Jewbelation 20
Shmaltz Brewing Company

Dark brown color. Medium-sized, off-white head. Aroma of dark malt, molasses, and dark fruits. Sweet but not cloying, with balancing bitterness at the end. Malt, dark fruits ,a nd a hint of cocoa in flavor. Alcohol is noticeable when it gets warm.

Pours a small fizzy head with almost no retention, a touch of lacing, nice long legs over the dark molasses brown almost opaque color

Nose big sweet malts, heavy rich malts, caramel, toffee, biscuity, toasted brown malts, molasses, with plenty of dried fruits, raisin, prune, date, burnt molasses, candied apple, lots of caramelized sugars, even a hint smokey

Taste brings more sweet syrupy malts, not too syrupy or sweet though, lots of caramel again, toffee, caramelized brown sugar, molasses, burnt caramel and another hint smokey note, rich brown malts with toasted bread crust, sticky toffee, biscuity, light perfumey potpourri alcohol with phenol spices, a little vanilla even, fruity esters with chewy fig, raisin, date, and hint of plum in the background, then some spicy earthy hops kick in, med to a bit lighter bitterness up front, with a med spicy hop bitterness lingering on the sweet sticky finish with a bit more alcohol

Mouth is fuller bod, creamy chewy a bit syrupy, fair warming mild tingly alcohol, med carb

Overall not bad, lots of malts that do balance fairly well giving it a barleywine or old like character and not all over the place like some of the previous versions, hops are nice as well without destroying or clashing, would like to see this barrel aged for sure

spring cleaning of the cellar always reveals a few brews I didn't expect...

eyes...
one finger of well packed off white head, small bubbles stacked up like hadrian's wall (hopefully with that sort of longevity, alas it retreats but not totally gone), super dark brown, nearly opaque, lacing is picturesque, seriously this is one of the finest examples of luxurious sheets of bubbles laying on the sides of the glass and receding like a subtle beach tide, good looking stuff

nose...
heavy dark fruit, prune, not so sugary molasses, hints of cocoa bean, the inside of an old wet musty barrel (like, you know, in a good way), inviting (a touch of the alcohol waves hi! from the back of the crowd, you can barely see him, but he is there)

taste...
more prickly in the mouth than I would have thought (no snickering), what I am trying to say, more artfully that is, is that the carbonation smacks a bit, I am used to the style maybe being more "flat" per se, ya know? anyway, it works here either way, this almost gets heavier as the carbonation fades in the mouth, the flavor is heavy dark fruit finished with dark caramel (not sweet), there is some bittering in there as well, and some alcohol burn towards the end (not too bad), this does pack quite the wallop as you finish the first glass, I recommend inviting friends, ones that like good beer, and ones that you actually like because this beer might be a gateway to odd conversations, just saying...

verdict?
I did not know the style on this when I pulled it out (I was looking to clean my cellar of stuff I should not be cellaring... cmon, we have all put away stuff we shouldn't have), anyway, this should have stayed down there, age has been great for this beer, not so much for me, well, even if I know what schmaltz actually is... in a word this beer was LCHAIM !

22 ounce bottle into a tulip snifter. Bottled 10/21/16, had 1/9/19.

Pours a dark brown, ruby on the edge, cloudy with a half inch head and some sparse, soapy cling. Aromas of caramel, figs, malt, dates, plums, raisins, toffee, brown sugar, molasses, some oak and char, light tobacco and licorice. Smells really good. Flavors of malt, caramel, more raisins than the aroma, chocolate, oak, some figs and brown sugar, some dark molasses, light cherries and licorice. A decent amount of hop bitterness throughout, a little alcohol- but not much. Smooth for the ABV, a good medium to full body, well carbonated.

Certainly complex, with layers of aromas and flavors. At times, it almost tastes like it’s barrel aged, maybe brandy. This would really be something if it was barrel aged. Really enjoyable.

look: Deep dark Ruby. Some ruby highlights when held to light. Decent swath of tannish head on the pour that recedes to a modest ring.
smell: Not the rich monster nose i was expecting. in fact quite understated. some mild malty caramel.
taste: Much more understated than previous anniversary brews, surprisingly for such a big beer. Mild though tasty with a peppery, mostly dry finish.

 

From a bomber, this brew is a dark, thick beer with a dense tan head. The aroma is serious alcohol and malt. Strong aromas and flavors. Lots of spice and booze-soaked ripe fruit. The taste is mildly sweet, bitter, and very warming. Alcohol dominates the flavor, although there is some malt and peppery spice as well. Full in body. Wow.

 

 

 

Jewbelation 19

Look: Very deep brown that nears a black hue in the body while maintaining a brown edge to it, The head is an off white that quickly dissipates.

Smell: Coffee and loads of it. Without many other notes of anything detected here.

Taste: Seems to be almost entirely toffee and caramel.

Feeling: The high alcohol made the feeling remain an interesting drink throughout the entire drink. It was a very worth while feeling with the loads of excitement in the high content of it.

Overall: A very tasty drink that is worth to hold onto for a good occasion.

Pours a dark brown with some amber tinting, akin to a burnt caramel. Tastes like a high-powered old ale, with a strong malt backbone, good bitter hop character, and some cherry fruit and muscovado sugar notes to balance it out. As the beer warms, more flavors emerge, largely other stonefruits and varieties of sugar, most notably plum and blackstrap molasses.The nose is fairly muted and muddled, however, which is a bit of a mystery to me after so many years enjoying this annual release.

I always enjoy Shmaltz's Jewbelation anniversary beers for their adventuresome spirit at blending so many different ingredients; at 10 malts and 10 hops, this is one of their tamer efforts from recent years. Jewbelation is always complex and interesting, even when the ultimate result is unbalanced or not entirely coherent. Weighing in at 16.8% ABV, this rivals their booziest release (Jewbelation 17, which was appropriately 17%).

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled on 10/21/2016. Pours clear nearly opaque dark brown color with a 1-2 finger dense and fluffy light khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, nuttiness, toffee, toasted biscuit, molasses, cocoa, raisin, cherry, plum, fig, date, herbal, wood, pepper, and tobacco; with lighter notes of dark chocolate, coffee, anise, smoke, char, and roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/bready/roasted malts, earthy hops, and light-moderate fruity yeast notes; with great strength. Very mild booze in the aromas as it warms. Taste of huge caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, nuttiness, toffee, toasted biscuit, molasses, cocoa, raisin, cherry, plum, fig, date, herbal, wood, pepper, and tobacco; with lighter notes of dark chocolate, coffee, anise, smoke, char, and roast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/spicy hop and roast/char bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, nuttiness, toffee, toasted biscuit, molasses, cocoa, dark fruits, herbal, wood, pepper, tobacco, light coffee/smoke/char, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/roasted malts, earthy hops, and light-moderate fruity yeast flavors; with a great malt/hop bitter/sweet balance; with zero cloying, acrid, or astringent flavors after the finish. Light dryness from hop/char bitterness, increasing though the glass. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a smooth, creamy/silky, and lightly slick/sticky/chalky balanced mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is extremely well hidden; a small increasing warmth, with very mild booziness lingering after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic American strong ale! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready/roasted malts, earthy hops, and light-moderate fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the enormous ABV. Very rich and complex; never feels out of balance, despite all of the different hop/malt additions. A highly enjoyable offering. Really superb for only being 7 months old at the ABV. Would be interested in cellaring another. Outstanding price for the bomber vs ABV ratio.

Medium brown beer with a medium head. Very strong taste. Not exactly hoppy but like it was brewed with some hard liquor. took awhile to drink this beer. This is a "Big Boy" beerr

 

From the 22 oz bottle in a snifter----This BIG ALE pours a rugged
deep dark cola brown with a moderate head of off white foam that settles
to a thick ring, thin wispy pool, and sports light lacing. Nose of booze, sweet
brown sugar malts, some date and fig notes, toasted malt notes, cherries,
and light anise notes. Flavors hit it out of the park with a clash of flavors that
vary widely with warmth---brandy and cherry notes swim with date and herbal
hops with notes of dark brown sugars and tobacco mixing with warming booze
and a sublimely balanced hop note that is balanced with herbal and light bitter notes
playing off of the malt. Excellent mouth feel; medium full juicy body, smooth as
a brew of this heft could possibly be like silk, and warming with a medium hop and
sweet malt finish. Overall this is the biggest beast of a great brew I have come across
with this many ingredients that is balanced and not a mangled mess. Worth trying.

Excellent work Shmaltz----and thanks for the Schtick!

Cheers

 

Picked up a bottle for about 10 bucks tax included from the Beermuda.

A - Wow actually surprised to see some head just a 1/4 inch of mocha tinted foam that slowly settles to a small lace ring. It may be dark but their are some ruby hues to the bottom of the glass.
S - Boozy but not overly so with strong woody tones and sweet malts.
T+M - Surprisingly kind of balanced and boring. ABV is well masked with just a warming feeling to the finish and sweet malts to hops are so well in play all I could taste is slight anise and maybe some oak. Maybe some molasses? Touch of tobacco? Sipping this like a normal beer could get you in trouble.

Overall for what I paid its good wish I could say its stellar like West-fied but for the ABV its actually pretty palatable.