He'Brew Hanukkah, Chanukah: Pass The Beer
Shmaltz Brewing Company

 

 

Look: Extremely dark brown. One fat finger of thick tan head with excellent retention.

Smell: Strong piney hops and a touch of alcohol. Slight sweetness.

Taste: Balanced between a sweet, slightly roasted malt and a mild hop bitterness flavor. Simple but flavorful.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, heavy body with good carbonation.

Overall: Not a complex flavor, but sometimes you don’t have to be. Bold and balanced is good enough for the season.

Very chocolatey finish

2018 release. 12 oz can from Brewers Haven. Slick, thick black pour, capped by a creamy beige head. Aroma is chocolatey, very chocolatey. Taste is more sweet chocolate, a touch of roasty malt bitterness and creamy milk sugar. Thick and creamy, starts sweet, finishes bitter.

 

 

Taste: nice vanilla, cocoa, malty, coconut notes. Sweet malty and cocoa nose. Dark amber hue, clear, with a delicate lace in taster cup. Medium body. A dessert ale that kinda taste like German chocolate cake.

Just scored two bottles of this for 25¢ each at a local beverage center who couldn’t sell it and man, am I glad I did. Subjectively, this beer is nostalgic and reminiscent of something non-alcoholic or even beer related that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s sweet, carb-loaded desserts, wood paneling and funk tapes with my morphine sedated maternal grandpa on the holidays as much as it is a pipe-smoking end-of-the-night gentleman’s sort of brew. It feels lively on the mouth, Dead center between dense and watery. A roasted nuttiness precedes a chocolatey minus the sweet sort of dessert flavor. There’s a woody, sweaty thing reminding me of when I like the smell of my own filthy socks, but my girlfriend does not. Definitely not sessionable, this semi-dark ruby/amber beer is indeed appealing to whatever it is I love about trying new beer. This is what it’s all about- freedom, nostalgia, flavor, and a quite adequate 8% alcohol in one deeee-licious bottle. Thanks, Shmaltz Brewing Co., and keep ‘em comin’.

Note: this beer was best by, like, a year ago. Actually, the day before my birthday which is 10/22. No shit. Cool.

Picked up a case of this for $20 at Schmaltz post season on a blow out deal. This is a great beer. Very smooth, drinkable, faint cocoa taste and effervescence. I am lucky being close to the brewery but this is a great beer.

 

 

 

 

Gold orange color,medium body and carbonation. Aroma is unusual but pleasant,kind of an earthy smell with malt,malt candy,and just a bit of chocolate. Taste is similar but more complex than i can describe but the chocolate shows up very slightly at the end of every sip. Again this is a little different but really enjoyed it

 

 

2016 EDITION: Golden ale brewed with Cocoa nibs. 8 malts, 8 hops, 8% ABV.
Brewed with Premium 2-Row Malted Barley, Pilsner Malt, Caramel Pils, Kiln Amber, Crystal 10L, Honey Malt, Acidulated Malt, Flaked Oats. Hopped with Warrior, Chinook, Centennial, Citra, Ahtanum, Liberty, Cascade, Amarillo.

Pours out to a slightly hazy peach, forming a nice slightly off white head with very good retention and nice solid lacing. The nose is not actually all that hoppy. I get mostly cocoa and biscuit malt toast, wet grain husk. The mouthfeel is smooth, medium dense bodied, slick, slightly syrupy. Carbonation is moderate , 2.25 carbs or so. The taste is quite interesting...malt forward with lots of husky grains, toast, a small degree of roast, I get aromatic and biscuit but neither of them are listed as ingredients. There is a soft chocolate note which is very subtle, then followed by a pleasant bitterness which rounds out the malt driven body. More toast in the finish.

Quite interesting. Worth trying. I can't say I've had anything like this. Schmaltz brewes great stuff and this is noe xception. It's not something I would drink often, but still quite interesting, unique, and tasty,

 

On tap at Ollie's Place, Dayton, OH.

Appearance: Clear dark copper to brown with ruby red highlights. Thin film and ring of white foam. Some persistent lacing noted, but not a lot.

Smell: Quite unusual: Leathery, a hint of smoke, some herbal notes, and every now and then a hint of chocolate.

Taste: Roasty, herbal and chicory bitterness, with a hint of chocolate, but the chocolate is muted. As the beer warms fully up to room temperature I can pick out more of the chocolate along with some caramelized malt, but this is definitely more of a savory winter warmer.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, light carbonation, nice thickness.

Overall / Drinkability: Not sure how I feel about this one. Maybe the point is to settle into an old leather chair with this beer on a winter night? Or maybe this beer was part of a "kill the keg" special for a reason - it's a bit past its prime. I might try again when its fresh and see how 8 hops and 8 malts hold up, but, it could be when you mix up that much stuff you're going to get unexpected and weird flavors. Normally I like that sort of weirdness from this brewery. In this case, I'm not sure.