HeBrew Jewbelation Twelve

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

Bottle. Dark plum colored body. Nose: boozy amaretto/brandy with some semi-sweet black plum and milk chocolate scented malt. Body: thick, excessively chewy and resinous. Flavor is a mix of chocolate malt and plum/cherry skin (not sweet) with noticeable char in the finish. Decent.

Enjoyed from a 22oz bottle in a whiskey snifter. The beer pours a deep brown to just about black, with a tan head. Deep malty notes come through initially in the nose, giving hints of almost doppelbock-like richness. These fall away to more espresso-like characters. A touch of west coast hops come through as well, but these are pretty thoroughly dominated by the malt characters. The palate is full and flavorsome. Initial malt complexity falls away to a more roasty and burnt character. The finish is relatively sweet, and lingers for a minute or two. Overall, perhaps a touch too roasty, but a very well done Imperial Stout.

The appearance is opaque red-black. No head. Consistency of red wine, color of tar. Some dark red in the light. The smell is black licorice, heavy cherry flavored cough syrup. Grape skins and gritty barley. The taste is cough syrup, cherry flavored. Some overly sweet sugary malts (like a winter ale) brown sugar and heavy sweet molasses. Very cloyingly sweet at the swallow. Full of flavor but just too sweet. The Feel is thick and smooth like motor oil. It’s a slooow sipper. Mellows as it warms up, but still too thick and dark for anything more than 8oz at a time. Needs a bitter balance. ****I corked half of this 22oz bottle and re-tried it about two days later and the flavor gets a lot better. It turned into a chocolatey Kahlua flavor, and with none of the overbearing cherry sweetness. My advice: buy it, open it, cork it, drink it.

Bomber from Martha’s Vineyard in Grand Rapids Michigan. This was a dark and funky beast. Certainly powerful from the first aroma. It had piles of malt with the faintest whiff of hops but the overall mixture was both complex and inviting. On the tongue the beer is thick and flavourful. No subtleties here. You get malty and chewy underpinnings to a wonderfully subtle hop attack. I can’t really put my finger on particular characteristics but the dark color and overall integration did well to hide the alcohol. Interesting and mysterious beer. Would certainly recommend.

From the Bottle at the GABF Colorado Convention Center, Denver 10/10/2008 Some whisky aroma. Dark red coloured and very strong in alcohol with a little dryness in a crisp and bitter malt finish.

On tap at Rattle N Hum
Appearance: very dark ,almost full black , little brown in the light shown , mid creamy top. 4-.
Nose: dark malts noted with hints of fig and ripe fruits , very slight dryness at end. 7+.
Flavor/Palate : Smooth full bodied , bit oily texture. Chewy, sticky malt was with you till very finish. Alcohol almost non visible. Light and fresh top. Dangerous and very drinkable.

I like to call this one an Imperial Brown Ale as the characteristics of a Brown are definitely there and maximized. Would I have this again? Absolutely, though it is a bit too rich to be a "Go To" beer.

Bottled. Deep ambery brown colour with small brown head. Aroma is coffee, some roasted malts as well as chocolate. Flavour is quite much the same with a rather coffeeish notes.