Shmaltz Brewing Brings The Funk to Celebrate Turning 21 Years Old

What was supposed to be their most beloved seasonal of 2008 (15th Anniversary Jewbelation Ale®), it turned out to be a total catastrophe. A fermentation failure happened, and Shmaltz had almost 300 barrels worth of beer they thought they’d have to dump. The beer was expected to finish at 15% ABV and it barely made it to 11%, no matter what kind, or quantity, of yeast they threw at it. It was overly sweet, and lacked the flavor and complexity consistent with the brewery’s Jewbelation® series. The production costs were through the roof, and Shmaltz had to find a way to fix the situation. Jeremy Cowan (Founder, Shmaltz Brewing Company) was struck by the idea of blending this batch with a few other Shmaltz beers.

"A few years prior to this, we were at GABF next to Firestone Walker, and they were pouring their Anniversary Series, which was a beautiful blend they’d put together," says Cowan. "Additionally, I had recently done a collaboration project with Scott Vaccaro (Captain Lawrence) and Jeff O’Neil (then at Ithaca Brewing) for NYC Beer Week, blending two of their sour beers with two of our barrel-aged beers. We called it Geektoberfest and it was a wildly interesting beer."

Shmaltz did the only thing they could do at this point, use the off-batch of beer as a base and blend in additional beers from the rest of their portfolio that were placed into any available barrels they had at the time. After barrel-aging beers such as Messiah Nut Brown Ale®, Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A.®, and Origin Pomegranate Strong Ale® in various bourbon and whiskey barrels, Shmaltz churned out their first ever Funky Jewbelation®. A salvage job turned into a brilliant opportunity with the brew taking home two consecutive gold medals at the 2012 and 2013 World Beer Championships, and a silver medal at the prestigious World Beer Cup 2014 behind Rodenbach Vintage.

For the 2017 release of Funky Jewbelation®, Shmaltz loaded eight individual ales and lagers from across their acclaimed craft beer portfolio for ten to thirty months into bourbon and rye whiskey barrels from Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, Willett, Redemption, Sazerac, and Wild Turkey. Funky Jewbelation® glistens a deep, rich, ruby color with tart flavors of dark fruit, raspberries, blueberries, fig, and complex malts — caramel, toffee, and rye. Aromas bounce between bittersweet chocolate, farmhouse funk, and tart peach and apricot. A mouthwatering puckering is complemented by pronounced hits of bourbon, charred wood, molasses and light notes of bing cherry, ending with a wine-like mouth feel.

This year’s hand blended recipe of Funky Jewbelation® is an expert mash-up of Jewbelation 19® (test batch brewed as the base of Funky, 11 months in advance of blending) and Jewbelation 20®, Hanukkah, Chanukah: Pass The Beer®, Messiah Nut Brown Ale®, St. Lenny’s®, Rejewvenator® 2014, Origin Pomegranate Strong Ale®, and Genesis 20:20®.

In advance of NYC Beer Week, Shmaltz debuts the 2017 recipe of Funky Jewbelation® at its early Valentine’s Day get down, Pucker Up Fest, in the Shmaltz Brewing Tasting Room onSaturday, February 11, 2017 (2pm – 6 pm, $25). For lovers of sours, chocolate and fruit, don’t miss this special Valentine’s Day weekend hook up!