He'Brew St. Lenny's The Immaculate Collaboration Belgian-style Double Rye IPA

The regular Bittersweet Lenny's is a double Rye IPA, this one is Belgian-style. Right up my alley. A collaboration beer that mark the inauguration of Schmaltz's first real, true, genuine brewery.

Clear, bright burgundy red coloring, big creamy head that drifts down eventually, leaving lace. Looking good.

Spicy aromatics, rich and fruity, bold and in the Belgian mold. Sweet, fruity, funky. Just a little bitter. I like it.

In the mouth: all that and more. Slightly sour, fruity, funky, and still rich, spicy and hoppy. Big, big, big. Damn, it tastes like a quad, plus an IPA, a little bit of triple, and a whole lot of yum. Bitterness is just below the fruit, which floats just above the spice and the Belgian funk.

Damn, this is good. I'm just gonna enjoy this.

He'brew Jewbelation Sweet 16

Jewbelation Sweet 16 16th Anniversary Ale Brewed with 16 malts, 16 hops, 16% Alc. by Vol. He'Brew The Chosen Brew, Est. 1996/5757. Brewed and bottled by Shmaltz Brewing Company, Saratoga Springs, NY. "Celebrating 16 years of Delicious Beer and Delicious Schtick. L'Chaim!"

the side label sports a litany of trivia regarding the number 16, I will not read it. Not now. Design features a shiny mirror-y surface, and lots of pink and blue. Cute.

Utterly black appearance, under a slim ring of brown foam.

Aroma: Wow. Deep stuff. Rich and ridiculously dense and indulgent. plum, raisin, fig, molasses, maple. a bit of vanilla, and then comes brandy. Alcohol burn isn't far away, but it's inticing, indeed. Big stuff.

Taste: All that from the nose jumps on board the palate. Fantastic malt flavors, more richness, more more more. Chocolate, licorice, …vanilla, whisky, lingering citrus tone, a spiced cookie covered in fudge ripples. And then comes the booze, bringing the taste closer to brandy or cognac. Mmmm. Alcohol is showing. But I don't give a darn, it's delicious, if terrifically hot. This is making for a very nice nightcap.

He'brew Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A. (rye malt double IPA)

Here's one I first sampled from a bottle, June, 2006. I'm drinking now from a freshly tapped keg. 10% ABV. Notice how this is, if you read the label, #1 in the series of Jewish Stars. One and only, so far. We've yet to sample Wood Allen witbier, Eddie Cantor eisbock, Mel Brooks barley-wine, and so on and so forth...



The ale named after the former Leonard Alfred Schneider departs the bottle and enters the glass a robust red, shadowy, clear, with a high head, creamy/tannish toned. Looking lovely.

Aroma: Fat malt, outsized yeast, liquid bread...is this a doppelbock? But there's so much hop!...sniff again... Wow! Loud hop, rich, burnished, barleywine-like. Grapes and other dark fruits are at hand, feeling like a burgundy wine, perhaps due to the high alcohol, or the huge maltiness.

Now, let's taste...Woo! Bam! Whap! Shamalam! Enormous malt floods the mouth and is assisted in it's it's efforts by the blazing sidecar of hops. Big, big, big on the palate, outsized all the way, spilling flavor all over the place. Delicious dark fruits, grapes, cherries, more...Reminds me very much of a Bigfoot or similar barleywine-style ales. This is where the line between "American Double IPA"s and barleywines really blurs, the malt is as big or bigger than the hops in this one, and the flavor is almost the match for a barleywine.

And the 10% doesn't hit...right away..oh, no, you'll feel it, though...

I didn't really taste the rye at all, but it works so damned well, it doesn't matter.
(Wait, ...now, I'm tasting it...yup, it's discernible...)

I love it. I think Lenny would love it. Rest his smutty soul. R.I.P. (A. true American hero.)

Schmaltz Brewing He'Brew Hop Manna IPA

There are still some left overs from my Hop Heads Only Event of one month ago, and this, the first regular/ single IPA from Schmaltz Brewing is one of them. Still a few left to go, though.For now, this is what we're looking at, the Hop Manna.


Hazy, amber/golden appearance, slim, but staying layer of white foam.

Aroma: moderate levels of pine and citrus fruit, nice array of bitterness, pleasing for any hop-head.

Taste: Juicy fruit hits first, followed by bitter hops, and it never stops. A full-on assault of hop bitterness, balanced with judicious tier of malt, but fruit and hops are king here. Stays long on the palate, never finishing, keeping camp on the tastebuds. Ends fairly dry.
Excellent consumability. A cornucopia of West Coast hops deliver the lemon and lime and orange peel, and grapefruit pith.

I like this one. An IPA every hop-head should enjoy, with a torrent of bitter hoppy flavor, never flagging. Well done, Schmaltz, another feather in your yarmulke.

He'Brew Messiah Bold Brown Ale

Had last night, notes from December, 2003:

"Dark, caramel-y brown in color, with reddish foot and side, with a good, 1/4 " faint-tan head of foam with sticks it out for a bit.

Aroma: led by notes of nuts and toffee, rich and malty, but still well-hopped and full of character.

Taste: powerful carbonation on this one, bubbly through the mouthfeel, texture is tasty, toasty, dark. This is a lively brown ale, smooth in the extreme, ultimately drinkable. Gets a bit too sweet and cola-ish for my own tastes.

but if you're merely searching for an easily drunk, enjoyable-enough beverage to drink the night away with, the Messiah will do."

He'brew Rejewvenator

"Rejewvenator, Harvest to Harvest Ale, L'Chaim!, HE'Brew, the Chosen Beer. Year of the Grape, Half doppelbock, half Belgian style dubbel, Ale Brewed with all natural grape juice. Schmaltz Brewing, Limited Release, Sacred Species No. 3"

And then a ton of "Schtick" on the side, as per usual.

Hazed, purplish coloration, slim head, soon gone.

Aroma: grape and plum aplenty. Sweet malt. Not too much else.

Tasting it: brisk carbonation, minor hops, medium bodied, sweet, and then a little bit of sour. Grape's here, of course, plum, raisin. Mmmm.

But I'm not getting the doppelbock, really, or the dubbel. Not much from the malty flavor, too much from the grape. This needs a lot to make it any more of anything. Quite lifeless, missing any real …anything, really.
Did I get an old, bad bottle? Was this better before? It's rather unimpressive now.
Or is it just me?