Clifton Park, NY — Spawned out of the official collaboration beer for New York State, Statewide Pale Ale, featuring brewmasters from 10 of the finest New York breweries working together to produce an exceptional brew, Shmaltz Brewing Company releases the 2017 recipe of Brewers Wanted Pale Ale Work For Beer® (5.5% ABV). Initially distributed exclusively at Price Chopper locations in 2016, Shmaltz expands its distribution reach of Brewers Wanted Pale Ale® statewide. The 2016 version of Brewers Wanted Pale Ale® won “Best Pale Ale in the Hudson Valley” (Hops In History Blind Competition 2016, Albany Institute of History & Art).
With the number of U.S. breweries growing to more than 5,000 in 2017 and New York State producing 326 breweries of its own up from 245 at the end of 2015, the demand for skilled brewers is at a record high. Shmaltz helps raise awareness of New York’s need for passionate men and women to learn the craft of brewing with a portion of proceeds from Brewers Wanted Pale Ale® directly supporting their new brewer training program. Brewers Wanted Pale Ale® is now available throughout New York State at a variety of local retailers and bars.
Shmaltz Brewing teamed up with Schenectady County Community College (SCCC), the Greater Capital Region Workforce Development Boards and fellow New York State breweries to start their first regional Brewers Training Program. A portion of sales from Brewers Wanted Pale Ale® will help train new brewers and support SCCC’s efforts to create an Associates Degree in Brewing.
Brewers Wanted Pale Ale® is a bright and crisp pale ale brewed with 50% NYS 2-row malt, as well as other American malt favorites, hopped with a burst of warrior, simcoe and mosaic and dry hopped with NYS cascade.
Shmaltz Proprietor Jeremy Cowan comments, “In 2013, I made Clifton Park, NY the home of Shmaltz Brewing Company. It is incredibly rewarding to invest the future of our company in a community that’s excited about new job opportunities in the local marketplace. Our state and regional workforce development partners have been overwhelmingly responsive to our need for skilled brewers and SCCC is leading the way to develop brewer training programs that will help our industry grow and thrive. What better way to celebrate this public, private, academic partnership, and raise a few dollars and awareness of our need for brewers than with a delicious craft beer, brewed in NY with NYS malts and hops and sold exclusively in New York State.”
“Thanks to companies like Shmaltz Brewing and Governor Cuomo’s efforts to spur growth, the craft beer industry has risen to a new level in New York State,” says Empire State Development President, CEO & Commissioner Howard Zemsky. “The company’s innovative partnership with Schenectady County Community College is creating both educational and employment opportunities for students and graduates in a booming industry.”
“The Greater Capital Region Workforce Development Boards are proud to partner with Shmaltz Brewing and Schenectady County Community College in a public/private/academic initiative to strengthen the pipeline of workers for the growing Craft Beer Industry in New York State,” says Gail B. Breen, Executive Director of Workforce Development Board, Inc. (Fulton, Montgomery and Schoharie Counties). “It is the mission of the GCRWDBs to create a quality workforce for New York State businesses.”
“We are very pleased to be partnering with the Shmaltz Brewing Company and other New York State breweries, along with the Greater Capital Region Workforce Development Boards, to start the first regional Brewers Training Program in the Capital Region,” says Dr. Steady H. Moono, President of Schenectady County Community College. “At SCCC, we are passionate about developing innovative programs such as this one that trains our students for well-paying and in-demand jobs. We are grateful that a portion of the proceeds from Brewers Wanted Pale Ale® will support our efforts to create an Associate’s Degree in Brewing, as well as help build upon our successful credential craft brew course currently in session.”
“We congratulate Shmaltz Brewing Company on the launch of this new beer that not only uses New York State local ingredients and supports our farmers, but also highlights the essence of the state’s craft beverage producers, who work together to benefit the industry as a whole,” adds New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard A. Ball. “Training is key to the continued success of our thriving agri-businesses, and we applaud Shmaltz Brewing and all partners involved on the creation and promotion of a program that will focus on the growing workforce needs of craft breweries and encourage future producers.”
Talking about how the brewing program at SCCC can help someone with their professional path, Shmaltz Packaging Manager, Terry Halsted says, “The program at Schenectady helped me professionally dramatically. It increased my knowledge and really allowed me to get to where I am today. The brewers program got my foot in the door at Shmaltz, starting as a kegger, and quickly advanced to oversee the entire packaging department, while supervising the packaging crew.”
For a comprehensive list of Shmaltz Brewing events featuring Brewers Wanted Pale Ale®, please visit shmaltzbrewing.com
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. Shmaltz Brewing now sells He’brew Beer across 35 states, through 40 wholesalers and in nearly 5,000 retailers.
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. The Shmaltz Tasting Room is open five days a week (Wed-Sun) and offers tours, barrel-aged previews, beer-to-go, and special releases.
RateBeer.com ranked Shmaltz as one of the “Top 100 Brewers in the World” in 2013, and the brewery brought home 10 gold and 6 silver medals from the World Beer Championships in the past several years.