New 25th Anniversary Sacred Species Barleywine Release and a Farewell Tour to Celebrate in Classic Shmaltz Brewing Style
The biggest, the smallest, most award-winning, and still the only Jewish beer company in America, Shmaltz Brewing Company announces its farewell season after 25 years in the beer business with the first and final release of Bittersweet Lenny’s RIPA in 16oz cans, vintage gems from the Shmaltz beer vault, and a fitting tribute, Exodus 2021 Barleywine Ale (8.8% ABV) brewed with Date, Fig, Pomegranate, and Grape. Evolving from a quirky holiday experiment to an innovative advocate for the beer industry, Shmaltz has been known for its creative brand building, as a champion of contract brewing (both brewer and brewee), for completing multiple complex business deals, and as relentless punsters. Founder and owner, Jeremy Cowan quips, “Was it Mark Twain or Groucho Marx who said, ‘You can’t start a new chapter without putting a period on the last one. Otherwise it’s just a typo.'”
When Shmaltz Brewing began in 1996 hand-delivering 100 cases of its beloved “HE’BREW – The Chosen Beer” out of owner/founder Jeremy Cowan’s grandmother’s Volvo, 700 small independent craft breweries represented only 2% of the beer market. Along with other “Class of ’96” breweries (Stone, Firestone Walker, Victory, Three Floyds, Two Brothers, Original Sin, Iron Hill, Coronado and many others) Shmaltz put roots down for an industry that has since created and sustained a transformative movement, growing to nearly 10,000 craft brewers and over 20% of the overall beer market by revenue. Shmaltz stood out as one of the most idiosyncratic brands of its day; one that cooked along for an initial 10 years and in the mid-2000s became a pop-cultural phenomenon with a dedicated global cult following.
From the label of Exodus 2021: “25 years – A life in so many chapters,” writes Jeremy Cowan (Owner/Founder). “The sacred species, bountiful throughout: ‘Of wheat and barley, grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, olive trees & date honey (Deut 8.8).’ Tolstoy: ‘One must have the prospect of a Promised Land to have the strength to move.’ Bart and Lisa: ‘Are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet…’ Let us rise above plagues and false idols to fare thee well, let your life proceed by its own design, and sing sweet songs to rock our souls. THANK YOU, TRIBE!! L’Chaim – To Life!”
About Shmaltz Brewing Company
Founder and owner Jeremy Cowan established Shmaltz Brewing in San Francisco in 1996. Now contract brewing in the Hudson Valley and based in Upstate New York, Shmaltz sells through 15 states across the East Coast and the Midwest.
RateBeer.com ranked Shmaltz as one of the “Top 100 Brewers in the World” and the brewery has won over 50 medals from the World Beer Championships, the Great American Beer Festival, and other competitions. In 2018, Shmaltz opened 518 Craft, a new tasting room in downtown Troy, NY featuring their exceptional lineup of core brands, special releases, and exotic barrel age and sour offerings.
In 2021, Shmaltz Brewing embarks on its “Farewell to Shmaltz Tour” in cities nationwide to celebrate 25 years in craft beer. Exodus 2021, Bittersweet Lenny’s RIPA, Hop Manna, and multiple vintage draft releases will sell through the end of the year. All Shmaltz sales, marketing, and tasting room staff will remain in place and work with Jeremy to focus on Alphabet City Brewing Company (with distribution throughout the New York metro area), his 518 Craft tasting room in Troy, NY, and a burgeoning consulting practice to help small and medium-sized breweries and passionate newcomers successfully navigate and expand within the beer industry.
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