Rating: 6/5

He’Brew Jewbelation Reborn 18th Anniversary Ale by Shmaltz Brewing is a 12.4% ABV American Barleywine brewed with 18 Malts and 18 Hops

Label:
So Many friends have asked, “When will you Stop?!” The answer is “Never… Well, Um, I Mean Now”! Witness Our Newborn Black Session Barleywine.

18 malts, 18 hops, and now 12.4% ABV so we can ship to allll our states again. Jewbelation 18 is now in session – L’CHAIM!

The gold charm dangling in the chest hair of Jews everywhere spells the Hebrew word “Chai” meaning “Life”. It’s numerological value is 18, the anniversary of Shmaltz! Unlike Alice Cooper’s “I’m Eighteen” from the album, Love it to Death, 18 I belted out the barroom anthem “To Life, To Life, L’Chaim” onstage in Fiddle on the Roof. At age 18, Mary Shelly began writing Frankenstein, published Jan 1, 1818. Mel Brooks fathered his first child 18 years before his 1974 Young Frankenstein re-created the iconic “It’s Alive!” In the 18th week of pregnancy, a fetus may start to kick , suck its thumb, & show genitals on an ultrasound. The Enlightenment in the 18th century culminated with US & French revolutions. On the 18th of April 1775, Paul Revere famously hollered “The British are coming!” After Beastie Boy MCA passed, Licensed to III (Horsey/Paul Revere/Quart of Beer/Girlies) reentered the Billboard Chart at #18. Simpsons shtick from Homer vs. 18th Amendment: “To alcohol – The cause of, & solution to, all of life’s problems.” Just to be clear: At 18, you might be legal to smoke, vote, buy port, gamble, & fight wars, but you CANNOT buy this beer. Then there’s Carl in Caddyshack: “So we finish the 18th and I say, “Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something for the effort?” He says. ‘There will be no money, but your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.’ So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.” Welcome to being here now, with so many blessings 18 years in – and growing Jeremy Cowan, proprietor.

==Introduction==
Damn that was a long label to write down. It took me a while, but here we are. Another awesome release of the Jewbelation. While unfortunately, this release was less than the 18% ABV as what I thought it was going to be, that is okay as I will see how they were able to make this complexity a reality using as many malts and hops as possible and then turning this into a Barleywine. So let’s dig into this one and see how it compares to the past ones. Cheers!

Aromas:
Rich dark fruit syrup, cherries, plums, prunes, figs, blueberries, raspberries, currants, bananas, dragon fruit, bubble gum, tangerine candy, earthy grassy, citrus, grapefruit hops, vanilla, dulce de leche caramel, toffee butterscotch, marshmallows, anise, licorice, rum, coconut, rye bread, leather, Khalua coffee, fudge syrup, pecan pie, coconut, tobacco, milk sugar and brown sugar.

Flavors:
Rich dark chocolate, molasses, dark fruit raisins, plums, prunes, figs, soy sauce hints, hazelnut, oak hints, earthy, grassy, citrus, grapefruit hops, rye bread, maple syrup, dark cherries, currant syrup, leather notes, marshmallows, anise, licorice, bananas, rum, coconut, bubblegum notes, brown sugar, fudge syrup, tangerine candy, butterscotch, dulce de leche caramel, vanilla, dragon fruit syrup, Khalua hints, roasted barley, milk sugar, tobacco, leather, honey, butterscotch, chocolate cake and pecan pie.

Aftertaste:
Rich Chocolate and Blueberry syrup along with caramel, earthy and citrus hops linger. Slightly boozy in the taste but mainly sugar due to the variety of hops and malts. Silky and syrupy mouthfeel, murky motor oil full body and sipping drinkability but still drinks easy for some reason.

Overall:
A strong tasting as if it was an 18% ABV beer yet less alcohol. It is almost like they took a page from Dark Lord lore. This is a syrupy rich beer and full of rich sweet complex flavors forward. Mainly in the dark fruit department really. Literally like drinking syrup. I am not sure what I like more, the fact that it was so syrupy to pour on an ice cream or just how it reminded me of drinking beers which are way stronger than what this one is classified as. I am sure many will pass this one up under the radar for other hyped beers this year but trust me, this is all too well worth the pick up that it is insane. Especially if you love those super syrupy Dark Lord like beers.

Anime Corner:
Sheik/Zelda from the Legend of Zelda was used in this pairing to pair with the colors of the beer label and how swift yet strong like a ninja smooth and deadly this beer it. It makes no sense in the sense of how strong and complex the beer feels while the beer is only 12% ABV and believe me, I have tried beers like this that are typically in the 16~20% ABV and this is not one of the. That is why I feel since Sheik is actually princess Zelda posing as a bad ass ninja in Hyrule, she sneaks so well using her magic to make this beer so damn complex and feel like something it is not. In fact, Sheik was so hard to figure out in the beginning, that many though Sheik was a dude only later to find that it was Princess Zelda all along. There is a reason why all the Legend of Zelda games have her name in the title. You just cannot judge a bad ass book by it’s cover, and you certainly cannot judge Zelda/Sheik for being such a bad ass.

Sources:
http://i.imgur.com/27fN5da.jpg