All About Beer Magazine

Beer Talk

Rejewvenator

Schmalz Brewing
San Francisco, CA

Available: CA, AK, AZ, CO, CT, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, MD, DC, DE, MA, MI, MN, MO, NB, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, VA, WA, WI, AB

Described as half dopplebock, half Belgian-inspired dubbel, this beer is brewed with lager yeast, Trappist ale and Abbey ale yeasts, and infused with fig juice.

Alcohol (vol.): 7.8
Alcohol (wt): 6.2
Color: dark amber
Bitterness: n/a
Original gravity: 1072

• Roger Protz

  This beer has more puns in the name than hops in the mouth. If you can get past the jokes, it’s a glorious beer, with a glowing amber red color and a staggering aroma of figs — used in the brew — and burnt raisins and sultanas. Hop bitterness builds in the mouth, balancing the dark grain and ripe fruit. The finish is long and complex: it starts bittersweet but becomes dry, with rich fruit, roasted grain and light hop resins. I have this sudden compulsion for a fat slice of Madeira cake...

• Garrett Oliver

  This beer has a beautiful ruby-brown color and an open-textured tan head that quickly drops back to a ring. The aroma is reminiscent of sweet Oloroso sherry, Grandma’s candy dish and almonds — perhaps the figs at work? Hops snap at the palate up front and then give way to a semi-sweet, unctuously fruity center. The hops reassert themselves in the long finish, leaving a slightly minty afterglow. A distinctly interesting beer, this would be very nice with sheep’s milk cheeses. But sheep have cloven hooves, so perhaps that wouldn’t be kosher?