He'Brew Hop Manna IPA

Brewed By: Shmaltz Brewing Company in Brooklyn, New York  

Purchased: 12oz bottle from the 2012 Holiday Gift Pack bought at Binny's in IL; 2012

Style/ABV: American IPA, 6.8%

Reported IBUs: 65

There's good news in the Shmaltz/He'Brew world. After 16 years of having their beer contract brewed, the Shmaltz Brewing Company is opening its own New York State microbrewery in Clifton Park, NY. The new location features a 50-barrel brewhouse with 20,000 barrels of annual capacity, and will begin production April/May 2013, officially opening Sunday, July 7, 2013. You can read more at the official press release. L’Chaim!

On that note, I'll be going through this He'Brew Holiday Gift Pack I picked up over the next few weeks. The timing couldn't be better. About He'Brew:

He'Brew is part of the Shmaltz Brewing Company. The Shmaltz Brewing Company has two lines of beer: their He'Brew The Chosen Beer, and their Coney Island Craft Lagers. Shmaltz Brewing Company is a craft brewery based in San Francisco, California, founded by Jeremy Cowan in 1996. The company previously contract brewed most of their beer through the Mendocino Brewing Company, while operating a small brewery in Brooklyn, New York. After 16 years of having their beer contract brewed, the Shmaltz Brewing Company opened its own New York State microbrewery in Clifton Park, NY. The new location features a 50-barrel brewhouse, with 20,000 barrels of annual capacity, and began production April/May 2013, officially opening July 2013. The company is known for its innovative beer, eye-catching bottle artwork, and sense of humor. For more information, check out the Shmaltz website HERE. Don't be a schmuck!

Tonight's beer, the Hop Manna, is a true blessing from heaven. Clocking in at 6.8% ABV and 65 IBUs, this beer is brewed with 2-Row, Wheat, Munich, Vienna, and CaraMunich 40 malt. This beer is hopped with Warrior, Cascade, Citra, Amarillo, Crystal, and Centennial hops; and then dry hopped with Centennial, Cascade, and Citra. That's a lotta hopping, so here's to hoping this beer is magniv. 

He'Brew Hop Manna IPA

In low light, this beer pours an orange/bronze color, with 3-finger's worth of cloudy, off-white head. The beer is well carbonated, and might be slightly hazy. In bright light, the beer is a vibrant orange color, with lots of carbonation (thanks, Stiegl). There definitely appears to be some sediment in the beer, going beyond just a chill haze. As the head pulls away, I'm getting some nice lacing.

There are big, mild hop aromas in this one. I'm getting big pine, pine sap, grass, orange, piney citrus, tangerine/mandarin, cake batter, toffee/caramel, and sweet bread/fruit cake.

The taste is reasonably bitter, with soapy hop bitterness, grassy hops, and lots of mineral bitterness. There is strong mineral edge, some cracker/biscuit, toffee, and bitter soap, grapefruit, mild citrus rind. 

This one is believable in terms of the 65 IBUs. And the alcohol is well-hidden. This is very drinkable, and would be fine in a 22oz format. What's a little harder to swallow is the fact that this is hopped with the encyclopedia, and then dry hopped with the American hop A-Team. This beer should be taking names, man. The mouthfeel is medium-full, smoothed out with non-assertive carbonation. This one is soapy, mineral-like, and finishes off dry. Palate depth works for the style, but the complexity (and boldness) leaves a lot to be desired. You get citrus, grapefruit rind, wood, and soapy hops up front; that roles into mineral, cracker, toffee/caramel, more soapy hop bitterness; the back end is lingering grass, soap, bitter, and dry.

Rating: Average 

I'm feeling a Decent Average on this. This is a good IPA, and a good example of the style. I fail to see anything mind-blowing here, especially with the huge list of hops used. At times, this beer even veers into APA company. I will say, this beer has a really nice grassy hop character, with a dash of cracker/biscuit/mineral. This would pair really well with doughy pizza, garlic bread, or bread-sticks and soup/salad. Basically: all things doughy. You could also pair this with everything else you can pair IPAs with...which is basically everything. 22oz bombers of this beer sell for around 6 or 7 bucks, which isn't a bad deal. 

Random Thought: I kept reading this beer as "Hop Mania." I'm surprised I didn't type it out as such.