Clifton Park, NY — Shmaltz Brewing Company understands there’s nothing better than enjoying a delicious craft beer with family and friends. Having an exceptional selection of freshly brewed beers to chose from even makes it ever more enticing to explore the craft beer landscape and find new favorite brews. With its expanded brewing capacity (20,000 barrels) and a staff growing to more than 30 strong, Shmaltz’s 2015 production schedule is bustling with brand new seasonals, collaboration beers, the return of the popular hoppy variety pack Hops In HE’BREW®, and the addition of Slingshot American Craft Lager® becoming a staple of their annual portfolio. Craft beer aficionados can bask in the glory of all things Shmaltz with its latest high IBU double IPAs, barrel-aged imperials, hoppy lagers, Belgian style rye double IPAs, and dark imperial brown ales.
Now available at local watering holes and retail shelves in over 35 states across the country, Bock Bock® (10% ABV) is the brewery’s new barrel-aged imperial American bock, aged in half Jim Beam and half in Heaven Hill whiskey barrels. For all the hop heads out there, the limited-edition release of Wishbone Session Double IPA® (8% ABV) adds a delightful “sessionable” option for any festive occasion. SHE’BREW Beer — Triple IPA® is a beautifully balanced, luscious triple IPA with a seductive blend of Calypso, Citra, Crystal and Amarillo hops that shines bright at 11% ABV. The Hops In He’brew Variety Pack® is one of the very few 12-packs which includes a double IPA (Wishbone Session Double IPA®, Hop Manna IPA®, Genesis Dry Hopped Session Ale®, and Slingshot American Craft Lager®).
Two standout collaborations bring Shmaltz back into the fold with Missouri’s Cathedral Square Brewery and Georgia’s Terrapin Brewing. Reigniting its “Immaculate Collaboration” with Cathedral Square, the two breweries resurrect St. Lenny’s® Belgian Style Rye Double India Pale Ale. Shmaltz teams up for the fifth year-in-a-row with Terrapin Beer Company and Alan Shapiro (founder of SBS Imports) to create Reunion Ale ’15 — A Beer For Hope, a dark Imperial Brown Ale brewed with Pumpkin, Cinnamon, Chocolate, Cocoa Nibs, Ginger, Nutmeg, Vanilla, and Chili Pepper Extract. A portion of the proceeds from Reunion Ale ’15® are donated directly to The Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research (IMBCR).
Shmaltz’s latest offering in the (518) Beer Sessions Series: Summer Session® pays tribute to the historic Saratoga Race Course (Saratoga Spring, NY) located a short distance from Shmaltz’s Upstate New York Brewery. An interpretation of the classic Saratoga Race Course cocktail, the Saratoga Sunrise, (518) Summer Session® is a refreshing and light bodied Belgian Wit brewed with New York State wheat, dosed with sweet orange peel and balanced with a pinch of pomegranate.
Please see the detailed information below for Shmaltz’s 2015 craft beer special releases. Additional releases will be announced in the coming weeks.
Bock Bock® (10% ABV)
Bock Bock® is a burly Imperial American Bock aged over 3 months in half Jim Beam and half Heaven Hill whiskey barrels. Fusing Old World brewing traditions with bold, flavor-driven American ingenuity, Bock Bock® is a fine example of how Shmaltz continues to lift lagers to the creative heights that ales have enjoyed in the American craft beer movement. Brewed with oatmeal and rye, and emerging from the barrel softened and silky, Bock Bock® is as rare and special as it is highly coveted.
Wishbone Session Double IPA® (8% ABV)
Following this past winter’s release of Shmaltz’s Anniversary Black Session Barleywine (Jewbelation 18®), Shmaltz continues a fun new tradition with the special release of a “sessionable” double IPA, Wishbone®. Shmaltz, meaning chicken fat in Yiddish, pays homage to its cultural roots with a delightful session beer loaded with the tropical edge of hops including calypso, citra and amarillo; the IPA you’ve been wishing for!
Hops In He’brew Variety Pack®
Ever wonder How To Say “Hops” In He’brew?! With the release of the Hops In He’brew Variety Pack®, Shmaltz gives a brand new meaning to “adult education.” The variety pack is filled with equal parts of Genesis Dry-Hopped Session Ale® (Silver Medal, World Beer Championships), Hop Manna IPA® (“The Best Beers of 2012” by Esquire.com and Gold Medal, World Beer Championships), Shmaltz’s latest annual brew Slingshot American Craft Lager® (97 Rating, RateBeer.com), and the new Wishbone Session Double IPA®. Variety packs are the spice of the craft beer world and the fourth most popular craft beer package in the country. Combine the enthusiasm for variety packs with the fervor over hoppy beers and you have a match made in craft beer heaven.
St. Lenny’s®: The Immaculate Collaboration (10% ABV)
For its 10th Anniversary in 2006, Shmaltz brewed the first batch of Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A.® to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the death of prophetic Jewish comedian Lenny Bruce. The rye-based double IPA went on to win two Gold medals at the World Beer Championships (2010 & 2011), and it currently holds a 97 Rating on Ratebeer.com and 99 Rating with the BeerAdvocate beer bros. Its barrel-aged incarnation, R.I.P.A. on Rye® took home Silver medals at both the Great American Beer Festival (2010, Wood & Barrel Aged Strong Beer Category) and National Wood-Aged Beer Competition (2010).
St. Lenny’s® flips the award-winning rye double IPA on its head using a custom Belgian yeast blend (2 Trappist and 1 Abbey) with the original R.I.P.A.® recipe. With a spicy punch of rye and caraway, fruity clove and anise flavors, and a gorgeous Belgian character, St. Lenny’s® is destined to intrigue hop heads and Belgian beer fans alike.
“The Immaculate Collaboration” is a labor of love, shvitz and shtick between two longtime friends and colleagues, Jeremy Cowan (Founder, Shmaltz Brewing) and Brian Neville (Brewmaster, Cathedral Square Brewery). As a disciple of Belgian-style creations, Neville suggested the use of their Belgian yeast to create a monk-inspired version of Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A.®. The result is an amazing flavor profile of hopped-up goodness rounded out with a soft Belgian character. The Belgian Style Imperial Dark Rye Ale will be distributed throughout Shmaltz’s national sales network.
Reunion Ale ’15® — A Beer For Hope (8% ABV)
Shmaltz Brewing proudly joins Terrapin Beer Company and Alan Shapiro (founder of SBS Imports) to participate in brewing Reunion Ale ’15 – A Beer for Hope®. Reunion® is brewed annually in memory of Virginia MacLean, a dedicated cancer research supporter who lost her own battle with Multiple Myeloma in 2007 and a dear friend and co-worker of Alan Shapiro and Pete Slosberg’s (creator of Pete’s Wicked Ale™). As a tribute to Virginia, a portion of the proceeds from Reunion Ale ’15® is donated to the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research (IMBCR) in Virginia’s name.
Reunion Ale ’15® is a dark Imperial Brown Ale brewed with Pumpkin, Cinnamon, Chocolate, Cocoa Nibs, Ginger, Nutmeg, Vanilla, and Chili Pepper Extract. Following its initial release in 2007, the Reunion project has raised more than $130,000 for the IMBCR through bottle and draft sales of Reunion®, retailer fundraising events, and private donations. Beer lovers can also donate money directly through the Reunion website, the Reunion Facebook page, or the IMBCR website.
SHE’BREW Beer — Triple IPA (11% ABV)
Brewed to celebrate International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day (IWCBD), the first ever SHE’BREW Beer – Triple IPA is hand crafted by the women & female friends (& a few dudes too) of the brewery. SHE’BREW Beer is no joke with its seductive blend of Calypso, Citra, Crystal and Amarillo hops and shining bright at 11% ABV. Shmaltz will donate a portion of proceeds from SHE’BREW sales to the Pink Boots Society scholarship fund (a global non-profit that aims to advance women in the beer business) as well as to Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region (Albany, NY) whose mission is to inspire all girls to be “Strong, Smart and Bold.”
Nikki Cavanaugh (co-founder of Rushing Duck Brewing Co.) collaborated on the SHE’BREW recipe and joined the cast of characters at Shmaltz Brewing Co. including Dora Phillip (co-owner of The Hollow Bar + Kitchen), Jennifer Allen (Saratoga Eagle Sales and Service), Tara Akstull, Jaclyn Papa and Shmaltz Brewing Co. staff Brigid Clare, Liz Nagle, Amanda Gomez, Shelby Schneider, Chris Dufrain, Richie Saunders and Shmaltz Proprietor Jeremy Cowan. Photographer Heidi Benjamin helped the Brewsters glam out to the inspiration of the New York Dolls for the first SHE’BREW performance. Shmaltz’s own Nick Scammacca produced a rockin’ video documenting the creation of the debut SHE’BREW Beer, which can be viewed at this link.
(518) Summer Session (5.18% ABV)
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’s latest addition to its locals-only (518) Beer Sessions Series honors 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 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 available at bars/restaurants exclusively within the 518 area code.
To find a wholesaler in one of the 35 states Shmaltz beers are distributed, visit shmaltzbrewing.com/HEBREW/distributors.html
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,” Fox Business News, Men’s Health, San Francisco Chronicle, The Jerusalem Report, New York Jewish Week, and Washington Post.