"We're far beyond where I ever thought He'Brew would ever be," Cowan told me earlier this month as he prepared for his annual "Hanukkah vs. Christmas" promotional tour. Lively tasting events in San Francisco, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York will match classic holiday ales against He'Brew Jewbelation Fifteen, an audaciously strong (15 percent alcohol by volume) dark ale.
It's yet another remarkable bottle from a company that has produced:
* Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A., a double India pale ale made with "an obscene amount of malts and hops" as a tribute to acerbic Jewish comic Lenny Bruce.
* Origin Pomegranate Ale, an imperial amber ale with pomegranate juice, a nod to the fruit's symbolism in Judaic scripture.
* Genesis 15:15, a barrel-aged barley wine made with still more pomegranate, plus figs, dates and grapes.
These are not your run-of-the-mill ales and lagers, and they've been critical in building Shmaltz's reputation. It's easy to forget that the company doesn't own a brewhouse; it contracts all production to Olde Saratoga Brewing in New York.
"In craft beer," Cowan said, "every successful brand has wonderful creativity, a personality. . . . The Jewish schtick gives me an entry into that creativity."
Thus, Shmaltz once declared its beer is "perfect for bar mitzvahs, weddings and circumcisions." And when it came time to brew a double bock, Cowan made his with Concord grape juice (the same stuff that goes into kosher Manischewitz) and called it Rejewvenator.
"I'm not making fun, I'm having fun," Cowan said. " My irreverence is a form of reverence."
