HeBrew Jewbelation Twelve

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

A fantastic example of an America Strong Ale. Make the most in your face, obscenely gregarious beer you can make, and make it good. Well, they do all of those things really, really well with this beer. It’s a stout. No, it’s a porter. No it’s....it’s...damned tasty is what it is. The beer pours out a syrupy thick, brownish/black hue with a huge 3-finger thick dark tan head. Dark fruits dominate the nose, with brown sugar, black strap molasses and yeast playing second fiddle. The aroma was just sooo enticing. My first taste and I couldn’t really pick out what I was tasting, as it all sort of blended together like an amalgamation of some mad brewers drug induced dream. Tobacco, dark fruits, molassess, roasted malts, pine needles, dark chocolate and wet dirt (irony maybe?). Finish was definitely some wood and that really tied it all together nicely. So far, I’ve really enjoyed the beers that He’brew puts out for geeks like me to enjoy. As long as they keep making them like this, I’ll keep looking forward to buying them.

Bottle shared at tasting. Thanks! Pours chocolate brown with a light beige head. Smell is chocolate and nougat and alcohol. Taste is chocolate, tootsie roll, and light bitter hops. Medium body and light carbonation. Pretty tasty but with light alcohol in there. Not bad at all for the ABV though. Enjoyable beer.

Bomber. Black with a small spit of head. Aroma of chocolate, caramel, coffee, dark fruit and hints of sherry. Complex flavor profile of chocolate, cherry, raisin, caramel, coffee, cookie dough, oats, orange, soy, sherry and oak. Medium-heavy body is creamy smooth, roasty-dry and has some chest-warming. Well-hidden 12% in this tasty dessert. Mazel Tov!

Very thick, viscous beer. Taste hits me as velvet-chocolate up front. Finish tends to be bitter from the hops, a bit dry, which is really my only detraction from it. Creamy smooth. Quite good in my book.

Bomber. Pours blackish with ruby edges and off-tan head. The head goes away quickly and doesn’t come back. Nose is dark malt, some hops, molasses, chocolate, soy sauce. Tastes malty, pretty rich, with chocolate, hops, some dark fruit, but waters out a bit late. Starts out better than it ends, but a decent beer.

Bottle. Poured a pretty thick, somewhat clear, dark brown color. Aroma reminded me of a barleywine. Very fruity, chocolatey and caramelly. A nice amount of sweetness and brown sugar as well. Smaller hints of alcohol and something akin to pepper. Flavor was a bit hit or miss for me; close to being very good for me. Very malty; fruity, caramel, earthy malt notes. Alcohol present, but not overly assertive. Would have liked a bit more bitterness (flavor),. Also, I wasn’t a huge fan of the aftertaste. Palate was a bit sticky. Good stuff.

THOUGHTS: Reminded me of a little thicker, ale version of Samichlaus in flavor, but also reminded me a little bit of Sam Adams Triple Bock in aroma. There was so much going on. An incredible beer, but I do think Monumental Jewbelation was better. Hid alcohol well in the mouth, but very warming in the chest and belly. I can’t wait to see how many years they can keep this up with adding one more hop, malt and percent of ABV. It actually was a lot like North Coast Old Stock Ale. So if you like any of the beers I mentioned above, you gotta try this one. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a clear, dark brown with reddish highlights and a very small, tan head that mostly diminished. The aroma was heavy dark bread, roasted malt, dark chocolate and chocolate syrup; light to moderate hops, dark fruit, sort of a whiskey aroma, and light alcohol for the ABV, and so much more. The initial flavor was sweet and a little bitter; while the finish was very sweet and bitter with a long duration, but not as long as I would have thought. There was chocolate malt, coffee, caramel, maple syrup, molasses, brown sugar, a little dark fruit, black cherry, hop bitterness, burnt and roasted malt. It did become a little cloying by the end. The medium to full body was lighter up front and thicker at the swallow. It was oily and a little syrupy and slightly sticky on the lips with tingly carbonation and a little metallic and light to moderate alcoholic finish.

22oz. bottle from Trinity Liquors in Spring Hill, FL. Pours a dark red-brown with a thin tan head. Aroma is very sweet....Chocolate, licorice, quite a bit of mollasses. Flavor is of bitter dark chocolate, mollasses, black coffee, licorice, and raisins. This is super smooth...medium to thick mouthfeel...Great warm ending. This one doesnt get enough credit...Tastes like a Baltic Porter to me...This on is FANTASTIC.