User:Amuggle/Shmaltz Brewing Company

Shmaltz Brewing Company is an American brewing company based in San Francisco, California that owns HE'BREW Beer and Coney Island Lagers. Founded as “a celebration craft beer for Jews” by proprietor Jeremy Cowan, the company’s beers are now distributed in over thirty-one U.S. states, Canada, and England. Shmaltz is known for blurring beer styles and using puns, art, history, and pop culture in every aspect of their products.

HE'BREW Beer
HE'BREW Beer was begat as a Chanukah experiment in 1996 when founder and proprietor Jeremy Cowan and friends squeezed pomegranates to produce juice for the first HE'BREW beer. Early distribution for this beer was done by Cowan himself out of the trunk of his grandmother’s car in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1997, Anderson Valley Brewing Company began brewing HE'BREW Beer and its distribution expanded to small craft beer wholesalers in California, Chicago and New York. 2003 marked the year Shmaltz began packaging Genesis Ale and Messiah Bold in six-packs and moved production to Mendocino Brewing Company's facility in Saratoga Springs, NY. Six beers currently make up the HE'BREW Beer line: Genesis Ale, Messiah Bold, Origin Pomegranate String Ale, Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A., Rejewvenator, and Jewbelation. All HE'BREW Beers are certified Kosher by the Kosher Supervision of America.

Marketing
HE'BREW Beer is widely recognized for its playful yet earnest study of Jewish, world, and pop cultural histories. Each label of HE'BREW Beer lists facts and quotations related to the beer’s inspiration and/or its ingredients. For example, Origin, an imperial amber pomegranate ale, pays tribute to the original 1996 HE'BREW beer made with pomegranates, and its label contains facts, ancient mythology, and pop cultural references to pomegranates. Another component of HE'BREW’s marketing is its “shtick,” which incorporates Jewish religious references into the beers’ names and slogans. Genesis Ale is aptly named because it was the first HE'BREW creation, and the tagline to Messiah Bold is “the beer you’ve been waiting for,” which alludes to the Jewish belief that the promised savior of the world has yet to come.

HE'BREW’s limited-release beers are also nods to longstanding brewing traditions. Using one of the 7 sacred Jewish fruits each year, Rejewvenator is a half-doppelbock, half-Belgian-style dubbel brewed with grape juice that puts a spin on the German custom of brewing strong, dark lagers (bocks) for springtime. In addition, Jewbelation is brewed each year as an award-winning winter seasonal to celebrate Chanukah. This limited-edition extreme beer also commemorates Shmaltz's anniversary by using the same number of malts, hops, and alcohol-by-volume value as the number of years they've been brewing. For example, this year marks their 13th year of brewing, so Jewbelation 13 will contain 13 malts, 13 hops, and 13% alcohol-by-volume.

Series
In 2006 HE'BREW debuted Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A., a rye double IPA dedicated to the late Jewish comedian Lenny Bruce. This beer is the first in a series of “Tributes to Jewish Stars.” Inaugurated as an eighth-anniversary celebration ale called Jewbelation 8, Shmaltz has brewed each subsequent edition of Jewbelation by adding one more malt, hop, and alcohol percentage each year. Jewbelation 13 also will be known as Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah because the milestone of thirteen-years-old is celebrated in Judaism with a Bar/Bat Mitzvah to recognize the coming of age for a Jewish boy or girl.

Both Jewbelation and Lenny's RIPA have inspired national benefit events and annual traditions. Following the release of Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A., Shmaltz sponsored "Homage to Lenny Bruce & Free Speech," a fundraising event that featured Sarah Silverman and Lewis Black. In connection with each Chanukah season, Shmaltz hosts an annual beer challenge “Chanukah vs. Christmas: The Battle Royale of Beers” in national markets including NYC, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore and others.

Coney Island Craft Lagers
Summer 2008 marked the official national launch of Shmaltz's new line of craft brewed lagers under the Coney Island brand. Inspired by the spirit, the history, and the future of America’s Playground, Shmaltz Brewing released its Coney Island Craft Lagers™ in association with the arts organization Coney Island USA, a 501(c)3 Non-Profit. A portion of its proceeds directly benefits Coney Island USA. The line includes its self-titled debut offering, Coney Island Lager, and four hybrid styles combining traditional lager yeast and brewing techniques with new American craft beer flavor and personality: Sword Swallower™, Albino Python™, Human Blockhead™, and Freaktoberfest™ for Halloween. In addition, Coney Island has put out Mermaid Pilsner™ brewed in honor of the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island, as well as Luna Lager™, brewed specially for Luna Park which opened Summer 2010. Coney Island Craft Lagers proudly boasts the world's smallest brewery, located on Coney Island. Brewing one gallon at a time of crazy concoctions, this nano brewery doubles as a store for all Coney Island paraphernalia, soon to feature the beers themselves.

Coney Island Craft Lagers was recently awarded the 2010 Gold Medal for Best Craft Brewer from Beverage World.

Marketing
Shmaltz gained permission from Coney Island USA to use the Coney Island name for its line. Three Coney Island Craft Lagers™ feature performers from the Coney Island Circus Sideshow on the label. The striking artwork for Coney Island Lagers is the creation of Shmaltz’s art director Matt Polacheck and Brooklyn-based tattoo artist Dave C. Wallin, whose original illustrations spotlight Heather Holliday (Sword Swallower), Serpentina (Albino Python), and the MC of the sideshow, Donny Vomit (Human Blockhead).

Coney Island Craft Lagers™ is the exclusive beer at the MoMA’s Sculpture Garden in New York City. Its signature “Beer Freak” logo also inspired Roger Mallette, founder of the cycling jersey company Retro Image Apparel, to create Micro Beer Jerseys, a spin-off venture that features jerseys with craft brewery artwork. The launch of Freaktoberfest, a fall seasonal, was celebrated in October 2008 with Shmaltz’s First Annual Coney Island "Freaktoberfest" Boutique Craft Beer and Music Festival.