HeBrew Monumental Jewbelation Tenth Anniversary Ale

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

Wonderful.. Classified as a strong ale, but by the name it makes me think its a seasonal/holiday beer. Dark color, substantial weighty, mouthfeel. Aromas heavily leaning toward the malty end. Nice hops balance the sweetness and the whole richness of tastes and substantial mouth feel totally hide the whopping 10% ABV. Another good one from Hebrew.

Pours dark, like dark porter dark. Reddish hues, tan head, nice and full at first, thinning to a film. The nose is a bit indistinct. It’s like a big wad of malt. The whole range from light sweet to caramel to chocolate to a little toast are present. There’s also an old milk sort of smell and some definite fruitiness. Floral hops? Cascade? The body is lush and creamy. a big foamy niceness. The flavors are a bit roastier than I would’ve guessed. Big sweet malt. A lot of fruity stuff going on. I swear there must be some Hawaiian Punch in here, and I mean that in a good way. Sweet caramel, toast, and some floral to fruity hops come out. Maybe that fruit is hops? I don’t know, but I like this beer on some level, and I’m curious to see how it ages. I’m going to freaking experiment! A sweet, slightly tart finish, with a malty toasty aftertaste. Alcohol is barely noticeable. I think they just shot for 10% and missed the mark.

Dark black pour with a nice, and lasting creamy tan head. Aroma is sweet, with a lot of coffe, chocolate, banana and alcohol. Aroma is creamy and very active in the hop department. Rather sticky towards the middle with a nice warming finish. The finish is pretty sweet as well, with some roasted malts. Theres a lot more in this brew than I can describe, but it’s pretty darn good regardless.

Bottle from State Line. Dark blackish, pretty thick pour with aroma of roasty caramel malts, molasses, chocolate, subdued hops, brown sugar, and some spicy yeasty esters reminiscent of banana and port wine. Fairly thick palate, and this beer does get a bit hot as it warms. Well done, and I will certainly buy another the next time I visit State Line.

22 ounce bottle purchased at Steve’s Liquors and More in Madison, WI (December 2006), and consumed at cellar temperature from a Corsendonk Christmas Ale glass. Near-opaque thick black molasses pour with a moderate, very creamy and smooth dark tan that recedes slowly and leaves lots of crystalline lacing....plenty of herbal and woody hops in the nose, caramelized and blackened malts, and it seems a touch of Belgian yeast, some light banana-apple estery qualities, fairly appealing overall though it could be stronger and more assertive.....thick, oily-syrupy body, much like the molasses it looks like, with a well-integrated mix of very sweet but dark malts and smoky, burnt/charred notes, moderate dry hoppiness throughout....moderately yeasty and fairly unfiltered mouthfeel, beautifully soft carbonation level, light alcohol presence......this gets extremely roasty and bitter/burnt at the finish, but the thickness helps to support it....I quite like this, surprisingly as I’ve not been a fan of the brewer.

Huge amount of carbonation in the pour - much like a widget can. Aroma of flowery hop and piney hop. Dark brown color with ruby transparencies. A tan head that lingers long and laces a bit. Starts with sweet pine, followed by coffee, chocolate and light toasted malt, followed by a warm alcohol burn on the tongue edges, followed by a light persisting sweetish toastiness accompanied by a nice, but refined hop bitterness. This is truly magnificent - except the alcohol burns the esophagus, but no pain no gain.

Pours dark brown / crimson with a soapy light brown head. The aroma has thick caramel / chocolate malt with some spice. Medium / thick body with a decent amount of sharp carbonation. Flavor starts with chocolate malt, sharpness that is somewhat metallic. The maltiness is good, but muddled as to what to decern - I guess that is the problem when used ten different malts. The finish adds some hops spice, but like the malt earlier comes across a bit muddled leaving it fairly undecernable as to what you are actually drinking. While I enjoyed the beer I hope that the 11th anniversary isn’t 11 hops & 11 malts, just pick a couple good ones of each and run with that.

I said it with their Miraculous Jewbelation and I’ll say it with the Monumental Jewbelation - 10 hops + 10 malts + 10 ABV = a big, fat muddled mess of a beer. I don’t know why I keep going back to these guys. They have no understanding of finesse. Cram as much shit into a beer as possible and dolts like me will buy it. The best I can describe this is an overly bitter dry stout that finishes real chalky. Oh god, 21.5 oz left to drink. Wish me luck.