By Kevin Burns, Beer Columnist

Shmaltz Brewing Company is one of the more interesting breweries in the country. The Jewish-themed company is based in California, but the beer is brewed in Saratoga, New York, so it's technically a New York beer.

The brewery produces two lines of beer, the He'Brew line and the Coney Island Craft Lager line. The He'Brew line consists of Jewish-themed beers such as Messiah Bold and Genesis Ale, while the Coney Island Lager line consists of strong lagers whose names and labels feature members of the world famous Coney Island Freakshow. 

The He'Brew line also features the Jewbelation series, which consists of a new beer released each year in celebration of the brewery's anniversary. The line started with Jewbelation Eight and has now moved to Jewbelation Thirteen.

Of course, when your beers are Jewish themed, you don't name your 13th birthday beer Thirteen, but instead it should be named Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah. Shmaltz encouraged fans to mail in picture of themselves at their own Bar Mitzvahs to be featured on the label.  

Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah poured a very dark brown-blackish color with a finger width tan head. The nose is deep and complex, sweet with aromas of dark fruit, chocolate, licorice, coffee and tons of dark malt. Alcohol is slightly noticeable.

The body is fairly complex, smooth and thick, sweet and tons of chocolate up front. There is a huge roasted malt backbone and the alcohol is lightly noticeable again in the middle of the body. The finish is harsh, overly bitter and the alcohol runs wild.

Overall, this is an interesting beer. It is phenominal up front and bad on the finish.  It has amazing potential but it needs to age for awhile, at least a year. 

Shmaltz is pushing the limits with this beer and I cannot wait to taste it after it matures a bit. I almost did not rate it, but it is available to drink now. I highly recommend buying this beer and letting it sit for 12-18 months. 

This beer will is too young to pair with food yet, but in the future it would need a strong chocolate dessert or steak.  The true pairing for Bar Mitzvah is not food though, but rather a rich cigar. This beer is strong and the roasted malts would compliment tobacco nicely.   

Producer: Shmaltz Brewing Company
ABV: 13%
Price: $5.99 (22 oz. Bottle)
Rating:  (2 out of 5 | Average)