CLIFTON PARK, NY—Shmaltz Brewing Company is all about collaborations this fall with the limited-edition release of two sensational new offerings: St. Lenny’s – The Immaculate Collaboration parallels Reunion Ale ’13 – A Beer for Hope®. Shmaltz partners with Missouri’s Cathedral Square Brewing Company for the debut release of St. Lenny’s, a Belgian Style Double Rye India Pale Ale. Shmaltz teams up for the third year-in-a-row with Terrapin Beer Company and Alan Shapiro (founder of SBS Imports) to create Reunion Ale ’13, a Dark Imperial Brown Ale Brewed with Cocoa Nibs, Vanilla, Cinnamon and Coffee. A portion of the proceeds from Reunion Ale ’13 is donated directly to The Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research. National fundraising events will occur throughout the summer and fall; events to be announced on Shmaltz’s event calendar at www.shmaltzbrewing.com.
St. Lenny’s (August – September 2013)
For its 10th Anniversary in 2006, Shmaltz brewed the first batch of Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A. to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the death of prophetic Jewish comedian Lenny Bruce. The rye-based double IPA went on to win two Gold medals at the World Beer Championships (2010 & 2011), and it currently holds a 99 Rating with BeerAdvocate.com and 98 Rating with RateBeer.com. It’s barrel-aged incarnation, R.I.P.A. on Rye took home Silver medals at both the Great American Beer Festival (2010, Wood & Barrel Aged Strong Beer Category) and National Wood-Aged Beer Competition (2010) — stay tuned for the new limited release aged in Willett barrels coming in fall 2013.

2013 brings “The Immaculate Collaboration” — a labor of personal history and love of beer and shtick between two longtime friends and colleagues from Shmaltz and Cathedral Square. Jeremy Cowan, Shmaltz Brewing proprietor, comments, “Now with our own brand new brewery, for the first time we have the kind of freedom and the opportunity to do a special project like this. After a decade of shared brewing connections, I couldn’t be more excited to cook up St. Lenny’s with brewmaster Brian Neville at Cathedral Square. I’m still mad that he coined the exceptional names — but can’t wait to share the amazing flavors with our cult of He’brew® enthusiasts.” St. Lenny’s flips the award-winning rye double IPA on its head using a custom Belgian yeast blend (2 Trappists and 1 Abbey) with the original R.I.P.A.recipe. With a spicy punch of rye and caraway, fruity clove and anise flavors, and a gorgeous Belgian character, St. Lenny’s is destined to intrigue hop heads and Belgian beer fans alike.

Reunion Ale ’13 – A Beer for Hope (August – September 2013)
Shmaltz Brewing proudly joins Terrapin Beer Company and Alan Shapiro (founder of SBS Imports) to participate in brewing Reunion Ale ’13 – A Beer for Hope. Reunion is brewed annually in memory of Virginia MacLean, a dedicated cancer research supporter who lost her own battle with Multiple Myeloma in 2007 and a dear friend and co-worker of Alan Shapiro and Pete Slosberg’s (creator of Pete’s Wicked Ale™). As a tribute to Virginia, a portion of the proceeds from Reunion Ale ’13 is donated to the IMBCR.

Reunion Ale ’13 is a dark Imperial Brown Ale brewed with vanilla, cinnamon, and cocoa nibs from Nashville, Tennessee’s Olive and Sinclair Chocolate Company. Local favorites Creekside Café & Coffee House (Glenville, NY) and Brooklyn Roasting Company (Brooklyn, NY) contributed signature dark roasts to this year’s recipe. Following its initial release in 2007, the Reunion project has raised more than $130,000 for the IMBCR through bottle and draft sales of Reunion, retailer fundraising events, and private donations. Beer lovers can also donate money directly through the Reunion website, the Reunion Facebook page, or the IMBCR website.

Reunion Ale ’13 is now available in 22 oz bottles, as well as limited amounts of draft in the nearly 40 U.S. states that receive distribution from Terrapin and Shmaltz – and in Western Canada, through Shmaltz’s distribution network.

About IMBCR
The Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research is dedicated to independent research on developing effective therapies that improve the quality of life and longevity of patients with myeloma and bone cancer. Myeloma and bone cancer are two of the fastest growing diseases in the world, afflicting more than one million people in the U.S. alone.

About Shmaltz Brewing Company
Ranked in 2013 as one of the “Top 100 Brewers in the World” by RateBeer.com, Shmaltz won 9 Gold and 5 Silver Medals in the World Beer Championships in 2012. A recipient of the “Distinguished Business Award” by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Shmaltz was also included in the “Top 50 Fastest Growing Bay Area Companies” by San Francisco Business Times.

ATHENS, GA—In 2012, Terrapin Beer Co. offered up to their fans the chance to vote for their favorite retired Terrapin beer. After heated campaigning, the votes were tallied and, unlike some previous elections, the winner was clear: Dos Cocoas Chocolate Porter.

Dos Cocoas, which was originally released in 2008 as Side Project Vol. 4, didn’t need to rely on kissing babies to win votes. To promote the regional economy, cocoa nibs and shells were shipped in from Nashville, TN, chocolate maker Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Co. Then Terrapin’s brewers were put to work creating a complex porter that will gain approval points across party lines. Dos Cocoas’ perfect mix of sweet, velvety chocolate and mellow roastiness provides the checks and balances needed to provide a quick stimulus to taste buds throughout the Southeast and East Coast.

Right or left, red or blue, this is one elected official that we all can agree on. Dos Cocoas will be packaged in 22 oz. bottles and available starting in mid-July within Terrapin’s ten-state distribution network.

But brewers have long been unwilling to be limited to just barley malt. One of the exceptions the Germans make to the Reinheitsgebot is for wheat. Some brewers use corn and rice as adjuncts, while the latest wave of grain in vogue with American brewers is rye.

I like the texture and complexity of the malt profile that the rye contributes,” says Taylor Rees, head brewer at Great Divide Brewing in Denver, CO. Great Divide Hoss is a rye lager that was first brewed as a fall seasonal two years ago, but now is available throughout the year.

In a sense, brewers are rediscovering what Bourbon distillers have long recognized. Bourbon must be at least 51 percent and no more than 79 percent corn whiskey. Distillers add a combination of whiskey made from barley and rye to the blend, with some also adding some wheat whiskey. Changing the level of rye in the blend has the most direct influence on flavor and mouthfeel of the Bourbon. Shifting consumer palates has resulted in the reemergence of rye whiskey as a category, with most companies now offering a rye version of their leading Bourbon labels.

Rye is a great ingredient for flavor,” says Spike Buckowski, brewmaster at Terrapin Beer Co. in Athens, GA. “Some people over do it a bit. We use rye for the nuance of the flavor.”

Rye helped put Terrapin on the beer map. Buckowski had been homebrewing with rye since 1993. When the brewery made its first beer in 2002, contract brewed at Dogwood Brewing in Atlanta, it was Terrapin Rye Pale Ale. The recipe calls for 10 percent rye in the grist. Six months after making the beer commercially for the first time, it earned a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival.

People wondered why we wanted to start out with a big, imposing pale ale,” Buckowski says. “The rye actually dries the palate out and pulls the bitterness forward. You have to remember that for a long time in the Southeast if you brewed anything hoppier than a Budweiser people would freak out.”

Four beer dinners in four states in four days? This sounded like an intriguing, if not demented, concept back when Terrapin Beer Co.’s Dustin Watts and Chris Lennert of Left Hand Brewing invited me along as official press “beer roadie.” Our soaking on I-85 from Atlanta to Durham, aggravated by major traffic accidents in our path (one even involving a Hazmat squad), gave us all second thoughts.

Friendship Brew

The story of this epic journey really began after a beer festival three years ago, around midnight in some forgotten beer bar, when Dustin and Chris cooked up the idea of an annual, collaborative Terrapin/Left Hand brew―known ever since as the “Midnight Brewing Project.” Dustin explains, “Chris and I have been friends for years and really wanted to do something together with the two breweries. To me, our Midnight Project collaboration is all about friendship. Just as friendships evolve with time, so will this collaboration.”

Co-owner/brewer Brian “Spike” Buckowski of Terrapin in Athens, GA, journeyed to the Left Hand brewery in Longmont, CO, in 2008 to work with Left Hand’’s Ro Guenzel in the creation of a creamy, black rye lager called Terra-’Rye’Zd. Labeled and released by Left Hand during this first collaborative year, this beer, which was greeted with rave reviews by beer lovers in Colorado and Georgia, holds hints of chocolate and spicy rye.

Chris Lennert adds, “This collaboration is all about fun and friends. Terrapin and Left Hand have similar philosophies about brewing and enjoying ourselves while we run our businesses, so it makes sense for us to get together and throw some ideas into a collaborative kettle.”

In July of 2009, Guenzel paid a visit to Terrapin in Athens for round two of the Midnight brews. Amazingly, when Guenzel and Buckowski compared their independent notes for the proposed beer, the two recipes looked almost identical. The result, known as Depth Charge Espresso Milk Stout, weighs in as a rich, full-bodied dark ale with impressive notes of caramel, chocolate, roasted grains, lactose sugar and a smooth blend of espresso from Athens coffee roaster Jittery Joe’s.

I often describe Dustin Watts and Chris Lennert as beer brothers―both being imaginative, creative, energetic and personable representatives of their respective breweries who find true joy in sharing the “gospel” of craft beer at every available opportunity. Dustin and Chris, looking for a grand way to celebrate their collaborative Depth Charge in key markets and get their brews into the hands, mouths and minds of craft-beer fans, brainstormed a liver-wrenching series of four beer dinners up the East Coast. Our epicurean beer adventures took place October 26 to29, 2009 in Atlanta, Durham, NC, Richmond, VA, and Philadelphia. The idea of being a beer roadie and hanging out with these guys for a few days sounded like a splendid adventure, so I agreed to come along and document the events.

Day 1―Atlanta: Kickoff at Taco Mac

Dustin, Chris, Kerri Allen (my “Beer Wench” wife) and I began by making our way from Athens to Atlanta for dinner No. 1 at Taco Mac in Lindbergh Center near downtown. Taco Mac, very popular among Atlanta-area beer aficionados, comprises a chain of close to 30 locations featuring ever-expanding selections of craft beers, an extensive menu of tasty pub fare and a casual, fun, welcoming atmosphere.

After Chris, Dustin, Kerri and I set up the dining tables with brewery promotional materials and loaded a rotating set of photos featuring the collaborative brewing process and Depth Charge label on the dining room televisions. The excited crowd of beer lovers began to trickle in.

With the noise level rising to the official decibel level of “rowdy” before the end of the reception courses and beers, Dustin and Chris realized quickly that this could be a challenging evening to carry on beer discussion and promotion. But our pair of brewery heroes carried on with superb bravado―rotating through the room between courses, speaking to each table, making each attendee feel special and welcome.

Matt Deckard, Taco Mac’s corporate chef, consistently rises to the challenge of creating unique, flavorful, upscale menu items for special beer dinners. For the Terrapin/Left Hand dinner, chef Matt provided scrumptious food during the beer tasting reception, four courses and dessert. Each culinary creation―smoked duck pate, tuna poke, chorizo stew and goat cheese stuffed meatloaf, to name a few―accompanied a Left Hand or Terrapin beer. The mouth-watering chocolate/peanut butter dessert provided a sublime match to the rich sweetness of the Depth Charge.

Fred Crudder, Taco Mac’s beverage manager, remarked that the Terrapin/Left Hand event ranked as one of the best dinners ever held at his restaurants. “The really special element of this collaborative dinner was the excitement generated among the customers,” said Crudder. “The dinners we’ve done with each of these two breweries separately were successes, but this particular one had the added element of collaboration, which strikes a chord with craft-beer drinkers who like to see camaraderie between two of their favorite breweries.”

Day 2―Durham: Drenched and Delayed

After an early morning of being a dutiful roadie helping load T-shirts, pint glasses and boxes of Terrapin and Left Hand stickers into our SUV, we enjoyed a cup of espresso and took off up I-85 toward our next collaborative feast to be held that evening at Tyler’s Restaurant & Taproom in Durham, NC. We had no idea what lay ahead.

After hours of torrential precipitation and long, painful delays through two major accidents, a drive that should have taken us a little over five hours turned into an almost 10-hour, torturous crawl into Durham.

Just outside the city, our two beer celebrities, over one hour late to the Durham dinner, began to brainstorm ways to “make it up” to the crowd. We decided to burn through our entire stash of pint glasses and give everyone at the Tyler’s dinner a Terrapin glass and Left Hand bottle opener. Gifts and bribes sometimes can be useful.

Luckily, Jason Ingram from Left Hand decided at the last minute to fly to Durham for the dinner. Jason arrived at Tyler’s on time and saved our butts as he discussed both the Terrapin and Left Hand beers for the first and second courses. The dinner crowd erupted into thunderous applause when our rain-soaked and exhausted group of beer trekkers finally entered the room.

Our two beer celebs pulled it together as they addressed the crowd, apologized for our tardiness and quickly focused on the beer and food. The Tyler’s five-course event featured lemongrass scallops paired with Left Hand JuJu Ginger, smoked mozzarella rarebit alongside Terrapin RoggenRauchBier, molasses pork belly and Left Hand Black Jack Porter, a pepper-crusted venison loin next to Left Hand Oak Aged Imperial Stout and a dessert of vanilla cream doughnuts washed down by Depth Charge.

Chris polled the crowd, and the results proved surprising. “Only about half of the people here have been to a beer dinner before tonight,” remarked Chris. “For me, that’s great news. I absolutely love introducing people to craft beer and food pairings.”

After the dinner we enjoyed a few pints with Tyler Huntington and Daniel Kulenic, the two cornerstone personalities of Tyler’s. We discussed plans for future events and reminisced about the evening. One of the main duties of any good beer-trip roadie is to keep your beer superstars from going over the edge and ending up in hangover territory, so around midnight I gathered our group and headed to our hotel for a well-deserved night’s sleep. We kept our fingers crossed for a dry and problem-free day three.