Putting the Bar in Bar Mitzvah

If it works, shtick with it. That’s the lesson in the remarkable success of Shmaltz Brewing Co., a craft brewer specializing in kosher beer and chutzpah. Founded by Jeremy Cowan, ’91, in 1996 as a one-man operation (the first cases of He’brew—“The Chosen Beer”—were bottled by hand and delivered to friends in the Bay Area in his bubbe’s Volvo), the company has come of age. Shmaltz now boasts seven official employees and an award-winning lineup, including fig- and date-infused Rejewvenator, Origin Pomegranate Strong Ale and Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A., that is available nationwide. Their top-selling Genesis Ale even appeared in the “Being Jewish” exhibit at San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum. Now in its 13th year, Shmaltz is celebrating its passage into adulthood with the special release of Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah, a mishmash of 13 malts, 13 hops and 13 percent alcohol content. Mazel tov!