He'Brew Jewbelation Reborn (17th Anniversary Ale - 2013)

Brewed By: Shmaltz Brewing Company in Brooklyn, New York  

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013 

Style/ABV: American Strong Ale, 17.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

Tonight's beer is pretty much the definition of extreme brewing. Clocking in at 17.0%, this gentle beer is brewed with 17 malts, 17 hops, and was even born again. 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 is a part of the He'Brew Anniversary Ale series. Last year I had the dynamite Sweet 16 Anniversary Ale. It was just a complex, boozy, malt bomb. Delicious stuff, and I have a few bottles creepin' in my cellar. The Jewbelation Reborn is as much of a celebration as it is a beer. Brewed to commemorate 17 years of brewing AND the transition from contract brewing to owning a brew house  this ridiculous beer features all sorts of malts and hops. The malt list is: 2-Row, Spelt, Vienna, Munich, Rye, Wheat  Einkorn, Emmer, Chocolate, Crystal Rye, Dark Crystal, Roasted Barley, Roasted Wheat, Flaked Oats, Caramunich 40, Carapilsner, and Kiln Amber. The hops include: Warrior, Columbus, Apollo, Palisade, Golding, Tettnang, Ahtanum, Cascade, Czech Saaz, Centennial, Chinook, Santiam, Simcoe, Summit, Amarillo, Citra, and Crystal. 

He'Brew Jewbelation Reborn

The beer pours into a surprisingly dark, cola-black/brown body, kicking up a finger or two of foamy/soapy dark brown head. The head retention is actually decent, with a finger of sticky, soapy head hanging around...and there's lots of lacing. I wonder if that is courtesy of all the hops. There's some legs on this as well.

When I was pouring the beer, I was getting a surprising amount of hops on the aroma. Keep in mind that I'm drinking this beer at near room temperature...at this ABV, and with this much going on, the aroma is kind of muddled. I'm getting some brown/turbinado sugar, beef jerky, some umami/soy sauce, and lots of hints of fruity berries and berry puree. There's some dark grain and rye bread on the aroma as well, with nondescript resinous hops. Chocolate, sugars. The aroma is as complex as it is muddled.

The taste instantly reminds me of Avery's The Beast Grand Cru. There's a lot of soy/beef jerky/berries, followed by berry puree and raspberry puree. Lots of alcohol, brown sugar, and turbinado sugar. Dark grains also follow. The whole mix has a plastic-rubber astringency, similar to the Goose Island Nightstalker. I imagine the 17 hops have a lot to do with that. There are hints of dark fruits like raisins, plums, and cherries, all courtesy of the brown/turbinado sugar. The alcohol almost has a smokey heat to it; leather...and I'm not getting a ton of the dark chocolate malts like I was in the Sweet Sixteen. 

I know this beer is young, but I'm not seeing the potential I saw in the Sweet Sixteen. This beer is both boozy and hot, but you expect that at 17%. It's a sipping beer, and a beer to be enjoyed damn near room temperature (imo). Palate depth is okay, and complexity is okay. The mouthfeel is medium-full, with nice carbonation, but drinks harder thanks to the booze and sticky sugar that aggressively coats your mouth. You get a rush of turbinado/brown sugar and astringent grain up front; that roles into sticky sweet raspberry puree, hop astringency, berries/jerky/soy/umami; the finish is bitter, features dark grain, more berry/raspberry/beef jerky puree, and boozy complexity. Sticky sweet finish...it feels like an extreme beer.

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. I really like the Sweet 16, but this beer is a bit of a hot mess. I understand that this is a gimmick AND that it's probably intended to be aged, but yeah. The turbinado sugar veers into the direction of complex caramel/toffee and maybe even coconut, but it's not quite there yet. Maybe with some time in the cellar? Otherwise, there is lots of raspberry/berry puree, hints of beef jerky, and umami richness. It's like Avery's The Beast or Dogfish Head's Fort. I did grab a second bottle to age, and I will do that. At 13 dollars a bomber, this beer is priced fairly, but I'm guessing you'll find it on shelves for cheaper if you shop around. I would pair this with nothing. This is a sipper. Or pair it with a cigar. Maybe pecan pie.

Random Thought: 17% is what? Like 3 beers in 12oz. So this beer is almost a 6-pack in a bomber. Nice. To be honest, when I first started writing this review last night (we are going on two days here), I almost rated this as below-average. But now that I'm drinking the second half of the bottle at colder temps, I'm getting a little less of the astringent hop/sugar punch. I've pretty much covered the spectrum: fridge cold to room temperature. It's also hard to review these extreme beers. 17% is what...practically a spirit, right? I get shades of the 120 Minute IPA and Dogfish Head Fort in this beer, so I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I think this beer needs at least a few months to settle in the bottle. I look forward to cracking this open in a year or two, along with Avery's The Beast Grand Cru. Right now, I'm either (a) a big pussy, or (b) aversive to the extremes in these beers. 

All that said...this beer is still incredibly complex, and kind of fun to drink. It does unravel itself and reveal interesting flavors, with a lot going on both in terms of the malts and the hops. The huge ABV provides boozy complexity with notes of leather, berry puree, and a strange umami flavor I haven't quite figured out. This is a great beer to buy if you want to start doing some verticals. My only question is: what the hell is He'Brew going to do for the 18% anniversary? And at what point do they need to call up Jim Koch and ask him for his Utopia yeast. 

Drinking this beer is making me want to pull a Sweet 16 from my cellar, and maybe I'll do that as we get closer to the holidays. In the meantime, I'll throw another bottle of this into my cellar...and good things could, and should happen. So yeah. I don't love it, I don't hate it, I'm intrigued, but right now this stuff is middling. I love ya He'Brew, but shit is getting real.