After reading a couple of reviews for Shmaltz Brewing Company’s line of He’brew ales, I decided to give them a try. On a mission, I managed to walk through the endless aisles of beer (which usually distract me) to find this “chosen beer.” One that particularly caught my eye was their 13th Anniversary Ale. Not reading the bottle I grabbed it off the shelf, found a couple more beers to try and headed home.

Once home, I opened this special brew and eagerly poured myself a glass. What was to follow only confirmed in my mind that you should always read the label in its entirety before you drink its contents. I took a quick sniff and a big gulp which I would liken to a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to the face. This is not your average beer and should be sipped very slowly and probably with a cigar in hand.

For starters it is brewed with 13 malts and 13 hops. Power packed with ingredients it also has an ABV of 13%. It was this aspect of the beer I was not prepared for. In my years of sampling beer I have had some high alcoholic beers, but I was ready having read the label. Jewbelation does offer some roasted coffee and burnt malt aroma, but it is overshadowed by the strong alcohol presence. The taste is not much different. I did notice some minor bittersweet dark chocolate undertones and picked up on the bittering from all the hops. The strong ABV gives this a somewhat unpleasant quality, but if you can brave Imperial Stouts you might find this rather enjoyable. This is definitely a full-bodied brew with a heavy mouthfeel which coats the palate. At the end, there is a nice dry coffee aftertaste which gave this beer a redeeming quality. I bet if this beer was stored in an oak barrel for a year of so it would mellow out rather well.

ABV: 13.0%

Grade: C-