On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead – Haledon, creamily sweet milk stout loads dark chocolate syrup atop dainty cacao-nibbed bourbon vanilla fudging. Milked chocolate continuance picks up distant bruised cherry, prune, raisin and anise snips. Just a tad thin at the finish.
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead – Haledon, prominent sugar-spiced Turkish coffee luster draped in dark chocolate syrup gains sweet cardamom-spiced burgundy, dark cherry and date illusions while tertiary Kahlua, anise, cinnamon and nutmeg wisps flutter below.
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead – Haledon, easygoing Christmas dessert treat (boasting surprisingly high oak-aged 10% ABV) imbues rye-whiskeyed chocolate malting with sweet gingerbread insistence. Raspy hop spicing tingles wintry maple molasses-tinged nutmeg-cinnamon-gingersnap seasoning.
On tap at Andy’s Corner Bar, dark chocolate syruping drapes caramel-burnt nuttiness, casual coffee-cocoa confluence and soy-sauced earthen hop char. Semi-sweet, halfway rich and quite velvety.
CLIFTON PARK, NEW YORK
Residing at a fairly inconspicuous gray aluminum warehouse with a large grain silo in the rural Industrial town of Clifton Park (ten minutes north of Albany), SHMALTZ BREWING COMPANY has a long history that goes back to the Nineties – before the brewpub craze hit full stride. Led by adventurously nomadic gypsy brewer, Jeremy Cowan, an entrepreneurial San Francisco resident with bi-coastal interests, Shmaltz found a cool niche crafting unorthodox malt-dominant beers celebrating his Judaic heritage.
In 2013, marketing and sales braniac, Cowan, opened this spacious 50 barrel brewhouse. Though most of the site is taken up by gigantic backroom brew tanks, the quaint serving station area looks more like a no-nonsense beer store with its bottles and cans spread all across the smallish venue. A fire-pitted smokers lounge patio leads customers into the wood-furnished pub.
On this rainy Friday evening in early December 2018 (before Singlecut Beersmiths took over operations), I got to quaff a few tap-only delights while buying a few bottles of previously untried fare.
Part of Shmaltz’s Star Trek beer series, Profit Motive Hopped-Up Golden Ale utilized IPA-like yellow grapefruit and orange rind bittering as well as piney hop astringency to balance its grain-toasted pale malt sweetness.
Caramelized plum invigorates 838 Plump Monk, a nifty Belgian Dark Ale with candied prune-raisin-fig sentiments and lilting port-burgundy wining drifting into dried cocoa malts.
Fruitful double dry-hopped enticement, 838 DDHMAO New England-styled IPA brought juicy orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess to the fore as ancillary peach-mango-pineapple tropicalia gained luster over its creamy vanilla-sweet pale malt base.
Honeyed apple cider and spritzy lemon snips engaged light-bodied Apples & Honey Imperial Lager, though its lager base seems nebulous and its delicate setting seemed out of place amongst the maltier fare.
For chestnut-hued strong ale, Chanukah In Kentucky, Jim Beam bourbon whiskey subtly soaks seamlessly into vanilla-beaned chocolate, coffee, cola and hazelnut pleasantries as well as dark cherry niceties above its oats-sugared caramel malt base.
Finally, 2008’s Rejuvenator (aged 10 years) celebrated the year of the fig in easygoing fashion. Brown-sugared prune, raisin and cherry sweetness reached its chewy chocolate center while dewy chestnut tones and wispy molasses, pecan, toffee and grape reminders added further subtle complexities.
shmaltzbrewing.com
Nearly sublime winter warmer (circa 2018) stays closer to original dark ale version from a few years back. Resilient caramel-malted chocolate roast, wintry cinnamon-nutmeg-ginger spicing gain and ebullient dried fruiting gain nutty coffee bean reminder.
‘Jewdicious’ (11 malts, hops and ABV) 22nd anniversary ale spreads luxurious brown-sugared dried fruiting over oats-flaked honeyed rye base, gaining spiced mocha pleasantries in the midst. Sweet dubbel-like prune, raisin and plum conflux contrasts dank cellar dewiness throughout.
Wintry Christmastime dark ale (circa 2018) places coarsely embittered hop astringency very close to dry-spiced chocolate roast in unspecific blend. Obviously staying less sweet than previous versions, its ashen nuttiness overwhelms seasonal cinnamon, nutmeg and pine nut illusions.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, mild lemon-soured green grape esters bring moderate acidic souring to limey salinity for mouth-puckeringly tart Double India Pale Ale-derived experience. Brix City’s Acoustic Jams grain bill and Citra-Mosaic-Eldorado hop blend underscore fine kettle-soured ale.
Silken saison with light brettanomyces acidity offers sunny lemon spritz to raw-honeyed strawberry tartness and herbal-tinged hops for éclair-headed yellow belly. Creamy vanilla froth engages floury dough bottom of slightly eccentric moderation.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, rounded tropical fruiting graces creamy vanilla-frothed caramel malt base of delightful Imperial IPA dedicated to flashy Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury. Evenly spread grapefruit, orange, tangerine, peach, mango and pineapple tang perked up by sweet floral perfumed notions contrasting light piney hop astringency. Heady 9% ABV hidden well.
On tap at Poor Henry’s, relaxing double dry-hopped Imperial IPA (with sinister 9.5% ABV) caresses tangy grapefruit, orange, mango, papaya and tangerine juiciness with lightly creamed oats-flaked pale malts. Mild lime blossom adjunct adds teensy souring to the zesty citrus fray.
