Obviously, the owner of this company is Jewish and proud of it. They've released several beers with "He'Brew" in the name, their bottles are adorned with quotes from Scripture or Hebrew/Yiddish phrases ("L'Chaim!"), and get this: their motto is "The Chosen Beer." Every anniversary since their 10th, they've released a beer called Jewbelation. Jewbelation 10 was 10% alcohol, brewed with 10 hops and 10 malts; 11 was 11% alcohol, brewed with 11 hops and 11 malts, and so on. This year's is their Sweet 16: 16 malts, 16 hops, and 16% alcohol.
It is also only available in 22oz bottles. This combination poses some obvious problems if only one person is willing to try the beer, as that's basically like drinking a bottle of port to yourself. I had to borrow a wine re-sealer and spread it out over two nights. It was better the first night, FYI.
I expected it to be like a barleywine, but it poured pitch black like a stout. Beeradvocate calls it an "American Strong Ale," which usually means the person who submitted the beer was too lazy to call it. It is pitch black, brewed with roasted barley, not sour, not brewed with lager yeast and not licorice schnapps, ergo I'm going to call it a stout. Striding atop the black body is a surprisingly lofty crown of foam about 1.5 fingers high, mocha-hued with a hint of....blue. I don't know. Not the usual color of stout foam.
The aroma is unabashedly malt-forward, with just a hint of earthy-bitter hops for balance. Malt aromas are oddly fruity, which I would not expect from an American stout. Blueberries and plums were the first two that came to mind. There is also a hint of coffee from the roasted malts. Alcohol notes are mild and more spicy than blistering hot, and nothing chemical-esque either (for some reason, a fair amount of beers this strong smell and taste like cleaning chemicals, jet fuel, nail polish remover; none of that here).
The malt explosion continues in the taste. Once again, plums and blueberries come out, with a new cherry-like flavor making an appearance. The roasted malts bring forward the expected coffee plus some dark bitter chocolate, which wins out. Another new malt flavor is molasses. The booze contributes a stronger flavor than it did an aroma. The beer is warm going down and only occasionally veers into "hot" territory, though this never really sits well with the hops. The texture is very thick, somewhat rough and a bit oily. but that could change with age (I'm sure this will cellar great).
My first exposure to Schmaltz brewing company is a solid B-, maybe even a B. Could get better with age, but given how easy it is for beers this strong to taste like cheap vodka spiked with gasoline, I'd say this beer is smoother than it should be. Worthy of an anniversary.
Word of warning though: try to find some people to split this with in one night, rather than re-seal it like I did. All of the above flavors were still there the next day, but sitting on top of them was an unpleasant flavor reminiscent of teriyaki sauce, and the alcohol tasted stronger too.
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