HeBrew Genesis 10:10

Shmaltz Brewing Company
Formerly brewed at Olde Saratoga Brewing (Mendocino Brewing Co.)
Style: American Strong Ale
San Francisco, California USA

Served in my St. Bernardus golblet. Poured a copper color with a medium short lived head. Aroma is a hop / malt balance with some fruitiness. Maybe a combo of grapefruit and green apple. Tastes pretty much the same with some sticky sweetness swithcing to a slightly dry finish. Not bad but nothing amazing. ABV well hidden.

A dark amber apperance with a beige head. The aroma is rather malty with some chocolate, raisins, and figs. The flavor is a bit over the top and sweet with some prunes, raisins, and chocolate. Some bitter notes and alcohol present among the sweetness in the finish. I don’t know what the hell this beer is, but I liked it!

A strong Ale at a weak price. L’chaim! I enjoyed the nose, malty, with hops coming through, but not too much to alarm airport dogs. The flavors fill your whole mouth and beg for another quaff. Not too shabby.

Light amber in color. Pours very effervesent with a tight frothy head. No aroma to speak of. Not good nor bad, none. With all the hops that are in there the "hint" of Pomegranate juice is lost, which is a little disappointing. I expected it to be more sweet, or atleast a little more balanced. Also masked is the flavor of the 10% alcohol, though its more pronounced the more the beer warms up. Palate is very harsh, with the bitter aftertaste staying on the tongue for quite some time. A limited edition that cost $5 at Ledger’s Liquors in Berkeley. Now that I’ve tried it doubtful I’ll do it again unless someone where to buy me a bottle/glass without asking me what I want to drink.

Bottle and served in my Duval snifter: A copper hue with an initial large frothy head which fades to a small ring and produced little lace. The aroma has notes of piney, citric and grassy hops along with caramel, biscuit, and smoky malt and a fruity ester of apple and pomegranate. The taste is surprising has the hop bitterness is not buried under the sweet and smoky malts. Nicely balanced IMO and the finishing acidity provides a great contrast on the palate. The mouth feel is well carbonated and shows a moderate warming and note of alcohol but it is not boozy. I found myself enjoying this a lot more than I would have thought. The use of Black Malt and Dark Crystal gives the beer a good amount of back end depth.

Bomber poured a clear copper with a large lasting off white head. Aromas of carmel, biscuits and fruitiness. Palate was light bodied, crisp and slightly tart. Flavors of bread, carmel and a hint of fruitiness with a dry lingering bitter finish. Kind of a dissappointment compared to their other anniversery beers.

Amber color with an off white head. Aroma of some hops, alcohol and the mentioned pomegranate. Taste is bitter hops followed by the pomegranate and an alcohol sweetness about midway through and into the finish. Aftertaste leaves a pretty strong bitterness on the tongue. Not an amazing beer, but decent enough especially since I tend not to like fruit beers much. This is more of a strong ale with some fruit undertones, could definitely be better still pretty drinkable.

Poured an effervescent amber with a fizzy off-white head. Aroma of some pine and orangey hops, alcohol. Flavor is dry and bitter with a bit of orange and biscuit dough with the pomegranate juice showing up towards the finish of the mouthfeel. Finish becomes a bit astringently bitter. Not a lot of hop flavor in the bitterness, making it taste a tad generic and sloppily made. Body is decent apart from a bit of a sandy grittyness to it. Nothing here really stood out beyond a lackluster strong ale offered in a 12oz bottle from your local underachieving microbrewery.