Shmaltz Brewing Collaborates with Vermont’s WEQX to Produce ‘Independent Ale’

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. — Shmaltz Brewing’s latest collaboration beer is ready to rock music fans and beer lovers alike as they team up with Vermont based radio station 102.7 WEQX for the brewing of Independent Ale® (5.18% ABV). Honoring the tradition of crankin’ up the radio, celebrating local culture, and livin’ life overflowing with independence, Independent Ale® is a light, crushable ale with a hint of wheat in the malt bill and a blast of Pacific Northwest hops on the nose. Refreshing, easy drinking, and perfect for enjoying at your favorite concert venue, craft beer bar or bottle shop.

102.7 WEQX is a long standing, independently owned, Alternative Rock radio station of Manchester, Vermont whose signal broadcasts to New York’s Capital Region, Southern Vermont, as well as parts of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Much like Shmaltz Brewing, they’ve fought hard to avoid the large corporate ownership that rules much of the country, and they continue to do things their own way. The EQX/Shmaltz connection is simple: A love of music, respect for the audience, and the enjoyment of an expertly brewed, tasty craft beer.

“EQX and Shmaltz Brewing, both have the ability to develop, and bring to life, projects pretty quickly. We’ve been doing radio promotions together for a few years, and that’s really the spirit of this new Ale; the genuine love of connecting with our audiences, and the desire to create something memorable,” says Jason Keller, Afternoon Drive Host, 102.7 EQX

Independent Ale® is now available on draft at select bars and venues, and on shelves in 6-packs (12 oz. cans) all across the Capital Region, including at Turnpike Beverage (Rensselaer, NY), Pearl Street Pub (Albany, NY), Thruway Beverage (Schodack, NY), Thruway Beverages (Greenwich, NY), Beer Universe (Troy, NY), Beer Universe (Schenectady, NY), Oliver’s Beverage (Albany, NY), Eddy’s Beverage (Saratoga Springs, NY), Slidin’ Dirty (Troy, NY), Latham Discount Beverage (Latham), Catherine’s in the Park (Saratoga Springs, NY), Glenville Beverage (Glenville, NY), Midtown Discount Beverage (Johnstown City, NY), Beer Hall (Albany, NY), Capital City Gastropub (Albany, NY), Savemore Beverage (Clifton Park, NY), Madison Pour House (Albany, NY), Anchor Beverage (Queensbury, NY), Elixir 16 (Troy, NY), Waterford Beverage (Waterford, NY), Hoosick Street Discount Beverage (Troy, NY), and others.

About Shmaltz Brewing Company

Founder and owner Jeremy Cowan established Shmaltz Brewing in San Francisco in 1996. The first 100 cases of He’brew Beer® were hand-bottled and delivered throughout the Bay Area from the back of his Grandmother’s Volvo. After 17 years of being an outspoken cheerleader for contract brewing, Cowan and staff opened their own New York State production brewery in 2013 in Clifton Park, 10 minutes north of Albany. Shmaltz’s home boasts a 50-barrel brewhouse with 30,000 barrels of annual capacity and packages a diverse and tasty variety of core and seasonal favorites in 12 and 22-ounce bottles and kegs. Shmaltz Brewing now sells He’brew Beer across 35 states, through 40 wholesalers and in nearly 5,000 retailers.

About 102.7 WEQX

102.7 WEQX is a long-standing, independently owned, Alternative Rock radio station of Manchester, Vermont whose signal broadcasts to New York’s Capital Region, Southern Vermont, as well as parts of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Since November of 1984, they have been broadcasting from an old Victorian house in historic Manchester Center, VT with a 50,000 watt transmitter located on the top of Mt. Equinox (yes, really, you can drive/hike up there and see it if you want, the view is incredible!). The station has remained fiercely independent, keeping in the spirit of its late founder, Brooks Brown.