I’ve got a lot of different beers in the beer fridge from a few Brewers, so I wanted to grab a beer from a brewer that I only had one beer from. I looked in the fridge and grabbed the He’Brew Messiah Bold Dark Brown Ale from Schmaltz Brewing Company in Saratoga Springs, New York. The bottle says that it is “A rich and robust dark brown ale” and it says “Why is this beer different from all other beers? As commanded, we at He’Brew Beer have been fruitful and multiplied our offerings. Tradition teaches us that the Messiah’s name is Shalom – peace. With your first sip of this rich, dark, and delicious libation, we hope to offer a momentary taste of microbrewed bliss. If you feel the sudden urge to beat your swords into plowshares (Isaiah 2:4) or to picnic with the lion and the lamb (Is. 11:6)… Rejoice! Now, our award-winning brewers can’t claim supernatural powers – simply a fanatical commitment to brewing world-class beers: A truly scrumptious mitzvah (good deed)! Through the new millennium and beyond, may your cups runneth over with the blessings of great beer and great shtick. To the future! To a bold life! L’Chaim!”
Finally it also says that is Kosher certified and Rabbi approved. When I poured it into the glass it had a decent head, however, as I let it sit it developed a nice thick tan creamy head. The head reminded me quite a bit of a beer pushed with Nitro. It was very black and I only saw some red highlights there it as I held it up the light.
The smell was mostly malty but I noticed a bit of an almost tar-like smell in the background. Perhaps it’s a bit of the smell I get from black patent malt perhaps. The thick, creamy head definitely contributed to a very smooth and creamy mouth feel, but is was fairly light in body.
The taste was malty, and I didn’t really notice any hops up front. In fact, the maltiness got sweeter in the aftertaste. There was a bit of hop dryness in finish however. Overall I was really impressed with creaminess or it wasn’t too bad of a beer is pretty good I might have it again in the right situation. As far as a food pairing, I’m thinking it would go very good with BBQ (beef of course).
