THE JEWS WILL HAVE THEIR SAY: HE’BREW GENESIS ALE

Let’s give a little equal opportunity love this Christmas beer season to a Jewish-themed beer product from the much-celebrated makers of HE’BREW beer, SCHMALTZ BREWING. I wrote about a couple beers of theirs I’d enjoyed not long ago, but it’s truly been a while since I’ve contemplated the HE’BREW GENESIS ALE, which is not just their first beer but also their flagship product. I first had it nearly a decade ago, and it was a second-tier favorite – one that I bought not just for the logo but for the taste, too! They call it a light brown ale; Beer Advocate calls it an American Pale Ale; I call it a pale brown ale – how about that. It is a fairly simple beer, very much in spirit with an amber ale, and fresh and medium-bodied. The hops are really subtle, and if anything stands out it’s a toasted-malt character, but for the most part it’s a smooth, enjoyable, standard second-tier microbrew. I give it a 7/10 and a big up for the chutzpaniks at Schmaltz Brewing.