah Nut Brown Ale® will be on draft.

Shmaltz’s national wholesaler network expands to 35 states, and He’brew — The Chosen Beer® is also available internationally in both Canada and Hong Kong.

For a full list of Shmaltz’s distributors, please visit: www.shmaltzbrewing.com/HEBREW/distributors.html

About Lake Beverage Corporation

Lake Beverage was founded as a POP wholesaler that started selling beer after Prohibition ended in 1933. Today the principal owners are Hank and Bernie Schroeder, whose families have been involved in the ownership of Lake Beverage since 1944 — back when the big brands for Lake Beverage were Old Topper and Standard Ale.

Since 1991, Lake Beverage has been located at 900 John St. in W. Henrietta, NY. They currently employ close to 100 full and part time team members and service approximately 1,600 accounts across Monroe, Wayne, Livingston, Ontario, Yates and part of Steuben counties. 

Lake Beverage’s portfolio appeals to a wide range of tastes and includes brands from the Anheuser Busch family, as well as many others from brewers like Magic Hat, Brooklyn, Great Lakes, Goose Island, Red Hook and Southern Tier, and Non-Alcoholic producers like Arizona Iced Tea, Body Armour and Saratoga Spring Water. 

Additionally, Lake Beverage provides information, training, service and promotional support to retailers so they’re able to sell and maintain their products effectively and responsibly. Lake Beverage is also proud to support a wide variety of nonprofit organizations with humanitarian goals.

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 35 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,” USA Today, Fox Business News, Men’s Health, San Francisco Chronicle, The Jerusalem Report, New York Jewish Week, and Washington Post.