22 oz bottle, Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA.
In general I’m a massive fan of the malt-based beers that Shmaltz has been putting out in the series, and Jewbelation has been a constant source of delight for me. As a result I was excited to pick this up and to try it. Off the top this is not your typical American Barleywine, so don’t expect a hoppy concoction in the bottle – that just wouldn’t be a Shmaltz beer!
The pour is basically a jet black pour with a HUGE, bubbly, mocha head. Really massive. This looks like a big, American, RIS in the glass.
The nose is quite alcoholic with quite a lot of fusel alcohol but paradoxically and somewhat confusingly, a big dose of malts also cuts in.
This is a VERY hot in terms of alcohol, but not in terms of it being a hop based American Barleywine. I find many American BW’s things that I do not enjoy, and many of them are very hot as well, but funnily enough this beer is just alcoholic rather than a very aggressive, nasty hop-forward beast. I’m NOT surprised in one way (since this is a Shmaltz beer), but since it is labeled as an Ameican BW it does surprise me that there is no hop presence in sight. Plenty of licorice, syrupy sweet malts, light charcoal and a small,soy sauce finish.
This is a really strange beer (it reminds me a lot of Two Turtle Doves in as much as it’s a has sweet elements of a Belgian that has had candy added, but also has the licorice notes of a Belgian based stout) and it has an amalgamation of many notes. Curiously, American BW is not really one of those things.
BIG and pretty hot, this beer is a CLASSIC cellaring candidate. In fact, in recent times, it’s difficult to think of a beer that would be better suited to the job. Lay it down and sit back and wait. In time this could be amazing.